• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.103-110
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• 2018

This study introduces the supervised committee fuzzy model as a hybrid fuzzy model to predict compressive strength (CS) of geopolymers prepared from alumina-silica products. For this purpose, more than 50 experimental data that evaluated the effect of $Al_2O_3/SiO_2$, $Na_2O/Al_2O_3$, $Na_2O/H_2O$ and Na/[Na+K] on (CS) of geopolymers were collected from the literature. Then, three different Fuzzy Logic (FL) models (Sugeno fuzzy logic (SFL), Mamdani fuzzy logic (MFL), and Larsen fuzzy logic (LFL)) were adopted to overcome the inherent uncertainty of geochemical parameters and to predict CS. After validating the model, it was found that the SFL model is superior to MFL and LFL models, but each of the FL models has advantages to predict CS. Therefore, to achieve the optimal performance, the supervised committee fuzzy logic (SCFL) model was developed as a hybrid method to combine the benefits of individual FL models. The SCFL employs an artificial neural network (ANN) model to re-predict the CS of three FL model predictions. The results also show significant fitting improvement in comparison with individual FL models.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.38-43
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• 2020

The genome of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae contains several types of transposable elements (TEs), and some TEs cause genetic variation that allows M. oryzae to evade host detection. We studied how five abundant TEs in rice pathogens, Pot3, Pot2, MAGGY, Line-like element (MGL) and Mg-SINE, are expressed under diverse conditions related to growth, development, and stress. Expression of Pot3 and Pot2 was activated in germinated conidia and mycelia treated with tricyclazole. Retrotransposon MAGGY was highly expressed in appressoria and tricyclazole-treated mycelia. MAGGY and Pot2 were also activated during the early and late stages of perithecia development. MGL was up-regulated in conidia and during conidial germination but not during appressorium formation. No noticeable expression of Mg-SINE was observed under most conditions. Our results should help investigate if and how condition-specific expressions of some TEs contribute to the biology and evolution of M. oryzae.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.78-88
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• 2006

The phylogeny of the subfamily Tephritinae (Diptera: Tephritidae) was reconstructed from mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences using 53 species representing 11 currently recognized tribes of the Tephritinae and 10 outgroup species. The minimum evolution and Bayesian trees suggested the following phylogenetic relationships: (1) monophyly of the Tephritinae was strongly supported; (2) a sister group relationship between the Tephritinae and Plioreocepta was supported by the Bayesian tree; (3) the tribes Tephrellini, Myopitini, and Terelliini (excluding Neaspilota) were supported as monophyletic groups; (4) the non-monophyletic nature of the tribes Dithrycini, Eutretini, Noeetini, Tephritini, Cecidocharini, and Xyphosiini; and (5) recognition of 10 putative tribal groups, most of which were supported strongly by the statistical tests of the interior branches. Our results, therefore, convincingly suggest that an extensive rearrangement of the tribal classification of the Tephritinae is necessary. Since our sampling of taxa heavily relied on the current accepted classification, some lineages identified by the present study were severely under-sampled and other possible major lineages of the Tephritinae were probably not even represented in our dataset. We believe that our results provide baseline information for a more rigorous sampling of additional taxa representing all possible major lineages of the subfamily, which is essential for a comprehensive revision of the tephritine tribal classification.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.132-146
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a new version of Spirituality Assessment Scale (N-SAS) and verify its reliability and validity. Methods: The total of 59 preliminary items for the N-SAS were selected through a literature review, two rounds of experts' content validation, cognitive interviews, and pre-tests. Verification of its reliability and validity was divided into two phases. In Phase I, questionnaires were collected from 219 adults. Reliability was tested using Cronbach's alpha, validity with item analysis, and exploratory factor analysis. In Phase II, questionnaires developed based on the results of Phase I were collected from 225 adults. Reliability was tested using Cronbach's alpha, validity with confirmatory factor analysis, and criterion validity. Results: The final version of the N-SAS comprised two dimensions (vertical and horizontal), four domains (relationship with God; meaning of life and self-integration; self-transcendence; and relationship with others, neighborhoods, and nature), and 44 items were identified. Total Cronbach's α was .97; those of each subscale ranged from .79 to .98. N-SAS scores were positively correlated with the scores of Howden's Spiritual Assessment Scale (r=.81, p<.001). Conclusion: Findings suggest that the N-SAS can be used to measure spirituality in adults. The use of N-SAS is expected to facilitate perceiving patient's spiritual needs and providing spiritual care.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.739-747
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• 2011

Objective: The present study evaluated information presentation methods applicable to a wearable Braille display in terms of performance and satisfaction measures. Background: A Braille display wearable at a finger can improve accessibility of information for the blind by presenting information in real time. Method: A Braille display with six pins operated by DC servomotors was developed to simulate four information presentation methods(active, stationary, simultaneous, and sequential methods). An evaluation experiment was conducted with 16 participants(8 normal and 8 blind participants) by using three objective measures(reaction time, RT, unit: sec; recognition time, CT, unit: sec; correct response percentage, CP) and two subjective measures(overall satisfaction, OS; perception easiness, PE) with a 7-point scale. Results: The average RTs and CTs of the active and stationary methods were significantly shorter than those of the simultaneous and sequential methods for the blind participants. Also, the average CPs, OSs, and PEs of the active and sequential methods were significantly higher than those of the stationary and simultaneous methods. Conclusion: The active and sequential methods were preferred to the other methods for the blind. Application: The performance characteristics identified in the present study for the four braille display methods can be utilized to develop an effective wearable Braille display system.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.73-78
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• 1999

Although there are several methods for the preparation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from mammalian tissues, most are relatively long ultracentrifugation or manipulations by a small-scale method. We escribed a rapid method for large-scale extraction of mtDNA from human placental and horse liver tissues. The method is based on the preparation and homogenization of tissues, urification of crude mitochondria by differential centrifugations and isolation of mtDNA by alkaline Iysis. It was improved from Pre-existing methods by replacing some steps with simpler ones and discarding many others. This method gives a high yield of pure mtDNA(approximately 1-5mg from one placenta; ca. 400-600 g wet weight), depending on its sources (fresh tissue gave better results than frozen one). The resulting mtDNA indicated that this method can yield mtDNA in sufficient purity and quantity to identify the direct restriction analysis on agarose gel, random-primed labeling as a probe, and end labeling. Therefore, the method is ideal for obtaining good mtDNA samples to conduct routine restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses of natural populations for genetic studies.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.18-22
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• 2009

The shape anisotropy effect of a giant magnetoresistance-spin valves (GMR-SV) device with a glass/NiO/NiFe/CoFe/Cu/CoFe/NiFe layered structure for use in the detection of magnetic property of molecules within a cell was investigated. The patterned device was given uniaxial anisotropy during the sputtering deposition and vacuum post-annealing, which was performed at $200^{\circ}C$ under a 300 Oe magnetic field. The pattern size of the device, which was prepared through the photolithography process, was $2{\times}15\;{\mu}m^2$. The experimental results confirmed that the best design for a GMR-SV device to be used as a biosensor is to have both the axis sensing current and the easy axis of the pinned NiO/NiFe/CoFe triple layer oriented in the direction of the device's width, while the easy axis of the free CoFe/NiFe bilayer should be pointed along the long axis of the device.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.87.2-87.2
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• 2011

We report our 110 ks Chandra observations of the supernova remnant (SNR) 0104-72.3 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The X-ray morphology shows two prominent lobes along the northwest-southeast direction and a soft faint arc in the east. Previous low resolution X-ray images attributed the unresolved emission from the southeastern lobe to a Be/X-ray star. Our high resolution Chandra data clearly shows that this emission is diffuse, shock-heated plasma, with negligible X-ray emission from the Be star. The eastern arc is positionally coincident with a filament seen in optical and infrared observations. Its X-ray spectrum is well fit by plasma of normal SMC abundances, suggesting that it is from shocked ambient gas. The X-ray spectra of the lobes show overabundant Fe, which is interpreted as emission from the reverse-shocked Fe-rich ejecta. The overall spectral characteristics of the lobes and the arc are similar to those of Type Ia SNRs, and we propose that SNR 0104-72.3 is the first case for a robust candidate Type Ia SNR in the SMC. On the other hand, the remnant appears to be interacting with dense clouds toward the east and to be associated with a nearby star-forming region. These features are unusual for a standard Type Ia SNR. Our results suggest an intriguing possibility that the progenitor of SNR 0104-72.3 might have been a white dwarf of a relatively young population.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2020.12a
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• pp.387-396
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• 2020

Wearable biosensors have the potential to non-invasively and continuously monitor seniors' stress in their daily interaction with the urban environment, thereby enabling to address the stress and ultimately advance their outdoor mobility. However, current wearable biosensor-based stress detection methods have several drawbacks in field application due to their dependence on batch-learning algorithms. First, these methods train a single classifier, which might not account for multiple subjects' different physiological reactivity to stress. Second, they require a great deal of computational power to store and reuse all previous data for updating the signle classifier. To address this issue, we tested the feasibility of online multi-task learning (OMTL) algorithms to identify multiple seniors' stress from electrodermal activity (EDA) collected by a wristband-type biosensor in a daily trip setting. As a result, OMTL algorithms showed the higher test accuracy (75.7%, 76.2%, and 71.2%) than a batch-learning algorithm (64.8%). This finding demonstrates that the OMTL algorithms can strengthen the field applicability of the wearable biosensor-based stress detection, thereby contributing to better understanding the seniors' stress in the urban environment and ultimately advancing their mobility.

• Educational Technology International
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.87-116
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• 2016

In this research, we designed a teacher professional development (PD) program where a small group of mathematics teachers could share, reflect on, and discuss their pedagogical knowledge and practices of ICT-integrated lessons, using a video annotation tool called DIVER. The main purposes of this paper are both micro and macro: to examine how the teachers were engaged in the meaning-making process in a video-based PD (micro); and to derive implications about how to design effective video-based teacher PD programs toward a teacher community of practices (macro). To examine teachers' meaning-making in the PD sessions, discourse data from a series of 10 meetings was segmented into idea units and coded to identify discourse patterns, focusing on (a) participation levels, (b) conversation topics, and (c) conversation depth. Regarding the affordance of DIVER, discourse patterns of two meetings, before and after individual annotation with DIVER were compared through qualitative vignette analysis. Overall, we found that the teacher discourse shifted the focus from surface features to deeper pedagogical issues as the PD sessions progressed. In particular, the annotation function in DIVER afforded the teachers to exercise descriptive analyses of video clips in a flexible manner, thereby helping them cognitively prepared to take interpretative and evaluative stances in face-to-face discussions with colleagues. In conclusion, deriving from our research experiences, we discuss the possibilities and challenges of designing video-based teacher PD in a school context.