• Journal of the Korea Computer Graphics Society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.125-132
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• 2024

Recently, with immersive virtual reality(IVR) technologies, various services such as education, training, entertainment, industry, healthcare and remote collaboration have been applied. In particular, researches are actively being studied to visualize and interact with virtual humans, research on virtual pets in IVR is also emerging. For interaction with the virtual pet, similar to real-world interaction scenarios, the most important thing is to provide physical contact such as haptic and non-verbal interaction(e.g., gesture). This paper investigates the effects on factors (e.g., shape and texture) of passive haptic feedbacks using mapping physical props corresponding to the virtual pet. Experimental results show significant differences in terms of immersion, co-presence, realism, and friendliness depending on the levels of texture elements when interacting with virtual pets by passive haptic feedback. Additionally, as the main findings of this study by statistical interaction between two variables, we found that there was Uncanny valley effect in terms of friendliness. With our results, we will expect to be able to provide guidelines for creating interactive contents with the virtual pet in immersive VR environments.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.314-320
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• 2024

To speed up the extract of endoparasitic nematodes from roots, four extraction methods with or without root-grinding were compared; 1) immersion, 2) immersion + Air, 3) Oostenbrink dish, and 4) Mistifier. The experiments were conducted for nine days by using perilla roots infested with Pratylenchus vulnus. Root-lesion nematodes continuously extracted from perilla roots during the experiments and as much as 3-10% in 9^th days. The total number of nematodes extracted from 2 g of perilla root in nine days were varied among methods (379-1,824 nematodes); the most nematodes were extracted by root grinding + immersion + air (1,824) and the root-grinding + mistifier method (1,349) (p = 0.05). In the first two days of extraction, root-grinding + mistifier extracted the most nematodes (725 nematodes), followed by root-grinding + immersion + Air (555 nematodes), and root-grinding + Oostenbrink dish (421 nematodes). Root-grinding effected as much as 16-108% more nematodes extraction when compared to without root-grinding (p = 0.01).

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.37-53
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• 2024

This study selected bicycle road hazard detection factors for mobile IoT sensor device operation and developed service application plans. Twelve bicycle road hazard detection factors were derived through a focused group interview, and a fuzzy AHP-based importance analysis was conducted on 30 road and transportation experts. As a result, 'damage to pavement' (1st overall) and 'environmental obstacle' (2nd) with low visibility but a high risk of accidents were selected the most. The factors in terms of facility management, such as 'disconnected route occurrence' (4th), 'artificial obstacle' (5th), 'effective width' (6th), and 'poor drainage' (7th), were selected as the upper and middle areas. Factors that are not direct accident-inducing factors, such as 'loss of road markings' (11th) and 'free space width' (12th), were selected the least. Based on this, a plan was presented to apply the bicycle road hazard detection service and a service operation strategy according to real-time performance. Nevertheless, follow-up studies, such as human behavioral analysis based on bicycle operators, analysis according to the bicycle road type, service demonstration, and pilot operation, will be needed to develop safe bicycle road management is expected.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.313-323
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• 2014

Recently, there has been an effort to convert standardized educational system to customized one considering students' individual differences and aptitude. Flipped learning has been regarded as a teaching method fitting to this movement and has gained much interest by educators. Despite its increasing interest, its studies fall short in the quantity above all. This study investigated the concept of flipped learning and explored its educational value in terms of student' and teacher' perspectives. The study also examined the requirements to apply flipped learning to its practice. Flipped learning was found to accomplish mastery learning and to promote interaction between teacher and students and also peer-to-peer interaction. It was expected to reduce the burden of teacher's duties and secure his or her interest in students and the tutorial time for individual students. Essential elements in its application in practice included students' voluntary participation, the consent of their parents and support from their school and government. In addition, teachers' professional development was found to be important to improve their understanding and application of flipped learning in practice.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.21-32
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• 2014

Recently, the number of Koreans who use smartphones has increased drastically; many use smartphones to learn English. In this study, one hundred Korean adult ELT (English language teaching) learners were surveyed to investigate their use of smartphones and factors influencing such use. For comparison, sixty-two students of a Korean cyber university were surveyed; these students were able to study using their smartphones in a smart campus environment. The research results showed that both groups positively used smartphones frequently, and that many intended to continue using them. With regard to ELT, both groups intended to learn English using their smartphones. Furthermore, they preferred certain types of ELT content: thirty-minute or less learning sessions, receptive English skills that focused on listening and reading, and short units of framed language items such as pronunciation and vocabulary. However, few of the respondents in both groups installed ELT apps on their smartphones, and few of the ELT apps satisfied them. The cyber university students responded similarly about smartphone use, although their responses regarding smartphone use for ELT purposes were less positive. These results indicate that the goal of cyber universities in achieving optimum learning outcomes through smart learning and the smart campus has not yet been realized.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.341-346
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• 2013

Objectives: This study was designed to provide basic data that would be helpful in planning mental health programs designed to help elderly people have a satisfying life as an elder by identifying the factors that affect cognition of urban and rural elderly people. Methods: Subjects included 160 elderly people on Daejeon and Geumsam. Structured questionnaires were used for data collection from march 2, 2011 to July 30, and descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression analysis of SPSS 18.0 program were performed for data analysis. Results: A significant difference in cognition was observed between two groups(t=-2.232, p=.029). Cognition & depression didn't have correlation(urban area(r=.021, p=.860), rural area(r=.-131, p=.271)). Significant factors influencing cognition included education(t=4.069, p<.001) and age(t=-2.812, p=.001) in urban area and sex(t=-3.011, p<.001), age(t=-4.866, p<.001), education(t=3.525, p<.001) in rural area. These factors explained 26.1% and 57.2% of the variance. Conclusion: Findings of this study suggest the need for development of appropriate nursing strategies depending on the difference of the environment to increase cognitive function and to decrease the incidence of depression in elderly people.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.397-410
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• 2014

This study sought to identify types of health behavior clusters among Korean adults and their related factors. A secondary analysis of 1,441 subjects, aged 19 to 64, in the 2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV-3) was conducted. A cluster analysis was used to identify types of clusters related to physical activity, smoking, and alcohol drinking. A complex samples chi square test and multivariate logistic regression were performed to analyze the associations between types of health behavior clusters and sample's characteristics using SPSS WIN 21. Five clusters were identified: health promotion, smoking, alcohol drinking, passive attitude, and risky behavior. The passive attitude cluster had the most subjects, with 47.7% of subjects as members. Socio-demographic factors, hypertension, and depressive symptoms were associated with membership in the alcohol drinking, smoking, passive attitude, or risky behavior cluster rather than the health promotion cluster. The findings of this study suggest that integrated health promotion programs incorporating multiple strategies need to be investigated. In addition, further studies should explore psychosocial factors that affect health behavior clusters, such as stress, self-efficacy, social support, and social networks.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.9
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• pp.796-805
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• 2015

Gintonin is a novel ginseng-derived lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptor ligand. Oral administration of gintonin ameliorates learning and memory dysfunctions in Alzheimer's disease (AD) animal models. The brain cholinergic system plays a key role in cognitive functions. The brains of AD patients show a reduction in acetylcholine concentration caused by cholinergic system impairments. However, little is known about the role of LPA in the cholinergic system. In this study, we used gintonin to investigate the effect of LPA receptor activation on the cholinergic system in vitro and in vivo using wild-type and AD animal models. Gintonin induced $[Ca^{2+}]_i $ transient in cultured mouse hippocampal neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Gintonin-mediated $[Ca^{2+}]_i $ transients were linked to stimulation of acetylcholine release through LPA receptor activation. Oral administration of gintonin-enriched fraction (25, 50, or 100 mg/kg, 3 weeks) significantly attenuated scopolamine-induced memory impairment. Oral administration of gintonin (25 or 50 mg/kg, 1 2 weeks) also significantly attenuated amyloid-${\beta}$ protein ($A{\beta}$)-induced cholinergic dysfunctions, such as decreased acetylcholine concentration, decreased choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity and immunoreactivity, and increased acetylcholine esterase (AChE) activity. In a transgenic AD mouse model, long-term oral administration of gintonin (25 or 50 mg/kg, 3 months) also attenuated AD-related cholinergic impairments. In this study, we showed that activation of G protein-coupled LPA receptors by gintonin is coupled to the regulation of cholinergic functions. Furthermore, this study showed that gintonin could be a novel agent for the restoration of cholinergic system damages due to $A{\beta}$ and could be utilized for AD prevention or therapy.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.12
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• pp.607-614
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• 2013

This study has been conducted to investigate the effect of self awareness of halitosis on the quality of life related to oral health in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis and use basic data related to oral health of patients with chronic renal failure which is very rare in Korea. In terms of oral symptoms based on awareness of halitosis, there were significant differences in symptoms of teeth pain in the past one month, bleeding gums, symptoms of tongue or cheek pain, dry mouth, In terms of status of oral functions, there were significant differences in discomfort upon chewing foods, difficulty of pronunciation and presence of lost teeth. As the results of analysis of effect of self awareness of halitosis on the quality of life related to oral health in patients with chronic renal failure, it was shown that there were significant effects in psychological discomfort(B=-2.028, p<.01), poor social skills(B=2.596, p<.01) and social disadvantage(B=-2.173, p<.01). Thus, because self awareness of halitosis gives psychologically and socially negative effects, it could be an important factor to patients with renal failure whose number is rapidly increasing.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.10 no.9
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• pp.391-396
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to present basic research data to utilize magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with analyzing intracerebral regional distributions of ischemic cerebrovascular disease of middle aged and oldest-old aged people. We retrospectively analyzed middle-aged group (average age of 44.2 year-old, 43 males, 26 females) and oldest-old aged group (average age of 84.7 year-old, 58 males, 71 females) who taken MRI screening for ischemic cerebrovascular disease from May 2006 year to January 2008 year. The intracerebral vascular were classified into 8 vessels, which anterior communication artery (ACoA), posterior communication artery (PCoA), anterior cerebral artery (ACA), middle cerebral artery (MCA), posterior cerebral artery (PCA), internal carotid artery (ICA), common carotid artery(CCA), and basilar artery (BA). The result of middle-aged group showed that more ischemic cerebrovascular diseases appeared in men than women, and it affected in MCA mostly. In oldest-old aged group, ischemic cerebrovascular diseases occurred evenly spaced in intracerebral region of right, left, and both vessels, and women have more than men. For men, the most occurred in ICA and for women the most occurred in MCA. Specially middle-aged group in men showed that more ischemic cerebrovascular diseases in MCA appeared than oldest-old aged group in men. It is suggested that the analysis on ischemic cerebrovascular could be helpful in the clinical diagnosis and treatment.