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In response to rising labor costs and the rapid growth of technological innovation, many companies are adopting new technologies in their service processes. The adoption of Self-Service Technologies (SST) has brought many benefits, such as faster transaction speed and lower processing fees. Although previous studies show a positive relationship between the level of perceived benefits and involuntary use of SSTs and customer convenience, it is uncertain whether the level of innovation and benefits can influence the relationship between involuntary use of SSTs and customer convenience. In this study, we set up a noble research model and investigated the relationship between customer convenience and involuntary use, which was influenced by two moderators based on a sample of 345 customers in Korea. The results suggest that involuntary use is negatively related to customers’ comfort in using SSTs. Moreover, the perceived usefulness and innovativeness of SSTs may moderate the effect of involuntary use on customers’ comfort. Furthermore, managerial recommendations are proposed for managers to develop strategies for applying SSTs in their services.

Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-1-hfs-10.1177_00187208221074427 for Mobile Health Application for Seizure Management: A Human-Systems Integration Approach by May Jorella Lazaro, Alysson Alvaran, Myung Hwan Yun, and Sungho Kim in Human Factors

Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-1-hfs-10.1177_00187208221074427 for Mobile Health Application for Seizure Management: A Human-Systems Integration Approach by May Jorella Lazaro, Alysson Alvaran, Myung Hwan Yun, and Sungho Kim in Human Factors

The first Agriculture-Vision Challenge aims to encourage research in developing novel and effective algorithms for agricultural pattern recognition from aerial images, especially for the semantic segmentation task associated with our challenge dataset. Around 57 participating teams from various countries compete to achieve state-of-the-art in aerial agriculture semantic segmentation. The Agriculture-Vision Challenge Dataset was employed, which comprises of 21,061 aerial and multi-spectral farmland images. This paper provides a summary of notable methods and results in the challenge. Our submission server and leaderboard will continue to open for researchers that are interested in this challenge dataset and task; the link can be found here., Comment: CVPR 2020 Workshop

Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is an indispensable tool for investigating local piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties by detecting the electromechanical strain response to an applied voltage on a surface. The PFM technique is highly sensitive to the surface state of a sample, such as surface adsorption and surface potential, which could lead to the misinterpretation of the quantitative value of PFM signal as well as the presence of ferroelectricity. In this study, we observed a frequency-dependent PFM signal generated by surface adsorbates. However, the surface adsorbates can be removed by sample cleaning albeit the cleaning induced a significant change in surface potential. Thus, correct evaluation of the effective piezoelectric coefficient was realized by cleaning the sample and ruling out the electrostatic contribution. This work demonstrates that one should be careful to consider the effect of adsorbates and the electrostatic effect to correctly evaluate the piezoelectric coefficient.

Study DesignA cross-sectional, case-control study.PurposeTo investigate associations between physical fitness measures and disabilities related to back pain and quality of life (QOL) by the presence of symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) in elderly Korean women.Overview of LiteratureLSS leads to decreased functioning and reduced QOL. However, correlations among physical fitness, disability, and QOL have not been investigated in elderly women with LSS.MethodsParticipants included women aged 65 years and older (n=192), divided into a study group (n=38) and a control group (n=154) based on the presence/absence of LSS. All participants underwent physical function and fitness tests. Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores and EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L) scores were used to assess disability and health-related QOL.ResultsThe results for the handgrip strength, sit-and-reach, functional reach, and timed up and go (TUG) tests were significantly higher in the control group than the LSS group. ODI scores were significantly higher and EQ-5D-5L scores significantly lower in the LSS group. TUG and functional reach test scores were significantly correlated with ODI scores, and handgrip strength was strongly interrelated with ODI and EQ-5D-5L scores in the LSS group. No other physical fitness measures showed statistically significant relationships with ODI or EQ-5D-5L scores.ConclusionsIn elderly Korean women with LSS, back pain-related disability and QOL are significantly associated with some physical fitness parameters such as handgrip strength. Handgrip strength reflects general muscle strength, which is significantly interrelated with the level of disability and QOL. Our results suggest that enhancing generalized muscle strength helps to reduce disability due to back pain and improve QOL in patients with LSS.

Aims The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia and to examine its impact on patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS). Patients and Methods This case-control study included two groups: one group consisting of patients with DLSS and a second group of control subjects without low back or neck pain and related leg pain. Five control cases were randomly selected and matched by age and gender (n = 77 cases and n = 385 controls) for each DLSS case. Appendicular muscle mass, hand-grip strength, sit-to-stand test, timed up and go (TUG) test, and clinical outcomes, including the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores and the EuroQol EQ-5D were compared between the two groups. Results The prevalence of sarcopenia, as defined by hand-grip strength, was significantly higher in the DLSS group (24%) when compared with the age- and gender-matched control group (12%) (p = 0.004). In the DLSS group, the sarcopenia subgroup demonstrated inferior results for the TUG test and ODI scores when compared with the non-sarcopenia subgroup (p = 0.006 and p = 0.039, respectively) after adjusting for age and gender. Conclusion This study demonstrated a higher prevalence of sarcopenia in patients with DLSS and highlighted its negative effect on clinical outcomes. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2016;98-B:1093–8.

Rare-earth nickelates have received great attention owing to the extreme sensitivity of their metal-insulator transition (MIT) and particularly the local defect state under external perturbation. Accordingly, it is critical to effectively control their local defect state to tailor the MIT. However, although macroscopic MIT behavior has been extensively studied, the relationship between the local defect state related to polar discontinuity and MIT has been rarely investigated. Herein, we demonstrate the presence of intrinsic conductive nanochannels due to the Ni deficiency induced by the polar discontinuity and the flexoelectric healing of such nanochannels in NdNiO3 thin films using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results indicate that the intrinsic conductive nanochannels are likely related to the Ni vacancy. Intriguingly, these conductive nanochannels are effectively removed by the application of mechanical force with the AFM tip, i.e., flexoelectric healing. Our findings suggest that mechanical stimuli can be one of the effective ways for modulating the intrinsic defect state and the corresponding properties at the nanoscale.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have been widely studied because of their various advantages. OLEDs are multi-layered structures consisting of organic and inorganic materials arranged in a heterojunction; the nature of adhesion at their heterogeneous interfaces has a significant effect on their properties. In this study, the origin of macroscopic adhesion was explored in OLEDs using a combination of microscopy techniques applied at different length scales. The different techniques allowed the identification of layers exposed by a peel test, which aided direct characterization of their macroscopic adhesion. Further, the contribution of each exposed layer to macroscopic adhesion could be determined through an analysis of photographic images. Finally, analysis of the local roughness and adhesion confirmed that the interface between an anode and emission layer could play a predominant role in determining the nature of macroscopic adhesion in OLEDs. These results may provide guidelines for exploring the origin of macroscopic adhesion properties through a combination of various microscopy techniques.

Contact and non-contact based atomic force microscopy (AFM) approaches have been extensively utilized to explore various nanoscale surface properties. In most AFM-based measurements, a concurrent electrostatic effect between the AFM tip/cantilever and sample surface can occur. This electrostatic effect often hinders accurate measurements. Thus, it is very important to quantify as well as remove the impact of the electrostatic effect on AFM-based measurements. In this study, we examine the impact of the electrostatic effect on the electromechanical (EM) response in piezoresponse force microscopy as a model AFM mode. We quantitatively studied the effects of increasing the external electric field and reducing the spring constant of a cantilever. Further, we explored ways to minimize the electrostatic effect. The results provide broad guidelines for quantitatively analyzing the EM response as well as, eventually, for obtaining the electrostatic-free EM response. The conclusions can be applied to other AFM-based measurements that are subject to a strong electrostatic effect between the AFM tip/cantilever and sample surface, regardless of contact and non-contact modes.

트래픽 분류는 트래픽 관리하는데 중요한 역할을 차지하고 있다. 전통적인 방법은 P2P와 암호화 트래픽을 제대로 분류할 수 없는 문제가 있다. 서포트 벡터 머신은 기존의 문제를 해결할 수 있고 병목 현상을 극복할 수 있는 유용한 분류 도구이다. 하지만 서포트 벡터 머신의 주요 장점은 이차 프로그래밍(QP)문제 때문에 큰 데이터 집단을 훈련하는데 시간을 소모한다. 그러나 유용한 서포트 벡터는 전체 데이터에서 극히 일부분이다. 만약 우리가 훈련전에 쓸모없는 벡터들을 삭제할 수 있다면, 시간을 절약하고 정확도를 유지할 수 있다. 이 논문에서 우리는 대규모 데이터를 다룰 때 훈련 속도를 빠르게 하기위해 순차적인 방법을 통해 쓸모없는 벡터들을 제거하기 위한 가능성을 논의하였다.

The effects of micro-alloying element, vanadium, on a bcc Fe ��3(111)[1-10] symmetric tilt grain boundary strength are studied using density functional theory calculations. The lowest energy configuration of the grain boundary structure are obtained from the first-principles calculations. The substitutional and interstitial point defect formation energies of vanadium in the grain boundary are compared. The substitutional defect is prefered to interstitial one. The segregation energies of vanadium onto the grain boundary and its fractured surfaces are computed. The cohesive energy calculation of the grain boundary with and without vanadium show that vanadium strengthen the bcc iron ��3(111)[1-10] grain boundary.

We determine the ground-state structure of a double vacancy in a hydrogen monolayer on the Pd(111) surface. We represent the double vacancy as a triple vacancy containing one additional hydrogen atom. The potential-energy surface for a hydrogen atom moving in the triple vacancy is obtained by density-functional theory, and the wave function of the fully quantum hydrogen atom is obtained by solving the Schr\"odinger equation. We find that an H atom in a divacancy defect experiences significant quantum effects, and that the ground-state wave function is centered at the hcp site rather than the fcc site normally occupied by H atoms on Pd(111). Our results agree well with scanning tunneling microscopy images., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

By combining PS-PMMA self-assembled diblock copolymer (BC) and lift off process, gold nanodot array was fabricated. For surface neutralization, a novel method using conventional self assembled monolayer (SAM), MPTS (3-(p-methoxyphenyl)propyltrichlro-silane) was used. Surface treatment with SAM was analyzed by contact angle measurement and XPS. Upon the fabricated cylindrical nanohole array, gold was evaporated and 10 nm size gold nanoparticle array was fabricated by lift-off process.

In this paper we propose conceptual transformation methods for the automatic translation from SDL-92 to CHILL-96 through structure transformation and communication transformation. The structure transformation process converts nested structure of SDL-92 to hierarchical structure of a structure tree. The communication transformation process converts the signal features of SDL-92 to the method definition and their invocation of CHILL-96. Then, with the proposed direct syntactic mapping, we could map the transformed hierarchical structure of SDL-92 into the nested structure of CHILL-96. This mapping rule was aided by analogous syntax between SDL-92 and CHILL-96.

In this study, we report a facile synthetic strategy to embed ultra-small iron oxide nanoparticles within the channels of highly ordered mesoporous fullerene (C 60 ) (Fe-MFC 60 -T, where T denotes the temperature of the template synthesis). The present work is judicially designed to form the hematite phase of iron oxide (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) nanoparticles (NPs) through the subsequent calcination of Fe-MFC 60 -T. The Fe-MFC 60 -T materials were analysed comprehensively for obtaining their physico-chemical properties. Among the materials studied, Fe-MFC 60 -150 exhibits a unique doughnut-shaped morphology with a high specific surface area (∼598 m 2 g −1 ), crystalline wall structure, and well-ordered porosity. The Fe-MFC 60 -150 displays an adequate oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity with a positive onset potential at 0.85 V (vs RHE) and half wave potential at 0.78 V (vs RHE), low Tafel slope (66 mV per decade), high exchange current density (1.2 × 10 −10 A cm −2 ), and good tolerance towards methanol crossover. We also demonstrate that Fe-MFC 60 -150 is capable of delivering a specific capacitance of 112.4 F g −1 at 0.1 A g −1 . The electrochemical performance of Fe-MFC 60 -150 towards ORR and supercapacitor can be ascribed to the synergistic coupling effects between the active sites of α-Fe 2 O 3 and MFC 60. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Novel acid treated porous activated biocarbons (APABs) are synthesized from biomass waste, Arundo donax, through sulphuric acid polymerization followed by a single step solid state activation using KOH at a fixed carbonization temperature of 600 °C. The specific surface area and the pore volume of the prepared materials is controlled by varying the ratio of KOH to biomass from 1 to 4. The sample prepared with the KOH/biomass ratio of 3 is found to be the best as it exhibits the specific surface area of 2232 m2 g−1 and a pore volume of 1.01 cm3 g−1 which is much higher than those of other samples prepared in this study. Interestingly, XPS and FT-IR studies confirm the presence of oxygen rich functional groups on the surface of the samples, which play an important role in enhancing the CO2 capture performance of the materials. Among the samples studied, the sample with the highest specific BET surface area exhibits the highest CO2 adsorption capacity of 21.2 mmol g-1 at 0 °C and 30 bar and a moderately high value of 4.1 mmol g-1 at 0 °C and 1 bar. The high CO2 adsorption capacity is attributed to the presence of excellent textural parameters coupled with high micropore volume and the oxygen functional groups. The samples are highly stable and do not show any change in the adsorption capacity even after repeated adsorption experiments. The combination of high adsorption capacity, stability and low cost makes these materials as a potential alternative to other expensive commercially available CO2 adsorbents Refereed/Peer-reviewed