• Title/Summary/Keyword: Challenging behavior

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Meta-synthesis Exploring Barriers to Health Seeking Behaviour among Malaysian Breast Cancer Patients

  • Yu, Foo Qing;Murugiah, Muthu Kumar;Khan, Amer Hayat;Mehmood, Tahir
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.145-152
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    • 2015
  • Barriers to health seeking constitute a challenging issue in the treatment of breast cancer. The current meta-synthesis aimed to explore common barriers to health seeking among Malaysian breast cancer patients. From the systematic search, nine studies were found meeting the inclusion criteria. Data extraction revealed that health behavior towards breast cancer among Malaysia women was influenced by knowledge, psychological, sociocultural and medical system factors. In terms of knowledge, most of the Malaysian patients were observed to have cursory information and the reliance on the information provided by media was limiting. Among psychological factors, stress and sense of denial were some of the common factors leading to delay in treatment seeking. Family member's advice, cultural beliefs towards traditional care were some of the common sociocultural factors hindering immediate access to advanced medical diagnosis and care. Lastly, the delay in referral was one of the most common health system-related problems highlighted in most of the studies. In conclusion, there is an immediate need to improve the knowledge and understanding of Malaysian women towards breast cancer. Mass media should liaise with the cancer specialists to disseminate accurate and up-to-date information for the readers and audience, helping in modification of cultural beliefs that hinder timing health seeking. However, such intervention will not improve or rectify the health system related barriers to treatment seeking. Therefore, there is an immediate need for resource adjustment and training programs among health professional to improve their competency and professionalism required to develop an efficient health system.

EA-Based Tuning of the PID Controller for a CSTR (CSTR용 PID 제어기의 EA 기반 동조)

  • Jin, Gang-Gyoo
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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    • v.24 no.3
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    • pp.330-336
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    • 2014
  • Many industrial processes such as continuous stirred tank reactors(CSTRs), desalination plant, distillation columns, pH neutralization processes and so on exhibit highly nonlinear characteristic and time-varying behavior during operation. The control of such processes has been challenging to control engineers. Hence, a variety of forms of PID controllers and their tuning rules for industrial processes have been developed to guarantee the best performance. In this paper, a scheme that designs the practical PID controller with an anti-windup strategy incorporating with an evolutionary algorithm(EA) is presented for the concentration control of a nonisothermal CSTR. EA is used to tune the parameters of the overall PID control process with anti-windup by minimizing the integral of absolute error(IAE). Simulation works for reference tracking and disturbance rejecting performances and robustness to parameter changes show the feasibility of using the proposed method.

Fusarium mangiferae as New Cell Factories for Producing Silver Nanoparticles

  • Hamzah, Haider M.;Salah, Reyam F.;Maroof, Mohammed N.
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.28 no.10
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    • pp.1654-1663
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    • 2018
  • Finding a safe and broad-spectrum medication is a goal of scientists, pharmacists, and physicians, but developing and fabricating the right medicine can be challenging. The current study describes the formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by Fusarium mangiferae. It involves the antibiofilm activity of the nanoparticles against Staphylococcus aureus. It also involves cytotoxic effect against mammalian cell lines. Well-dispersed nanoparticles are formed by F. mangiferae. The sizes of the nanoparticles were found to range from 25 to 52 nm, and UV-Vis scan showed absorption around 416-420 nm. SEM, TEM, and AFM results displayed spherical and oval shapes. Furthermore, the FTIR histogram detected amide I and amide II compounds responsible for the stability of AgNPs in an aqueous solution. AgNPs were observed to decrease the formation of biofilm at 75% (v/v). DNA reducing, smearing, and perhaps fragmentation were noticed after treating the bacterial cells with 50% (v/v). Additionally, cell lysis was detected releasing proteins in the supernatant. It was also observed that the AgNPs have the ability to cause 59% cervical cancer cell line (HeLa) deaths at 25% (v/v), however, they showed about 31% toxicity against rat embryo fibroblast transformed cell lines (REF). The results of this study prove the efficiency of AgNPs as an antibiofilm against S. aureus, suggesting that AgNPs could be an alternative to antibiotics. It must also be emphasized that AgNPs displayed cytotoxic behavior against mammalian cell lines. Further studies are needed for assessing risk in relation to the possible benefit of prescribing AgNPs.

Low Temperature Synthesis and Characterization of Sol-gel TiO2 Layers

  • Jin, Sook-Young;Reddy, A.S.;Park, Jong-Hyurk;Park, Jeong-Young
    • Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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    • 2011.08a
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    • pp.353-353
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    • 2011
  • Titanium dioxide is a suitable material for industrial use at present and in the future because titanium dioxide has efficient photoactivity, good stability and low cost [1]. Among the three phases (anatase, rutile, brookite) of titanium dioxide, the anatase form is particularly photocatalytically active under ultraviolet (UV) light. In fabrication of photocatalytic devices based on catalytic nanodiodes [2], it is challenging to obtain a photocatalytically active TiO2 thin film that can be prepared at low temperature (< 200$^{\circ}C$). Here, we present the synthesis of a titanium dioxide film using TiO2 nanoparticles and sol-gel methods. Titanium tetra-isopropoxide was used as the precursor and alcohol as the solvent. Titanium dioxide thin films were made using spin coating. The change of atomic structure was monitored after heating the thin film at 200$^{\circ}C$ and at 350$^{\circ}C$. The prepared samples have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microcopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), and ellipsometry. XRD spectra show an anatase phase at low temperature, 200$^{\circ}C$. UV-vis confirms the anatase phase band gap energy (3.2 eV) when using the photocatalyst. TEM images reveal crystallization of the titanium dioxide at 200$^{\circ}C$. We will discuss the switching behavior of the Pt /sol-gel TiO2 /Pt layers that can be a new type of resistive random-access memory.

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Improved AntHocNet with Bidirectional Path Setup and Loop Avoidance (양방향 경로 설정 및 루프 방지를 통한 개선된 AntHocNet)

  • Rahman, Shams ur;Nam, Jae-Choong;Khan, Ajmal;Cho, You-Ze
    • The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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    • v.42 no.1
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    • pp.64-76
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    • 2017
  • Routing in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) is highly challenging because of the dynamic nature of network topology. AntHocNet is a bio-inspired routing protocol for MANETs that mimics the foraging behavior of ants. However, unlike many other MANET routing protocols, the paths constructed in AntHocNet are unidirectional, which requires a separate path setup if a route in the reverse direction is also required. Because most communication sessions are bidirectional, this unidirectional path setup approach is often inefficient. Moreover, AntHocNet suffers from looping problems because of its property of multiple paths and stochastic data routing. In this paper, we propose a modified path setup procedure that constructs bidirectional paths. We also propose solutions to some of the looping problems in AntHocNet. Simulation results show that performance is significantly enhanced in terms of overhead, end-to-end delay, and delivery ratio when loops are prevented. Performance is further improved, in terms of overhead, when bidirectional paths setup is employed.

The Esthetic Features of Femme Fatale Fashions in Movie (영화 <사랑보다 아름다운 유혹>에 나타난 팜므 파탈 의상의 미적 특성)

  • Kim, Bok-Hee;Nam, Yoon-Sook
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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    • v.56 no.9 s.109
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    • pp.14-23
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    • 2006
  • The purpose of this study is to identify the esthetic features of femme fatale character fashions, which are shown in Movie . The feature of evil femineity is the attribute of evil which brings men to ruin by the dangerous, cunning, and cruel trick, and is expressed in black color, red color, and slash fashion. This fashion shows the dark reverse side of women's sexual desire in relation to anxiety, evil, and death. The feature of sensuality evokes physical pleasures or desires, and maximizes the exposure of sexual regions by tightening or loosening women's body. In the fashion expressing this feature, the forms are fit or loose silhouette. and the colors are black and red. and the materials are soft. This fashion seems to deconstruct the past concept of sex consciousness and emphasize the independent and autonomous femineity. The feature of positiveness combines feminine elements with masculine elements in relation to power elements. This feature is expressed in tailored suit and trousers, with few patterns and details, and in black color and gray color. This fashion reflects the aggressive, challenging, and independent femineity, and expresses the potential defense for the weakness and danger of female body. The feature of purity expresses the earnest and truthful mind, and is expressed in the soft and light one-piece dress, the elegant suit, and the pink color and black color fashion. This fashion shows angel-like and reliable womanly beauty, but at the same time shows women's attribute which changes their behavior and thinking every moment, so that this fashion shows women's double-sided attribute which combines women's weakness and violence, or tenacity and conflict.

Reconsideration of Positive Psychological Capital and the 21st century Political Leadership Using Causal Loop Analysis (인과지도 분석을 통한 긍정심리자본과 21세기 정치리더십의 재고찰)

  • Park, Sang-Mahn;Kim, Gang-Hoon
    • Korean System Dynamics Review
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    • v.14 no.4
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    • pp.113-141
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    • 2013
  • The main purpose of this research is to introduce PsyCap(Positive Psychological Capital) and new leadership helping ordinary people to create positive thinking and leading to social integration in South Korea. Additionally, by looking at conventional leadership theories and by applying the PsyCap to leadership based on causal loop analysis, this study is to seek new approach which political leader is able to communicate with the people and can help the people to build positive mine. Throughout this study, there are several important implications how political leader can lead to social integration and stable political development in South Korea. In particular, when political leader encourage the people to have confidence to take on and put in the necessary effort to succeed at challenging tasks, when political leader make the people a positive attribution (optimism) about succeeding now and in the future, when political leader help the people to persevere toward goals and redirection paths to goals (hope) in order to succeed, and when political leader make the people beset by problems and adversity environment to overcome these concerns, it can be expected political leader to build social integration and the people to create positive thinking which has been emphasized by political leader in South Korea. Finally, 21st century has required new political leadership that the people are able to make positive psychological capital composed by optimism, hope, confidence, and resilience.

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Combined Artificial Bee Colony for Data Clustering (융합 인공벌군집 데이터 클러스터링 방법)

  • Kang, Bum-Su;Kim, Sung-Soo
    • Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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    • v.40 no.4
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    • pp.203-210
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    • 2017
  • Data clustering is one of the most difficult and challenging problems and can be formally considered as a particular kind of NP-hard grouping problems. The K-means algorithm is one of the most popular and widely used clustering method because it is easy to implement and very efficient. However, it has high possibility to trap in local optimum and high variation of solutions with different initials for the large data set. Therefore, we need study efficient computational intelligence method to find the global optimal solution in data clustering problem within limited computational time. The objective of this paper is to propose a combined artificial bee colony (CABC) with K-means for initialization and finalization to find optimal solution that is effective on data clustering optimization problem. The artificial bee colony (ABC) is an algorithm motivated by the intelligent behavior exhibited by honeybees when searching for food. The performance of ABC is better than or similar to other population-based algorithms with the added advantage of employing fewer control parameters. Our proposed CABC method is able to provide near optimal solution within reasonable time to balance the converged and diversified searches. In this paper, the experiment and analysis of clustering problems demonstrate that CABC is a competitive approach comparing to previous partitioning approaches in satisfactory results with respect to solution quality. We validate the performance of CABC using Iris, Wine, Glass, Vowel, and Cloud UCI machine learning repository datasets comparing to previous studies by experiment and analysis. Our proposed KABCK (K-means+ABC+K-means) is better than ABCK (ABC+K-means), KABC (K-means+ABC), ABC, and K-means in our simulations.

Evaluation of Operational Efficiency for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Using Data Envelopment Analysis (자료포락분석을 이용한 전기차 충전소 운영효율성 평가)

  • Son, Dong-Hoon;Gang, Yeong-Su;Kim, Hwa-Joong
    • Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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    • v.43 no.3
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    • pp.53-60
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    • 2020
  • Evaluating the operational efficiency of electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) is important to understand charging network evolution and the charging behavior of electric vehicle users. However, aggregation of efficiency performance metrics poses a significant challenge to practitioners and researchers. In general, the operational efficiency of EVCSs can be measured as a complicated function of various factors with multiple criteria. Such a complex aspect of managing EVCSs becomes one of the challenging issues to measure their operational efficiency. Considering the difficulty in the efficiency measurement, this paper suggests a way to measure the operational efficiency of EVCSs based on data envelopment analysis (DEA). The DEA model is formulated as constant returns of output-oriented model with five types of inputs, four of them are the numbers of floating population and nearby charging stations, distance of nearby charging stations and traffic volume as desirable inputs and the other is the traffic speed in congestion as undesirable one. Meanwhile, the output is given by the charging frequency of EVCSs in a day. Using real-world data obtained from reliable sources, we suggest operational efficiencies of EVCSs in Seoul and discuss implications on the development of electric vehicle charging network. The result of efficiency measurement shows that most of EVCSs in Seoul are inefficient, while some districts (Nowon-gu, Dongdaemun-gu, Dongjak-gu, Songpa-gu, Guro-gu) have relatively more efficient EVCSs than the others.

Musculoskeletal Pain Status of Local Farmers in Tigray, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

  • Jeon, Min-jae;Jeon, Hye-seon
    • Physical Therapy Korea
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.76-91
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    • 2017
  • Background: Agricultural work is physically demanding and is associated with a high frequency of musculoskeletal disorders. It is challenging to comprehensively understand the present status of work-related diseases and injuries among farmers in underdeveloped countries. Objects: This study aimed to elucidate the current status of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in local farmers in Tigray, Ethiopia, and identify the agricultural factors associated work-related musculoskeletal pain (AFWMP) and healthy living and healthy behavior factors associated work-related musculoskeletal pain (HFWMP). Methods: The Institute for Poverty Alleviation and International Development at Yonsei University conducted a survey of 126 households in Tigray, Ethiopia in 2014. A total of 116 individuals (73 men, 43 women) representing each household answered the questionnaires. Results: 1) Work-related musculoskeletal pain (WMSP) most commonly occurred when performing heavy lifting and most frequently occurred in the lower back. 2) Age, self-perceived labor intensity, and months of farming work were significantly higher in the pain group than those in the non-pain group. 3) Overall work-related musculoskeletal pain intensity (WPI) showed positive and negative correlations with years of farming experience and self-perceived health status, respectively. 4) In binary logistic regression, the occurrence of WMSP showed significant associations with self-perceived labor intensity. 5) On multiple linear regression analysis, age, months of farming work, and self-perceived health status had a significant impact on overall WPI. Conclusion: The WMSP of farmers in Tigray, Ethiopia was related to the characteristics of farm working and health status. Furthermore, HFWMP and AFWMP were the chief factors affecting the occurrence of WMSP in farmers in Tigray. Therefore, both HFWMP and AFWMP should be considered for clinical health assessments of farmers with WMSP in underdeveloped African countries.