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A Study on the Buyer's Decision Making Models for Introducing Intelligent Online Handmade Services (지능형 온라인 핸드메이드 서비스 도입을 위한 구매자 의사결정모형에 관한 연구)

  • Park, Jong-Won;Yang, Sung-Byung
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.119-138
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    • 2016
  • Since the Industrial Revolution, which made the mass production and mass distribution of standardized goods possible, machine-made (manufactured) products have accounted for the majority of the market. However, in recent years, the phenomenon of purchasing even more expensive handmade products has become a noticeable trend as consumers have started to acknowledge the value of handmade products, such as the craftsman's commitment, belief in their quality and scarcity, and the sense of self-esteem from having them,. Consumer interest in these handmade products has shown explosive growth and has been coupled with the recent development of three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies. Etsy.com is the world's largest online handmade platform. It is no different from any other online platform; it provides an online market where buyers and sellers virtually meet to share information and transact business. However, Etsy.com is different in that shops within this platform only deal with handmade products in a variety of categories, ranging from jewelry to toys. Since its establishment in 2005, despite being limited to handmade products, Etsy.com has enjoyed rapid growth in membership, transaction volume, and revenue. Most recently in April 2015, it raised funds through an initial public offering (IPO) of more than 1.8 billion USD, which demonstrates the huge potential of online handmade platforms. After the success of Etsy.com, various types of online handmade platforms such as Handmade at Amazon, ArtFire, DaWanda, and Craft is ART have emerged and are now competing with each other, at the same time, which has increased the size of the market. According to Deloitte's 2015 holiday survey on which types of gifts the respondents plan to buy during the holiday season, about 16% of U.S. consumers chose "homemade or craft items (e.g., Etsy purchase)," which was the same rate as those for the computer game and shoes categories. This indicates that consumer interests in online handmade platforms will continue to rise in the future. However, this high interest in the market for handmade products and their platforms has not yet led to academic research. Most extant studies have only focused on machine-made products and intelligent services for them. This indicates a lack of studies on handmade products and their intelligent services on virtual platforms. Therefore, this study used signaling theory and prior research on the effects of sellers' characteristics on their performance (e.g., total sales and price premiums) in the buyer-seller relationship to identify the key influencing e-Image factors (e.g., reputation, size, information sharing, and length of relationship). Then, their impacts on the performance of shops within the online handmade platform were empirically examined; the dataset was collected from Etsy.com through the application of web harvesting technology. The results from the structural equation modeling revealed that the reputation, size, and information sharing have significant effects on the total sales, while the reputation and length of relationship influence price premiums. This study extended the online platform research into online handmade platform research by identifying key influencing e-Image factors on within-platform shop's total sales and price premiums based on signaling theory and then performed a statistical investigation. These findings are expected to be a stepping stone for future studies on intelligent online handmade services as well as handmade products themselves. Furthermore, the findings of the study provide online handmade platform operators with practical guidelines on how to implement intelligent online handmade services. They should also help shop managers build their marketing strategies in a more specific and effective manner by suggesting key influencing e-Image factors. The results of this study should contribute to the vitalization of intelligent online handmade services by providing clues on how to maximize within-platform shops' total sales and price premiums.

Changes in atlas position with Class ll activator treatment in Class II malocclusion patients (II급 부정교합자에서 액티베이터 사용에 따른 atlas의 위치 변화에 관한 연구)

  • Cho, Moon-Ki;Cha, Kyung-Suk;Chung, Dong-Hwa;Lee, Jin-Woo
    • The korean journal of orthodontics
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    • v.37 no.1 s.120
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    • pp.44-55
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    • 2007
  • Objective: Previous studies have reported that morphological features of the first cervical vertebra (atlas) have been associated with mandibular growth direction. The purpose of this study was to show the possible positional and morphological changes of the Atlas from activator treatment in Class II malocclusion patients. Methods: Lateral cephalometric radiograph tracings were made at initial, middle and final stages of treatment. Angular and linear measurements of skeletal and morphological features were measured on the anatomical landmarks and reference planes. Results: The skeletal effects of activator treatment on Class II malocclusion patients were evident on ramal height, body length, effective body length, ANB, and overjet. Clockwise rotation of the long axis of the Atlas was found in Group 1, but there was no inclination change of the Atlas in groups 2 and 3. There was no significant correlation between anterior and posterior positions of the atlas or morphological change in all groups. - except for posterior movements of the Atlas found in group 1. Conclusion: Clockwise rotation of the atlas axis resulted from activator treatment in Cl II malocclusion patients. Change in atlas axis can be thought of as an indicator for success of activator treatment.

Effect of bronchial artery embolization in the management of massive hemoptysis : factors influencing rebleeding (대량객혈 환자에서 기관지 동맥색전술의 효과 : 색전술후 재발의 원인과 예측인자)

  • Kim, Byeong Cheol;Kim, Jeong Mee;Kim, Yeon Soo;Kim, Seong Min;Choi, Wan Young;Lee, Kyeong Sang;Yang, Suck Cheol;Yoon, Ho Joo;Shin, Dong Ho;Park, Sung Soo;Lee, Jung Hee;Kim, Chang Soo;Seo, Heung Suk
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.43 no.4
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    • pp.590-599
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    • 1996
  • Background : Bronchial artery embolization has been established as an effective means to control hemoptysis, especially in patients with decreased pulmonary function and those with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We evaluated the effect of arterial embolization in immediate control of massive hemoptysis and investigated the clinical and angiographic characteristics and the course of patients with reccurrent hemoptysis after initial succeseful embolization. Another purpose of this study was to find predictive that cause rebleeding after bronchial artery embolization. Method : We reviewed 47 cases that underwent bronchial artery embolization for the management of massive hemoptysis, retrospectively. We analyzed angiographic findings in all cases before bronchial artery embolization and also reviewed the angiographic findings of patients that underwent additional bronchial artery embolization for the control of reccurrent hemoptysis to find the clauses of rebleeding. Results : 1) Underlying causes of hemoptysis were pulmonary tuberculosis(n=35), bronchiectasis(n=5), aspergilloma(n=2), lung cancer(n=2), pulmonary A-V malformation(n=1), and unknown cases(n=2). 2) Overal immediate success rate was 94%(n=44), an6 recurrence rate was 40%(n=19). 3) The prognostic factors such as bilaterality, systemic-pulmonary artery shunt, multiple feeding arteries and degree of neovascularity were not statistically correlated with rebleeding tendency (p value>0.05). 4) At additional bronchial artery embolization, Revealed recannalization of previous embolized arteries were 14/18cases(78%) and the presence of new deeding arteries was 8/18cases(44%). 5) The complications(31cases, 66%) such as fever, chest pain, cough, voiding difficulty, paralytic ileus, motor and sensory change of lower extremity, atelectasis and splenic infarction were occured. Conclusion : Recannalization of previous embolized arteries is the major cause of recurrence after bronchial artery embolization. Despite high recurrence rate of hemoptysis, bronchial artery embolization for management of massive hemoptysis is a effective and saute procedure in immediate bleeding control.

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Using the METHONTOLOGY Approach to a Graduation Screen Ontology Development: An Experiential Investigation of the METHONTOLOGY Framework

  • Park, Jin-Soo;Sung, Ki-Moon;Moon, Se-Won
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.20 no.2
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    • pp.125-155
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    • 2010
  • Ontologies have been adopted in various business and scientific communities as a key component of the Semantic Web. Despite the increasing importance of ontologies, ontology developers still perceive construction tasks as a challenge. A clearly defined and well-structured methodology can reduce the time required to develop an ontology and increase the probability of success of a project. However, no reliable knowledge-engineering methodology for ontology development currently exists; every methodology has been tailored toward the development of a particular ontology. In this study, we developed a Graduation Screen Ontology (GSO). The graduation screen domain was chosen for the several reasons. First, the graduation screen process is a complicated task requiring a complex reasoning process. Second, GSO may be reused for other universities because the graduation screen process is similar for most universities. Finally, GSO can be built within a given period because the size of the selected domain is reasonable. No standard ontology development methodology exists; thus, one of the existing ontology development methodologies had to be chosen. The most important considerations for selecting the ontology development methodology of GSO included whether it can be applied to a new domain; whether it covers a broader set of development tasks; and whether it gives sufficient explanation of each development task. We evaluated various ontology development methodologies based on the evaluation framework proposed by G$\acute{o}$mez-P$\acute{e}$rez et al. We concluded that METHONTOLOGY was the most applicable to the building of GSO for this study. METHONTOLOGY was derived from the experience of developing Chemical Ontology at the Polytechnic University of Madrid by Fern$\acute{a}$ndez-L$\acute{o}$pez et al. and is regarded as the most mature ontology development methodology. METHONTOLOGY describes a very detailed approach for building an ontology under a centralized development environment at the conceptual level. This methodology consists of three broad processes, with each process containing specific sub-processes: management (scheduling, control, and quality assurance); development (specification, conceptualization, formalization, implementation, and maintenance); and support process (knowledge acquisition, evaluation, documentation, configuration management, and integration). An ontology development language and ontology development tool for GSO construction also had to be selected. We adopted OWL-DL as the ontology development language. OWL was selected because of its computational quality of consistency in checking and classification, which is crucial in developing coherent and useful ontological models for very complex domains. In addition, Protege-OWL was chosen for an ontology development tool because it is supported by METHONTOLOGY and is widely used because of its platform-independent characteristics. Based on the GSO development experience of the researchers, some issues relating to the METHONTOLOGY, OWL-DL, and Prot$\acute{e}$g$\acute{e}$-OWL were identified. We focused on presenting drawbacks of METHONTOLOGY and discussing how each weakness could be addressed. First, METHONTOLOGY insists that domain experts who do not have ontology construction experience can easily build ontologies. However, it is still difficult for these domain experts to develop a sophisticated ontology, especially if they have insufficient background knowledge related to the ontology. Second, METHONTOLOGY does not include a development stage called the "feasibility study." This pre-development stage helps developers ensure not only that a planned ontology is necessary and sufficiently valuable to begin an ontology building project, but also to determine whether the project will be successful. Third, METHONTOLOGY excludes an explanation on the use and integration of existing ontologies. If an additional stage for considering reuse is introduced, developers might share benefits of reuse. Fourth, METHONTOLOGY fails to address the importance of collaboration. This methodology needs to explain the allocation of specific tasks to different developer groups, and how to combine these tasks once specific given jobs are completed. Fifth, METHONTOLOGY fails to suggest the methods and techniques applied in the conceptualization stage sufficiently. Introducing methods of concept extraction from multiple informal sources or methods of identifying relations may enhance the quality of ontologies. Sixth, METHONTOLOGY does not provide an evaluation process to confirm whether WebODE perfectly transforms a conceptual ontology into a formal ontology. It also does not guarantee whether the outcomes of the conceptualization stage are completely reflected in the implementation stage. Seventh, METHONTOLOGY needs to add criteria for user evaluation of the actual use of the constructed ontology under user environments. Eighth, although METHONTOLOGY allows continual knowledge acquisition while working on the ontology development process, consistent updates can be difficult for developers. Ninth, METHONTOLOGY demands that developers complete various documents during the conceptualization stage; thus, it can be considered a heavy methodology. Adopting an agile methodology will result in reinforcing active communication among developers and reducing the burden of documentation completion. Finally, this study concludes with contributions and practical implications. No previous research has addressed issues related to METHONTOLOGY from empirical experiences; this study is an initial attempt. In addition, several lessons learned from the development experience are discussed. This study also affords some insights for ontology methodology researchers who want to design a more advanced ontology development methodology.

Post Occupancy Evaluation of Image and Satisfaction for Storytelling Theme on the Kim Gwang-Seok Street (스토리텔링 테마골목 이미지 및 만족도에 관한 이용 후 평가 - '김광석다시그리기길'을 대상으로 -)

  • Koo, Min-Ah;Eom, Boong-Hoon
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.46 no.5
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    • pp.59-68
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    • 2018
  • This study deals with post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of 'Kim Gwang-seok Street'as storytelling road for urban regeneration. The evaluation focused on image preference and use satisfaction of visitors. This is the initial project of popular singer-storytelling street as a new attraction, and the results could be used as basic data for the sustainable planning and management of storytelling streets. 200 respondents of visitor group were analyzed. Frequency analysis for demographics, use, behavior, reliability, and means, were evaluated. Factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were conducted for image preference and use satisfaction. Responses showed high frequency of twenties in age, who were typically students. In use motives and activities, strolling, sightseeing, and taking pictures were shown to be the most common. The mean scores of image variables showed symbolic (5.03), familiar (4.84), beautiful (4.71), and bright (4.63), the highest. The result of exploratory factor analysis, led to 3 factors being categorized; the mood of street, the design, and the dynamics. Due to the result of multiple regression analysis, the preference of space image was significantly influenced by 4 image variables; symbolic (${\beta}=.314$), stable (${\beta}=.248$), friendly (${\beta}=.204$), and fresh (${\beta}=.142$). In the use satisfaction analysis, the mean scores were highest concerning facility design (3.81), typical street (3.78), the image of street (3.81), continued use (3.66), and experiential tourism (3.53), respectively. The mean score of parking space (2.56) was the lowest. In factor analysis concerning use satisfaction, 3 factors were categorized; facility management, experience, and image. By the result of multiple regression analysis, the total satisfaction of use was significantly influenced by 4 independent variables; image of street (${\beta}=.296$), management (${\beta}=.277$), continued use (${\beta}=.205$), and typical street (${\beta}=.183$). As storytelling road for urban regeneration, 'Kim Gwang-seok Street' has shown considerable success in significant improvement of image preference and user satisfaction. Therefore, the enhancement of 'placeness' through storytelling of Kim Gwang-seok, and the strengthening of its identity and symbolism, should be the basic focus of development for the street in the future.

ATHEROSCLEROSIS, CHOLESTEROL AND EGG - REVIEW -

  • Paik, I.K.;Blair, R.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.1-25
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    • 1996
  • The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis can not be summarized as a single process. Lipid infiltration hypothesis and endothelial injury hypothesis have been proposed and investigated. Recent developments show that there are many points of potential interactions between them and that they can actually be regarded as two phases of a single, unifying hypothesis. Among the many risk factors of atherosclerosis, plasma homocysteine and lipoprotein(a) draw a considerable interest because they are independent indicators of atherogenicity. Triglyceride (TG)-rich lipoproteins (chylomicron and VLDL) are not considered to be atherogenic but they are related to the metabolism of HDL cholesterol and indirectly related to coronary heart disease (CHD). LDL can of itself be atherogenic but the oxidative products of this lipoprotein are more detrimental. HDL cholesterol has been considered to be a favorable cholesterol. The so-called 'causalist view' claims that HDL traps excess cholesterol from cellular membranes and transfers it to TG-rich lipoproteins that are subsequently removed by hepatic receptors. In the so-called 'noncausalist view', HDL does not interfere directly with cholesterol deposition in the arterial wall but instead reflects he metabolism of TG-rich lipoproteins and their conversion to atherogenic remnants. Approximately 70-80% of the human population shows an effective feedback control mechanism in cholesterol homeostasis. Type of dietary fat has a significant effect on the lipoprotein cholesterol metabolism and atherosclerosis. Generally, saturated fatty acids elevate and PUFA lower serum cholesterol, whereas MUFA have no specific effect. EPA and DHA inhibit the synthesis of TG, VLDL and LDL, and may have favourable effects on some of the risk factors. Phospholipids, particularly lecithin, have an antiatherosclerotic effect. Essential phospholipids (EPL) may enhance the formation of polyunsaturated cholesteryl ester (CE) which is less sclerotic and more easily dispersed via enhanced hydrolysis of CE in the arterial wall. Also, neutral fecal steroid elimination may be enhanced and cholesterol absorption reduced following EPL treatment. Antioxidants protect lipoproteins from oxidation, and cells from the injury of toxic, oxidized LDL. The rationale for lowering of serum cholesterol is the strong association between elevation of plasma or serum cholesterol and CHD. Cholesterol-lowing, especially LDL cholesterol, to the target level could be achieved using diet and combination of drug therapy. Information on the link between cholesterol and CHD has decreased egg consumption by 16-25%. Some clinical studies have indicated that dietary cholesterol and egg have a significant hypercholesterolemic effect, while others have indicated no effect. These studies differed in the use of purified cholesterol or cholesterol in eggs, in the range of baseline and challenge cholesterol levels, in the quality and quantity of concomitant dietary fat, in the study population demographics and initial serum cholesterol levels, and clinical settings. Cholesterol content of eggs varies to a certain extent depending on the age, breed and diet of hens. However, egg yolk cholesterol level is very resistant to change because of the particular mechanism involved in yolk formation. Egg yolk contains a factor of factors responsible for accelerated cholesterol metabolism and excretion compared with crystalline cholesterol. One of these factors could be egg lecithin. Egg lecithin may not be as effective as soybean lecithin in lowering serum cholesterol level due probably to the differences of fatty acid composition. However, egg lecithin may have positive effects in hypercholesterolemia by increasing serum HDL level and excretion of fecal cholesterol. The association of serum cholesterol with egg consumption has been widely studied. When the basal or control diet contained little or no cholesterol, consumption of 1 or 2 eggs daily increased the concentration of plasma cholesterol, whereas that of the normolipemic persons on a normal diet was not significantly influenced by consuming 2 to 3 eggs daily. At higher levels of egg consumption, the concentration of HDL tends to increase as well as LDL. There exist hyper-and hypo-responders to dietary (egg) cholesterol. Identifying individuals in both categories would be useful from the point of view of nutrition guidelines. Dietary modification of fatty acid composition has been pursued as a viable method of modifying fat composition of eggs and adding value to eggs. In many cases beneficial effects of PUFA enriched eggs have been demonstrated. Generally, consumption of n-3 fatty acids enriched eggs lowered the concentration of plasma TG and total cholesterol compared to the consumption of regular eggs. Due to the highly oxidative nature of PUFA, stability of this fat is essential. The implication of hepatic lipid accumulation which was observed in hens fed on fish oils should be explored. Nutritional manipulations, such as supplementation with iodine, inhibitors of cholesterol biosynthesis, garlic products, amino acids and high fibre ingredients, have met a limited success in lowering egg cholesterol.

Clinical Features and Management of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (다제 내성 폐결핵 환자의 임상상 및 치료에 대한 고찰)

  • Lee, Jae-Cheol;Lee, Seung-Jun;Kim, Gye-Soo;Yoo, Chul-Gyu;Cheong, Hee-Soon;Kim, Young-Whan;Han, Sung-Koo;Shim, Young-Soo
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.43 no.1
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    • pp.14-21
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    • 1996
  • Objectives: Although outbreak of MDR Tb has been a recent problem in western countries, it has been a longstanding problem in Korea. The poor outcome of MDR Tb is mainly due to poor compliance, high rate of side reaction of secondary drugs, and limitation in number of available drugs. Thus, to improve the outcome of MDR Tb, it is crucial to make individualized adequate prescription based on the knowledge of the patterns of resistance to each drugs in the community as well as the natural history. The purpose of present study is to evaluate the clinical features of Korean MDR Tb patients including patterns of drug resistance and success rate of treatment which was prescribed according to the sensitivity tests. Methods: Retroscpective analysis of 71 Korean patients with MDR Tb was made. All strains isolated from patients showed resistence to at least two first line drugs. Patients profile, previous treatment history, patterns of drug resistance, outcome of treatment was analysed. Initial treatment regimen was selected according to the previous treatment history and was modified according to the sensitivity reports. The regimen was composed to include at least 4 sensitive drugs when possible. Results: The patients showed resistance to 4.1 drugs on average. 90% of them were resistant to INH and RFP. Among 71 patients, 35 patients(49%) had cavitary lesions in CXR. Treatment outcome was analysed in 55 patients. 35 patients(67%) were improved after treatment and 18 patients(33%) showed treatment failure. 5 patients showed primary resistance. Treatment outcome could be evaluated in 4 of them and all showed improvement after treatment. 14 patients(20%) had to change their regimens due to drug side effects. The most frequent side effect was elevation of liver enzymes(6 patients). Others included dizziness, hyperuricemia, tinnitus, skin rash, GI troubles. More than 50% of side effects developed within 3 months. In repeated drug sensitivity test, the concordance rate of resistance to INH was 100% and RFP 98%. EMB, PZA showed 80% concordance rate. But in the other drugs, the concordances were less than 50%. Operation was done in 5 patient - 1 patients as a adjunctive means of chemotherapy -. In that case, negative conversion of sputum AFB was done. Conclusion: 2/3 patients of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis were improved by appropriate prescription and regular medication suggesting that more aggressive management and monitoring is indicated in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

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Mammalian Cloning by Nuclear transfer, Stem Cell, and Enzyme Telomerase (핵치환에 의한 cloning, stem cell, 그리고 효소 telomerase)

  • 한창열
    • Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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    • v.27 no.6
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    • pp.423-428
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    • 2000
  • In 1997 when cloned sheep Dolly and soon after Polly were born, it had become head-line news because in the former the nucleus that gave rise to the lamb came from cells of six-year-old adult sheep and in the latter case a foreign gene was inserted into the donor nucleus to make the cloned sheep produce human protein, factor IX, in e milk. In the last few years, once the realm of science fiction, cloned mammals especially in livestock have become almost commonplace. What the press accounts often fail to convey, however, is that behind every success lie hundreds of failures. Many of the nuclear-transferred egg cells fail to undergo normal cell divisions. Even when an embryo does successfully implant in the womb, pregnancy often ends in miscarriage. A significant fraction of the animals that are born die shortly after birth and some of those that survived have serious developmental abnormalities. Efficiency remains at less than one % out of some hundred attempts to clone an animal. These facts show that something is fundamentally wrong and enormous hurdles must be overcome before cloning becomes practical. Cloning researchers now tent to put aside their effort to create live animals in order to probe the fundamental questions on cell biology including stem cells, the questions of whether the hereditary material in the nucleus of each cell remains intact throughout development, and how transferred nucleus is reprogrammed exactly like the zygotic nucleus. Stem cells are defined as those cells which can divide to produce a daughter cell like themselves (self-renewal) as well as a daughter cell that will give rise to specific differentiated cells (cell-differentiation). Multicellular organisms are formed from a single totipotent stem cell commonly called fertilized egg or zygote. As this cell and its progeny undergo cell divisions the potency of the stem cells in each tissue and organ become gradually restricted in the order of totipotent, pluripotent, and multipotent. The differentiation potential of multipotent stem cells in each tissue has been thought to be limited to cell lineages present in the organ from which they were derived. Recent studies, however, revealed that multipotent stem cells derived from adult tissues have much wider differentiation potential than was previously thought. These cells can differentiate into developmentally unrelated cell types, such as nerve stem cell into blood cells or muscle stem cell into brain cells. Neural stem cells isolated from the adult forebrain were recently shown to be capable of repopulating the hematopoietic system and produce blood cells in irradiated condition. In plants although the term$\boxDr$ stem cell$\boxUl$is not used, some cells in the second layer of tunica at the apical meristem of shoot, some nucellar cells surrounding the embryo sac, and initial cells of adventive buds are considered to be equivalent to the totipotent stem cells of mammals. The telomere ends of linear eukaryotic chromosomes cannot be replicated because the RNA primer at the end of a completed lagging strand cannot be replaced with DNA, causing 5' end gap. A chromosome would be shortened by the length of RNA primer with every cycle of DNA replication and cell division. Essential genes located near the ends of chromosomes would inevitably be deleted by end-shortening, thereby killing the descendants of the original cells. Telomeric DNA has an unusual sequence consisting of up to 1,000 or more tandem repeat of a simple sequence. For example, chromosome of mammal including human has the repeating telomeric sequence of TTAGGG and that of higher plant is TTTAGGG. This non-genic tandem repeat prevents the death of cell despite the continued shortening of chromosome length. In contrast with the somatic cells germ line cells have the mechanism to fill-up the 5' end gap of telomere, thus maintaining the original length of chromosome. Cem line cells exhibit active enzyme telomerase which functions to maintain the stable length of telomere. Some of the cloned animals are reported prematurely getting old. It has to be ascertained whether the multipotent stem cells in the tissues of adult mammals have the original telomeres or shortened telomeres.

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When Robots Meet the Elderly: The Contexts of Interaction and the Role of Mediators (노인과 로봇은 어떻게 만나는가: 상호작용의 조건과 매개자의 역할)

  • Shin, Heesun;Jeon, Chihyung
    • Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.135-179
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    • 2018
  • How do robots interact with the elderly? In this paper, we analyze the contexts of interaction between robots and the elderly and the role of mediators in initiating, facilitating, and maintaining the interaction. We do not attempt to evaluate the robot's performance or measure the impact of robots on the elderly. Instead, we focus on the circumstances and contexts within which a robot is situated as it interacts with the elderly. Our premise is that the success of human-robot interaction does not depend solely on the robot's technical capability, but also on the pre-arranged settings and local contingencies at the site of interaction. We select three television shows that feature robots for the elderly and one "dementia-prevention" robot in a regional healthcare center as our sites for observing robot-elderly interaction: "Grandma's Robot"(tvN), "Co-existence Experiment''(JTBC), "Future Diary"(MBC), and the Silbot class in Suwon. By analyzing verbal and non-verbal interactions between the elderly and the robots in these programs, we point out that in most cases the robots and the elderly do not meet one-to-one; the interaction is usually mediated by an actor who is not an old person. These mediators are not temporary or secondary components in the robot-elderly interaction; they play a key role in the relationship by arranging the first meeting, triggering initial interactions, and carefully observing unfolding interactions. At critical moments, the mediators prevent the interaction from falling apart by intervening verbally or physically. Based on our observation of the robot-elderly interaction, we argue that we can better understand and evaluate the human-robot interaction in general by paying attention to the existence and role of the mediators. We suggest that researchers in human-robot interaction should expand their analytical focus from one-to-one interactions between humans and robots to human-robot-human interactions in diverse real-world situations.

Diagnosis and Monitoring of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: Chiang Mai University Experience

  • Tantiworawit, Adisak;Kongjarern, Supanat;Rattarittamrong, Ekarat;Lekawanvijit, Suree;Bumroongkit, Kanokkan;Boonma, Nonglak;Rattanathammethee, Thanawat;Hantrakool, Sasinee;Chai-Adisaksopha, Chatree;Norasetthada, Lalita
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.2159-2164
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    • 2016
  • Background: A diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is made on discovery of the presence of a Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome. The success of the treatment of this form of leukemia with tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) is monitored by reduction of the Ph chromosome. Objective: To compare the role of conventional cytogenetic (CC) methods with a real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for diagnosis and treatment monitoring of CML patients. The secondary outcome was to analyze the treatment responses to TKI in CML patients. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study of CML patients who attended the Hematology clinic at Chiang Mai University Hospital from 2005-2010. Medical records were reviewed for demographic data, risk score, treatment response and the results of CC methods, FISH and RQ-PCR. Results: One hundred and twenty three cases were included in the study, 57.7% of whom were male with a mean age of 46.9 years. Most of the patients registered as intermediate to high risk on the Sokal score. At diagnosis, 121 patients were tested using the CC method and 118 (95.9%) were identified as positive. Five patients failed to be diagnosed by CC methods but were positive for BCR-ABL1 using the FISH method. Imatinib was the first-line treatment used in 120 patients (97.6%). In most patients (108 out of 122, 88.5%), a complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) was achieved after TKI therapy and in 86 patients (70.5%) CCyR was achieved long term by the CC method. Five out of the 35 analyzed patients in which CCyR was achieved by the CC method had a positive FISH result. Out of the 76 patients in which CCyR was achieved, RQ-PCR classified patients to only CCyR in 17 patients (22.4%) with a deeper major molecular response (MMR) in 4 patients (5.3%) and complete molecular response (CMR) in 55 patients (72.4%). In the case of initial therapy, CCyR was achieved in 95 patients (79.1%) who received imatinib and in both patients who received dasatinib (100%). For the second line treatment, nilotinib were used in 30 patients and in 19 of them (63.3%) CCyR was achieved. In half of the 6 patients (50%) who received dasatinib as second line or third line treatment CCyR was also achieved. Conclusions: CML patients had a good response to TKI treatment. FISH could be useful for diagnosis in cases where CC analysis failed to detect the Ph chromosome. RQ-PCR was helpful in detecting any residual disease and determining the depth of the treatment response at levels greater than the CC methods.