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Premium food markets have emerged as a new form of foodservice establishment. They feature a unique eating and shopping experience that offers a wide variety of high-quality food in a sophisticated environment with distinctive consumer services. Based on the theory of the leisure class, this study explored how consumers’ prestige values influence their behavioral intentions, particularly their customer citizenship behavioral intention and revisit intentions, toward premium food markets. The study sample included customers who have shopped at premium food markets. Using a self-administered survey, 247 valid responses were obtained for analysis. The results showed the positive effects of prestige values on affective commitment and the positive influences of affective commitment on customer citizenship behavioral intention and revisit intention. This study significantly extends prestige-consumption knowledge in the foodservice and hospitality industries.

The subthalamic nucleus (STN) controls psychomotor activity and is an efficient therapeutic deep brain stimulation target in individuals with Parkinson's disease. Despite evidence indicating position-dependent therapeutic effects and distinct functions within the STN, the input circuit and cellular profile in the STN remain largely unclear. Using neuroanatomical techniques, we construct a comprehensive connectivity map of the indirect and hyperdirect pathways in the mouse STN. Our circuit- and cellular-level connectivities reveal a topographically graded organization with three types of indirect and hyperdirect pathways (external globus pallidus only, STN only, and collateral). We confirm consistent pathways into the human STN by 7 T MRI-based tractography. We identify two functional types of topographically distinct glutamatergic STN neurons (parvalbumin [PV+/-]) with synaptic connectivity from indirect and hyperdirect pathways. Glutamatergic PV+ STN neurons contribute to burst firing. These data suggest a complex interplay of information integration within the basal ganglia underlying coordinated movement control and therapeutic effects.

In order to show the best composition which gives water-resistance to Li-rich solid-solution layered oxide cathode materials for a water-based cathode preparation process, the water resistance of LLOs composed of xLi2MnO3―yLiNi1/2Mn1/2O2—(1-x-y)LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 was examined by comparing the charge/discharge cycle results obtained with the cathodes prepared with organic solvent-based and water-based binders. The composition area where the percentage content of Li2MnO3 is 70–75% was found to show both high charge/discharge capability and water resistance. In addition, by analyzing why this composition of Li2MnO3 exhibits high water resistance, it has become apparent that the oxidation states of Mn ions and existence of Co ions on the surface of LLOs are the key factors in inhibiting the dissolution of Mn and Ni ions from the LLO surfaces, and finally leading to their high water resistance.

Titanium oxide (TiOx) coating was treated on a surface of LiNiaCobAl1-a-bO2 (a > 0.85, NCA) cathode material, which exhibited high capacity of 200 mAhg−1, but the charge/discharge capacity of which degraded seriously after contacting with water, to use the NCA with a water-based binder in the cathode preparation of lithium ion battery. The formation of TiOx layer on the NCA surface was conducted using a wet method and the TiOx layer formed was characterized with scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS): The TiOx coating layer is 2–3 nm in thickness and Ti atoms are distributed over the whole NCA particle surface. The cathode electrode fabricated with TiOx-coated NCA and water-based TRD202A binder was found to compete in terms of cycle and rate performance with the cathode composed of pristine NCA particle and organic solvent-based PVdF binder even after it was exposed in the water-based slurry for 7 days in the cathode preparation. The results demonstrate that TiOx-coated NCA particles are promising as cathode materials with a water-resistant property and therefore water can be used as solvent for preparing the cathode slurry solution in the fabrication of lithium ion battery cathodes.

Climate change is expected to increase regional variations in extreme weather events including drought, which will significantly affect forest ecosystem carbon cycles. Although studies on the resilience of forests to drought have been increasing, the resilience of carbon flux components and its underlying biophysical mechanism during and after drought are still poorly understood. In the present study, changes in carbon exchange in adjacent evergreen Korean pine and deciduous oak forests were investigated to compare the resilience of the two forests to drought from 2016 to 2018 using an eddy covariance technique. A severe drought occurred in spring and early summer 2017 due to substantially low rainfall since August 2016. Although there were no major differences in other environmental factors between both sites during the drought, soil moisture content (θ) in the pine site was up to 8.7% lower than that in the oak site. The drought resulted in a temporary net carbon source in the pine stand with 38% increase in ecosystem respiration (Reco) and 45% reduction in net ecosystem production (NEP). These changes were more conspicuous than the changes in the oak stand (+30% of Reco, −17% of NEP). Although Reco and NEP recovered in 2018 when θ at both sites was replenished by large amounts of precipitation, they did not fully recover to their 2016 level due to drought legacies with reduced leaf area and enhanced Reco. We conclude that evergreen Korean pine stands could be more vulnerable than deciduous oak stands to intense and frequent droughts in the future, and this may accelerate succession from coniferous to broadleaved species in temperate forests.

Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) provides us with new opportunities to understand the physiological and structural dynamics of vegetation from leaf to global scales. However, the relationships between SIF and gross primary productivity (GPP) are not fully understood, which is mainly due to the challenges of decoupling structural and physiological factors that control the relationships. Here, we report the results of continuous observations of canopy-level SIF, GPP, absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR), and chlorophyll: carotenoid index (CCI) in a temperate evergreen needleleaf forest. To understand the mechanisms underlying the relationship between GPP and SIF, we investigated the relationships of light use efficiency (LUEp), chlorophyll fluorescence yield (ΦF), and the fraction of emitted SIF photons escaping from the canopy (fesc) separately. We found a strongly non-linear relationship between GPP and SIF at diurnal and seasonal time scales (R2 = 0.91 with a hyperbolic regression function, daily). GPP saturated with APAR, while SIF did not. Also, there were differential responses of LUEp and ΦF to air temperature. While LUEp reached saturation at high air temperatures, ΦF did not saturate. We found that the canopy-level chlorophyll: carotenoid index was strongly correlated to canopy-level ΦF (R2 = 0.84) implying that ΦF could be more closely related to pigment pool changes rather than LUEp. In addition, we found that the fesc contributed to a stronger SIF-GPP relationship by partially capturing the response of LUEp to diffuse light. These findings can help refine physiological and structural links between canopy-level SIF and GPP in evergreen needleleaf forest.

The carbon-supported PtRuNi/C ternary electrocatalyst having a composition gradient shell was developed using the high-temperature heat treatment and polydopamine protective coating techniques. The fabricated catalyst is a CO-tolerant anode catalyst developed for use in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques were used to characterize the catalyst. The results revealed that high-temperature heat treatment led to atomic rearrangement in the shell, resulting in increased Pt content on the catalyst surface and an increased ratio of Ru and Ni in order. The Pt and Ru layers effectively prevent Ni leaching in the acidic environment of the PEMFCs. In addition, a protective coating of polydopamine suppresses the sintering of the catalyst particles when the high-temperature treatment technique is used for catalyst fabrication, thereby preventing the decrease of the active surface area of the catalyst. As a result of the change in the electronic structure of Pt induced by the underlying Ru and Ni atoms, the PtRuNi/C catalyst exhibited enhanced CO tolerance compared to the Pt/C and PtRu/C catalysts as proved by the results from the CO stripping voltammetry and PEMFC test.

We compared the medium-term results of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) performed using computer-assisted surgery (CAS) and conventional techniques in patients with extraarticular femoral deformities.The clinical and radiographic data of 40 knees (34 patients) with extraarticular femoral deformities that underwent consecutive CAS-TKA were compared with those of a control group that underwent conventional TKA (80 knees, 63 patients). No demographic data (in particular, the causes of the extraarticular deformities) differed between the two groups. The follow-up periods of the CAS and conventional TKA groups were 6.0 and 6.3 years, respectively.In the CAS group, the average knee score increased from 48.2 to 89.6 at the final follow-up (P .001); the average function score increased from 51.4 to 91.4. The range of motion averaged 105.5° preoperatively and 123.3° postoperatively. No significant differences were found in the knee score, function score, or range of motion after TKA between the 2 groups. The average preoperative mechanical axes were 18.1° varus in both groups. The average postoperative mechanical axis was 1.4° varus in the CAS group and 3.3° varus in the conventional TKA group (P = .001). The proportion of postoperatively aligned knees was 77.5% in the CAS group and 32.5% in the conventional group (P.001).Although the medium-term clinical results of TKA in extraarticular femoral deformities were satisfactory in both the CAS and conventional TKA groups, the former group exhibited more accurate postoperative coronal alignment. It was useful to employ navigation in patients with extraarticular deformities of various etiologies.

Water-resistant LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 2 spinel cathode was prepared by surface coating with carbon, Al 2 O 3 and Nb 2 O 5 to use a water-based hybrid polymer (TRD202A, JSR, Japan) as a binder and to form the cathode film on an Al current collector. The surface composition and degree of the surface coverage of carbon, Al 2 O 3 and Nb 2 O 5 were characterized with field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The coated LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 2 particles not only exhibited water-resistant property but also showed no decrease in discharge capacity and only a small degradation of discharge rate performance. In addition, the coated LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 2 particles, that were exposed to water-based binder solution for one week, exhibited the same charge/discharge cycle performance as observed for the cathode of the pristine LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 particles, suggesting that the coated particles are promising as cathode materials with a water-resistant property and therefore water can be used as solvent for preparing the cathode slurry solution in the place of e.g., carcinogenic N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone which is used actually.

In this paper new Value at Risk (VaR) model is proposed and investigated. We consider the multifractal property of financial time series and develop a multifractal Value at Risk (MFVaR). MFVaR introduced in this paper is analytically tractable and not based on simulation. Empirical study showed that MFVaR can provide the more stable and accurate forecasting performance in volatile financial markets where large loss can be incurred. This implies that our multifractal VaR works well for the risk measurement of extreme credit events.

A new hybrid redox flow V–Mn/V–Mn battery is introduced for enhancing the energy density of a V/V system. The energy density of the V–Mn/V–Mn system is high because the system has multiple redox reactions involving both V and Mn ions, and the operating cell potential increases owing to the high standard potential of the Mn(II)/Mn(III) reaction. Consequently, the discharge energy density is increased by 66.8% compared with that of the V/V system. Additionally, because the V–Mn/V–Mn system contains the same components in the negative and positive electrolytes, a reduction in energy density due to ion crossover with cycling can be achieved through a rebalancing process. The V–Mn/V–Mn system is not simply a mixture of V and Mn electrolytes but has a unique advantage. The presence of V ions reduces the particle size of the MnO2 produced by the disproportionation reaction during the charging process. The small MnO2 particles can flow into the cell together with the electrolyte and can be reduced to Mn ions. As a result, the reversibility and durability of the system are greatly improved. Therefore, the V–Mn/V–Mn system can complement the low energy density of the V/V system.

A new type of 3D gesture interface called Relative Pointing Interface (RelPoInt) is suggested in this study. RelPoInt allows users to select a virtual button by pointing to a relative position in a virtual 3D menu. This approach makes use of the distance or angle between the relative point and the reference point. Users can set the reference point freely and operate all the functions on the menu with a simple gesture. Microsoft Kinect was used to implement the RelPoInt in this study. To suggest a radial menu suitable for the RelPoInt, we conducted an experiment in which 20 participants were asked to point to virtual buttons, which were divided into four to eight regions. Errors and subjective assessment of easiness were measured at each treatment condition. RelPoInt can make users to manipulate functions without memorizing complicated gesture vocabularies, which is among the most serious pain points of using a gesture interface. Furthermore, RelPoInt does not require expensive gesture recognition equipment compared with finger recognition interfaces because the required resolution of interaction recognition is less sophisticated. It can be useful in applying 3D gesture interfaces to a variety of devices for smart home, virtual or augmented reality. Relevance to industry The proposed interface can be applied to various environments with low cost and easy to implement. Therefore, this interface is highly worthy of use in areas where gestures are useful to interact, such as IoT (Internet of Things) and VR (Virtual Reality)/AR (Augmented Reality).

We focus on time varying multifractality in time series and introduce a multifractal regime detecting method (MRDM) adopting a nonparametric statistical test for multifractality based on generalized Hurst exponent (GHE). MRDM is a practical method to discriminate multifractal regimes in a time series of any length using a moving time window approach with the adjustable time window size and the moving interval. MRDM is applied to simulations consisting of both multifractal and monofractal regimes, and the results confirm its validity. Using MRDM, we identify multifractal regimes in the time series of Korea composite stock price index (KOSPI) from 1990 through 2012 and observe the distinct stylized facts of the KOSPI return values in multifractal regimes such as the heavy tail distribution, high kurtosis, and the long memory in volatility. Surrogate tests based on improved amplitude adjusted Fourier transformation (IAAFT) algorithm, normal distribution, and generalized student t distribution are performed for the validation of MDRM, and the probable causes of multifractality in the KOSPI series are discussed.

The striatum receives and integrates multiple inputs from diverse areas in the brain and plays a critical role in the regulation of motor activity. However, whether the striatum is involved in the alteration of behavior in the presence of emotional challenges is unknown. Here, we examined whether alterations in the surface expression of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs) in the dorsal striatum would affect anxiety-related behaviors. We found that the transient expression of G1CT or G2CT, AMPAR-derived peptides, in the dorsomedial striatum led to decreased mobility in high-anxiety circumstances; however, the expression of these peptides in the dorsolateral striatum did not affect anxiety-related behavior. These data suggest that excitatory connections within the dorsomedial striatum play important roles in the control of motor actions in the presence of emotional challenges.

We propose a simple taper angle control technique which can be easily achieved by using conventional thin-film deposition and wet etching processes. Based on the proposed technique, the taper angle can be controlled below 30° by varying the thickness of the shade layer which will support the top layer by means of the thin-film stiction phenomenon. By applying the proposed technique to the thin-film line resistor structure, we can confirm that variations of the resistance and the heat generation of the thin-film line formed cross the shade structured multiple thin-film line bumps can be suppressed below 6%, while those of the line resistor formed over multiple line bumps without the shade layer are increased by 54.5% and 246.6%, respectively.

Investigating the effect of touch-key size on usability of In-Vehicle Information Systems (IVISs) is one of the most important research issues since it is closely related to safety issues besides its usability. This study investigated the effects of the touch-key size of IVISs with respect to safety issues (the standard deviation of lane position, the speed variation, the total glance time, the mean glance time, the mean time between glances, and the mean number of glances) and the usability of IVISs (the task completion time, error rate, subjective preference, and NASA-TLX) through a driving simulation. A total of 30 drivers participated in the task of entering 5-digit numbers with various touch-key sizes while performing simulated driving. The size of the touch-key was 7.5 mm, 12.5 mm, 17.5 mm, 22.5 mm and 27.5 mm, and the speed of driving was set to 0 km/h (stationary state), 50 km/h and 100 km/h. As a result, both the driving safety and the usability of the IVISs increased as the touch-key size increased up to a certain size (17.5 mm in this study), at which they reached asymptotes. We performed Fitts' law analysis of our data, and this revealed that the data from the dual task experiment did not follow Fitts' law.

We report on the design and fabrication methods for a hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film transistors (TFTs) on a non-planar substrate using laser-write lithography (LWL). Level-to-level alignment with a high accuracy is demonstrated using LWL method. The fabricated a-Si:H TFT exhibits a field-effect mobility of 0.27 cm2/V s, threshold voltage of 4.9 V and on/off current ratio of not, vert, similar6 × 106 in a saturation regime. The obtained results demonstrate that it is possible to fabricate the a-Si:H TFTs and complex circuitry on a curved surface, using a well-established a-Si:H TFT technology in combination with the maskless lithography, for hemispherical or non-planar sensor arrays.

Energy is the most crucial but scarce resource in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). A wealth of MAC protocols are proposed only to prolong the network lifetime for energy-efficiency; whereas, others are tailored to reduce end-to-end latency in addition to extending the network lifetime. Since the requirements depend on the applications of the network, it would be difficult to design a single MAC that satisfies the wide range of applications. Specifically, some WSNs are required to survive for a certain lifetime because of too expensive deployment cost (e.g., harsh or hostile environments) to replace the energy-depleted sensor nodes. Furthermore, the portion of surviving sensor nodes can be a critical factor to satisfy the quality of surveillance (QoSv) requirements. In this paper, we propose a new adaptive MAC (A-MAC) protocol that not only guarantees the pre-configured network lifetime but also reduces the end-to-end latency. Basically, each sensor node adapts its duty cycle depending on the traffic load it suffers. By doing so, the energy consumption rate of each node approaches to the ideal energy consumption rate, which enables the node to survive for the pre-configured lifetime. Also, if a node suffers relatively less load, it can reduce the sleep delay by increasing its duty cycle. Analysis and simulation results exhibit that the proposed protocol shows less delay than S-MAC [W. Ye, J. Heidemann, D. Estrin, Medium access control with coordinated adaptive sleeping for wireless sensor networks, in: IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, vol. 12, No. 3, June 2004.] while meeting the network lifetime requirements.