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전극 발생 전하량의 허수부 Key Words: Vibration Energy Harvesting(진동 에너지 수확), Piezoelectric(압전), Diagonal Segment(대각선 분할), Mode Sequence Change(모드 순서 변경) 초록: 본 연구에서 제안한 압전 진동 에너지 수확 장치는 기존 외팔보의 직사각형 면이 대각선을 따라 분할되어 2개의 에너지 수확 단위로 구성되어 있다. 부 구조물은 주 구조물이 진동 에너지 원에 부착되는 방향과 반대 방향으로 주 구조물의 끝단에 부착되어 있으며, 각 에너지 수확 단위는 폐회로 상태의 고유 진동수가 일치하도록 설계되었다. 동일한 고유 진동수를 갖는 2개의 구조물이 연결될 때 관찰되는 일반적인 현상과 달리, 제안된 구조에서는 고유 진동수 분리가 작으며, 1차 및 2차 모드의 순서가 바뀌어 나타난다. 이로 인해 출력 전력 역시 특정 주파수 근처에서 집중 생성된다. 상용 유한 요소 해석 소프트웨어를 사용하여 제안된 진동 에너지 수확 장치의 최대 생성 전력이 동일한 설치 영역 및 끝단 질량을 갖는 기존 외팔보 형태의 장치에 비해 실질적으로 향상됨을 보였다. Abstract: This study proposes a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester composed of two diagonally segmented energy harvesting units. An auxiliary structural unit is attached to the tip of a host structural unit cantilevered to a vibrating base, where the two components have beam axes in opposite directions from each other and matched short-circuit resonant frequencies. Contrary to the usual observations in two resonant frequency-matched structures, the proposed structure shows little eigenfrequency separation and yields a mode sequence change between the first two modes. These lead to maximum power generation around a specific frequency. By using commercial finite element software, it is shown that the magnitude of the output power from the proposed vibration energy harvester can be substantially improved in comparison with those from conventional cantilevered energy harvesters with the same footprint area and magnitude of a tip mass.

A cantilevered piezoelectric energy harvester(PEH) and an auxiliary mass-spring unit can be integrated into a novel two-degrees-of-freedom PEH where its lowest eigenmode is not an in-phase modes but an out-of-phase mode. This typical behavior was shown to enhance output power considerably compared with its stand-alone counterpart. The objective of this study is to newly develop a continuum-based mathematical model suitable for efficient analysis of the mode-sequence reversed PEH. Once such a mathematical model is available, various physical behaviors can be analytically investigated for better designs. After a new mathematical model is developed, its validity is checked by using ANSYS results, in terms of resonant frequency, open-circuit voltage, and output power with a specified external resistance.

There are widespread tidal flats along the southwestern coast of Korea. At the provincial level, Jeonnam region has the largest tidal flat area, of which the main part is located in Shinan-gun, a municipality consisting of only islands. This area, including its tidal flats, has a high species diversity as well as a high cultural. However, the various important ecological functions of tidal flats are not recognized, as in most cases the tidal flats are utilized simply as reclaimed land. During the period of Japanese colonialism in the 20th century large-scale reclamation of tidal flats took place in Shinan-gun, and rice was produced on the land that was reclaimed. From the standpoint of ecological services, tidal flats can be more than agricultural fields. Even though tidal flats have not yet been analyzed from the cultural perspective so much, their value can be expected to be very high. As an aggregation of a variety of ecological functions that occur by ecological processes, tidal flats have the better value in terms of ecological services than other land uses. This new, richer understanding of the value of tidal flats should be a stimulus to maximize its value by thoughtful landscape management and planning.

BACKGROUND: Nitroxoline is an antibiotic agent. It is used for the treatment of the second bacterial infection by the colibacillosis, salmonellosis and viral disease of the poultry. When the nitroxoline is indiscreetly used, the problem about the abuse of the antibiotics can occur. Therefore, this study presented the residue analytical method of nitroxoline in food for the safety management of animal farming products. METHODS AND RESULTS: A simple, sensitive and specific method for nitroxoline in chicken muscle by high performance liquid chromatograph with PDA was developed. Sample extraction with acetonitrile, purification with SPE cartridge (MCX) were applied, then quantitation by HPLC with C18 column under the gradient condition with 0.1 % tetrabutylammonium hydroxide-phosphoric acid and methanol was performed. Standard calibration curve presented linearity with the correlation coefficient () > 0.999, analysed from 0.02 to 0.5 mg/L concentration. Limit of quantitation in chicken muscle showed 0.02 mg/kg, and average recoveries ranged from 72.9 to 88.1 % in chicken muscle. The repeatability of measurements expressed as coefficient of variation (CV %) was less than 12 % in 0.02 and 0.04 mg/kg. CONCLUSION(S): Newly developed method for nitroxoline in chicken muscle was applicable to food inspection with the acceptable level of sensitivity, repeatability and reproducibility.

The awareness of potential slip risk has been shown to cause protective changes to human gait during overground walking. It remains unknown if such adaptations to walking pattern also exist when ambulating on a treadmill. This study sought to determine whether and to what extent individuals, when being aware of a potential slip risk during treadmill walking, could adjust their gait pattern to improve their dynamic stability against backward balance loss in response to the impending slip hazard. Fifty-four healthy young subjects (age: 23.9±4.7years) participated in this study. Subjects' gait pattern was measured under two conditions: walking on a treadmill without (or normal walking) and with (or aware walking) the awareness of the potential slip perturbation. During both walking conditions, subjects' full body kinematics were gathered by using a motion capture system. Spatial gait parameters and the dynamic gait stability against backward balance were compared between the two walking conditions. The results revealed that subjects proactively adopted a "cautious gait" during aware walking compared with the normal walking. The cautious gait, which was achieved by taking a shorter step and a more flatfoot landing, positioned the body center of mass closer to the base of support, improving participants' dynamic stability and increasing their resistance against a possible slip-related fall. The finding from this study could provide insights into the dynamic stability control when individuals anticipate potential slip risk during treadmill walking.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the body of literature concerning human factors in retail environments and their influence on consumers. Additionally, the authors identify the research gaps in the literature and suggest directions for future research.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses qualitative approaches to provide a comprehensive review of human factors in retail environments.FindingsThe review is synthesised based on two main categories: the effects of other customers and the effects of sales associates. The influence of other customers, including the number of customers and social relations, is a significant source of human‐related environmental cues. In addition, existing studies support the importance of the number of sales associates, sales associates' physical attributes, and their behavioural characteristics observed in stores.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that retailers need to effectively manage, control and manipulate human‐related environmental factors in order to generate a positive influence on consumers' perceptions towards stores and their behaviours.Originality/valueThis study provides a conceptual framework that integrates various human‐related factors in retail environments and their significant insights in the effective management of these factors identified for researchers and retailers.

For most applications of the vibration energy harvesting technology as in wireless sensor networks for smart buildings and plants, the evaluation of DC output performance of vibration energy harvesters is typically required. However, there is no dedicated algorithm for the evaluation. The lack of a dedicated algorithm results from difficulties in the direct incorporation of nonlinear rectifying and regulating circuitry into finite element models of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters. In this study, we develop a dedicated algorithm and present software based on it for the evaluation of not only AC but also DC electrical quantities. Here, an equivalent electrical circuit model is employed. The COMSOL multiphysics simulation tool is adopted for extracting equivalent electrical circuit parameters of a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester and MATLAB is used to make a graphical user interface. The AC voltage and power outputs calculated by the proposed algorithm under various conditions are compared with those by a traditional finite element analysis. The DC output voltage and power through a rectifier are obtained for varying values of smoothing capacitance and external resistance.

In four experiments, participants made a purchase decision about a counterfeit product under either constrained or unconstrained cognitive resource conditions. Participants were less likely to purchase the counterfeit when their cognitive resources were constrained than when they were not. However, this difference was evident only when individuals had strong (vs. weak) moral beliefs, or when they had low (vs. high) accountability for their decisions. These and other results suggest that the effect of cognitive resource availability on counterfeit purchase was mediated by participants’ perceptions of justification about the purchase.

The rapid urbanization in developing countries is accelerating both the depletion and fragmentation of urban green space, despite the known positive effects of green spaces on the environmental conditions in cities and the quality of life of residents. Consequently, there is a need for practical tools that can support the development of networks of urban green spaces. This article presents a study that used a GIS-based least cost path (LCP) analysis to identify the best alternative for developing an urban green space network in the coastal city of Jakarta, Indonesia, which was based on the evaluation of topography and land use characteristics. Pair-wise analysis was used to reduce the sensitivity in the LCP model. The results showed that the coastal wetlands in the northern part of Jakarta and the agricultural fields in the suburban areas of Jakarta play an important role in connecting the green space network. On the other hand, some green spaces in the central part of Jakarta could not be connected by the LCP model. The method used in this study can serve as a tool to support the identification of networks of potential urban green spaces. It can also provide useful information for sustain able urban landscape planning and management in urban ecosystems. However, the inclusion of socio-economic criteria would further improve the model.

The objective of this work is to find an optimal actuator arm configuration in hard disk drives (HDD's) for sufficiently small arm bending-induced off-track error by maximizing the fundamental eigenfrequency of arm bending modes subject to a constraint on the mass moment of inertia of arms. By applying the topology optimization method for the purpose, an arm configuration having two balancing holes instead of a single balancing hole in conventional designs was obtained. It is numerically shown that an optimized arm configuration substantially increases the arm bending resonant frequency with little change in the mass moment of inertia of arms in comparison with conventional designs having a single balancing hole. Finally, the performance of an optimized actuator arm is verified by showing that the eigenfrequencies associated with arm bending modes are increased by about 100 Hz and the off-track error by measuring the position error signal (PES) from actual sample drives can be reduced by as much as 25%.

This research was focused on investigating why some consumers might support cause-related marketing campaigns for reasons other than personal benefit by examining the influence of moral emotions and cultural orientation. The authors investigated the extent to which moral emotions operate differently across a cultural variable (US versus Korea) and an individual difference variable (self-construal). A survey method was utilised. Data were collected from a convenience sample of US (n = 180) and Korean (n = 191) undergraduates. Moral emotions significantly influenced purchase intention for a social-cause product. The influence of an ego-focused moral emotion (i.e., pride) on purchase intention was greater for US than Korean participants. The influence of another-focused moral emotion (i.e., guilt) on purchase intention was greater for high-interdependent participants than for low-interdependent participants. The findings of this research provide important and relevant implications to marketers and policy makers in developing persuasive messages and customer relationship programmes.

This work presents the application of the DFSS (Design for Six Sigma) methodology to optimizing both the linearity and the sensitivity of the output voltage of a Hall-effect rotary position sensor. To this end, the dimensions and relative positions of a permanent magnet with reference to a Hall sensor are selected as the design factors for a full factorial design. In order to evaluate the output voltage of the rotary position sensor at each run in the experimental design, analytical solutions to the magnetic flux density were obtained using the Biot-Savart law and the relations between the magnetic flux density and the output voltage intrinsic to a Hall sensor. Through measurements of the improved output voltage of the rotary position sensors manufactured using the optimized design factors, the proposed method is shown to be simple and practical.

This investigation presents a finite element method to obtain the transmission properties of bulk elastic waves in piezoelectric band gap structures(phonon crystals) for varying frequencies and modes. To this end, periodic boundary conditions are imposed on a three-dimensional model while both in-plane and out-of-plane modes are included. In particular, the mode decoupling characteristics between in-plane and out-of-plane modes are identified for each electric poling direction and the results are incorporated in the finite element modeling. Through numerical simulations, the proposed modeling method was found to be a useful, effective one for analyzing the wave characteristics of various types of piezoelectric phononic band gap structures.

Land-use changes due to the socio-economic environment influence landscape patterns and processes, which affect habitats and biodiversity. This study considers the effects of such land-use changes, particularly on the traditional rural “Maeul” forested landscape, by analyzing landscape structure and vegetation changes. Three study areas were examined that have seen their populations decrease and age over the last few decades. Five types of plant life-forms (Raunkier life-forms) were distinguished to investigate ecosystem function. Principle component analysis was used to understand vegetation dynamics and community characteristics based on a vegetation similarity index. Ordination analysis transformed species-coverage data was introduced to clarify vegetation dynamics. Landscape indices, such as area metrics, edge metrics, and shape metrics, showed that spatial heterogeneity has increased over time in all areas. Pinus densiflora was the main land-use plant type in all study areas but decreased over time, whereas Quercus spp. increased. Over a decade, P. densiflora communities shifted to deciduous oak and plantation. These findings indicate that the impact of human activities on the Maeul landscape is twofold. While forestry activities caused heavy disturbances, the abandonment of traditional human activities has led to natural succession. Furthermore, it can be concluded that the type and intensity of these human impacts on landscape heterogeneity relate differently to vegetation succession. This reflects the cause and consequence of patch dynamics. We discuss an approach for sustainable landscape planning and management of the Maeul landscape based on traditional management.

Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) can be performed under local anesthesia with intravenous analgesics. To define the incidence of piriformis syndrome (PS) after PELD via the posterolateral approach under local anesthesia compared to that of general patients presenting with low back pain with/without lower leg pain. The incidence and time of occurrence of positive FAIR test after PELD within a 3-month follow-up period were evaluated retrospectively, and compared with the prevalence of general patients who visited the pain clinic for LBP with/without lower leg pain. Factors that may increase the incidence of PS after PELD were also evaluated. There was no patient with positive FAIR test immediately after PELD in the operation room and before walking. The prevalence of PS in general patients was 317/2,320 (13.7%); however, the incidence of PS after PELD within a 3-month follow-up period was 61/151 (40.4%), peaking at 32 days. High anxiety scale scores during operation led to increased incidence of PS after PELD. PELD under local anesthesia with high level of anxiety may increase the incidence of PS after walking, peaking around the first month, compared with the results for general patients with low back pain with/without lower leg pain.

Unlike single-physics static structural problems, the topology optimization of piezoelectric systems involves three different material coefficient groups, such as the mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical coefficient groups, which correspondingly necessitate three values of penalty exponents. Earlier investigations have shown that stable convergence cannot be ensured if the exponents are selected arbitrarily or based simply on typical rules used for static structural problems. Here, stable convergence implies that the use of more materials can yield better system performance and a distinct void–solid distribution is favored over an intermediate material distribution during the optimization process. However, no rule for choosing the values of penalty exponents has yet been studied for piezoelectric systems and in fact, they have been chosen mainly by trial and error. In this work, two conditions that the three penalty exponents must satisfy for stable convergence are derived for one-dimensional problems and their effectiveness for two-dimensional problems is investigated. The first condition is an intrinsic condition ensuring better energy conversion efficiency between mechanical and electric energy for more piezoelectric material usage and the second one is an objective-dependent condition favoring a distinct void–solid distribution over an intermediate material distribution for the same amount of piezoelectric material used. In this study, we consider the design of piezoelectric actuators, sensors and energy harvesters that can be analyzed by static analysis. Several numerical examples are solved to check the validity of the proposed conditions.

In recent years, there has been a stronger demand for the weight reduction of components of various portable electronic devices. This work is motivated by the need to reduce the weight of a camera shutter module without much decreasing the torque generated by its magnetic circuit. Because the camera shutter speed is most significantly affected by the torque, the magnitude of the generated torque should also be considered in the design for the weight reduction. Thus, we formulate the design problem as a torque maximization problem under various mass constraints. Specifically, we propose to formulate it as a topology optimization problem of magnetic circuits and find optimal shapes of yokes (and magnets) in the circuits. For the maximization formulation, the objective function is chosen as the average of clockwise and counterclockwise torques over a whole range of rotation angles of a magnet corresponding to the shutter opening angle. Limits on the mass of the yoke and magnet in a magnetic circuit are imposed as constraints. The torque generated by a magnetic circuit is calculated by the modified Maxwell stress tensor method. A series of mass constraint ratios is considered to investigate the effects of the mass usage on the magnitude of torque generated by optimized circuits. The region occupied by the yoke (and the magnet) is designated as a design domain, while coils are assumed to belong to a non-design domain. By demonstrating that the optimized magnetic circuits outperform a nominal circuit, the use of the average torque as an objective function including a corresponding treatment of a rotating magnet proposed in this work is shown to be effective for the topology optimization of magnetic circuits in a camera shutter module.

Among the diverse strategies that businesses use to maximize sales, the customer-salesperson relationship as an aspect of relationship marketing has been reported as one of the most critical (O’Malley and Tynan, 1998). Although relationship marketing has been emphasized across various business settings, this strategy works particularly well in luxury markets for a number of reasons. For example, brands offering high involvement products (i.e., luxury brand products) focus on relationship marketing rather than those offering low involvement products (Martin, 1998). Previous researchers have recognized the role of various customers attributes in sales interactions (Walker et al., 1977; Weitz, 1981). One customer attribute that may play a role in moderating the association between the strength of customer-salesperson relationship and sales effectiveness is a customer’s tendency to self-monitor (Snyder, 1974). This is due to the fact that an individuals’ self monitoring tendency has been recognized a...

The formation of biofilm (bacterial film) has been serious concerns in a wide variety of applications, because it is involved in many human and device-associated infections. We present a novel method of effectively and rapidly removing Escherichia coli (XL1-blue) biofilm from a silicon chip, using carbon dioxide aerosols. The aerosols were generated by adiabatic expansion of a high-pressure CO2 gas through a nozzle and they were applied to biofilms that had been grown for 24 h on silicon chips. We measured the percentage area cover of the bacteria from the scanning electron micrographs taken before and after applying the aerosols. The decrease in the percentage area cover, caused by the aerosols, was measured as several parameters such as the distance between the nozzle and the chip, the angle of the nozzle axis relative to the horizontal, CO2 stagnation pressure, rinsing solution, the aerosol exposure time, and drying time were varied. Nearly 100% of the biofilms were removed within 90 s whether the chip surfaces were very humid (no-drying) or dry (7 h-drying) immediately before applying the aerosols. This method has potential application to cleaning of a wide variety of bio-contaminated surfaces.

Inspired by mussel adhesive polydopamine (PDA), effective reinforcement of graphene-based liquid crystalline fibers to attain high mechanical and electrical properties simultaneously is presented. The two-step defect engineering, relying on bioinspired surface polymerization and subsequent solution infiltration of PDA, addresses the intrinsic limitation of graphene fibers arising from the folding and wrinkling of graphene layers during the fiber-spinning process. For a clear understanding of the mechanism of PDA-induced defect engineering, interfacial adhesion between graphene oxide sheets is straightforwardly analyzed by the atomic force microscopy pull-off test. Subsequently, PDA could be converted into an N-doped graphitic layer within the fiber structure by a mild thermal treatment such that mechanically strong fibers could be obtained without sacrificing electrical conductivity. Bioinspired graphene-based fiber holds great promise for a wide range of applications, including flexible electronics, multifunctional textiles, and wearable sensors.

Background Xenotransplantation using fresh porcine corneas has been suggested as a feasible alternative to overcome the shortage of human donor corneas. Successful long-term survival of grafts without evidence of xenozoonosis in clinically applicable pig-to-non-human primate corneal transplantation model has brought researchers close to human clinical trials. Accordingly, we aimed to prepare a clinical trial protocol to conduct the first corneal xenotransplantation. Methods We developed the clinical trial protocol based on international consensus statement on conditions for undertaking clinical trials of corneal xenotransplantation developed by the International Xenotransplantation Society. Detailed contents of the protocol have been modified with reference to comments provided by ophthalmologists and multidisciplinary experts, including an infectionist, an organ transplantation specialist, a clinical pharmacologist, a neuropsychiatrist, a laboratory medicine doctor, and a microbiologist. Results Two patients with bilateral legal corneal blindness (best-corrected visual acuity ≤20/200 in the better eye and ≤20/1000 in the candidate eye) or with (impending) corneal perforation will be enrolled. During the screening period, participants and their family members will have two separate deep consideration periods before signing informed consent forms. Each patient will undergo corneal xenotransplantation using fresh corneas from Seoul National University miniature pigs. Commercially available immunosuppressants will be administered and systemic infection prophylaxis will be performed according to the program schedule. After transplantation, each patient will be monitored at a specialized clinic to investigate safety up to 2 years and efficacy up to 1 year. Conclusions A detailed clinical trial protocol for the first corneal xenotransplantation reflecting the global guidelines is provided.

Department of International Culture Communication, Krasnoyarsk Pedagogical University, RussiaThe archipelago in the southwest sea, Korea, was registered as Shinan Dadohae Biosphere Reserve by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Man and the Biosphere (UNESCO MAB) on May 26, 2009. This study was conducted to determine a method of reconciling natural and anthropogenic processes and to enable sustainable development in the vicinity of the Shinan Dadohae Biosphere Reserve (SDBR). To accomplish this, the characteristics of SDBR with respect to biodiversity and cultural diversity were evaluated. In addition, a management plan regarding the wise use of the SDBR was developed while focusing on four parts: cultural support to induce motivation for native con-servation and development; development and specification of fisheries and cultivation based on local community sys-tems; restructuring of marine food products and resource transporting systems; activation and discovery of indigenous knowledge to enable networking between local residents, academia and the UNESCO-international society. Keywords: biodiversity, island culture, Shinan Dadohae Biosphere Reserve, sun-dried salt, sustainable development, tidal flat, UNESCO

초록: 진동 에너지 기반의 압전 에너지 수확 장치는 외부 가진력의 주파수가 장치의 고유 진동수 (또는 공진 주파수)와 일치하는 경우 최대 전력을 발생시키지만, 이를 벗어난 주파수 대역에서는 전력 발생량이 급격히 감소한다. 그런데, 에너지 수확 장치의 고유 진동수는 시간이 지남에 따라 변할 수 있으며, 가진 주파수 역시 어떤 일정한 값에 항상 고정되어 있는 경우는 드물다. 따라서, 이를 해결하기 위해 본 연구에서는 일정한 공진 대역폭을 갖는 압전 에너지 수확 모듈을 제안하였고 해석 및 실험을 통하여 전기 출력에 대한 주파수 대역 특성을 파악하였다. 또한, 제안된 모듈을 구성하는 개별 에너지 수확 단위간의 전기적 연결 방법에 따라서 전기 출력이 최대화되는 공진 주파수가 조절될 수 있음을 보였다. Abstract: A vibration-powered piezoelectric energy harvester yields the maximum power output when its resonant frequency is made equal to the excitation frequency; however, the power output is dramatically decreased when the energy harvester is operated at off-resonance frequency. It has been observed that the resonant frequency of a piezoelectric energy harvester may change with time and that the excitation frequency often varies when the energy harvester is used in real applications. Hence, in this study, we propose a piezoelectric energy-harvesting module that is suitable for excitations in a certain frequency range. The frequency characteristics of the electrical output of the module are studied through analysis and experiment. A simple frequency tuning method is also suggested for the proposed energy-harvesting module; in this method, frequency tuning is achieved by changing the electrical connections between the constituent energy-harvesting units of the module.

The use of equivalent circuit models of piezoelectric energy harvesters is inevitable when power circuitry including rectifying and smoothing circuit elements is connected to them for evaluating DC electrical outputs. This is because it is difficult to incorporate the electro-mechanical coupling resulting from the additional circuitry into the conventional finite element analysis. Motivated by this observation, we propose a method to accurately extract the equivalent circuit parameters by using commercially available FEM software such as ANSYS which provides three-dimensional AC piezoelectric analysis. Then the equivalent circuit can be analyzed by circuit simulators such as SimPowerSystems TM of MATLAB. While the previous works have estimated the circuit parameters by experimental measurements or by analytical solutions developed only for limited geometries and boundary conditions, the proposed method has no such limitation because piezoelectric energy harvesters of any shapes and boundary conditions can be treated in FEM software. For the verification of the proposed method, multi-modal AC electrical power output by using a corresponding equivalent circuit is compared with that by ANSYS. The proposed method is then shown to be very useful in the subsequent evaluation of DC electrical output which is obtained by attaching a bridge diode and a storage capacitor to a piezoelectric energy harvester.

We present the design, including an experimental demonstration, of an acoustic metamaterial panel aimed at reducing incoming broadband noise in the audible frequency range while allowing an incoming fluid to pass through the holes formed in the panel. The noise reduction performance of the proposed acoustic metamaterial panel is attributed to an array of annular cavities enclosing the fluid passage holes. The acoustic behavior of the acoustic metamaterial panel is theoretically analyzed by the transfer matrix method, and an equivalent acoustic impedance of each annular cavity is included with its effective length in the derived transfer matrix. The effective bulk modulus for the acoustic metamaterial panel is then extracted from the transmission and reflection coefficients by using the retrieval method. It is shown that the frequency range of the negative effective bulk modulus coincides with the stop band of the acoustic metamaterial panel. The underlying physical mechanism for the negative effective bulk modulus is attributed to the out-of-phase motion of vibrating particles in adjacent annular cavities. A calculated transmission coefficient curve of the acoustic metamaterial panel is shown to be in good agreement with the measured one. The findings presented in this work should be useful in the design of a holey soundproof panel.

In an effort to better control bacterial biofilm, we examined the effects of various oxidative antimicrobial chemicals including silver, paraquat, hydrogen peroxide, and chlorine depending on the physiological status of cells in biofilm. The metabolically heterogeneous cells within colony biofilm were physically fractionated and the oxidative stress generated in each fraction was monitored by soxS and oxyS promoter reporter systems. Chlorine induced soxS to a greater degree in the dormant cells than active cells of biofilm. In addition, chlorine-dependent induction of soxS was more prominent in aerobically grown cells compared with anaerobically grown cells. On the contrary, the soxS induction by other chemicals such as paraquat and silver, and the oxyS induction by hydrogen peroxide were higher in active biofilm cells and aerobically grown cells. Our results suggest that chlorine might generate strong oxidative stress by direct modification of the 2Fe-2S cluster in an O(2)-independent manner, which provides the molecular basis of our previous report showing that chlorine has a more efficient killing effect on dormant cells in biofilm and cells grown under unaerobic conditions. This study shows that chlorine may be particularly promising for the control of anaerobic bacteria and biofilm where dormant cells are hard to control.

The quorum sensing (QS) inhibitors that antagonize TraR, a receptor protein for N-3-oxo-octanoyl-L-homoserine lactones (3-oxo-C8-HSL), a QS signal of Agrobacterium tumefaciens were developed. The structural analogues of 3-oxo-C8-HSL were designed by in silico molecular modeling using SYBYL packages, and synthesized by the solid phase organic synthesis (SPOS) method, where the carboxamide bond of 3-oxo-C8-HSL was replaced with a nicotinamide or a sulfonamide bond to make derivatives of N-nicotinyl-L-homoserine lactones or N-sulfonyl-L-homoserine lactones. The in vivo inhibitory activities of these compounds against QS signaling were assayed using reporter systems and compared with the estimated binding energies from the modeling study. This comparison showed fairly good correlation, suggesting that the in silico interpretation of ligand-receptor structures can be a valuable tool for the pre-design of better competitive inhibitors. In addition, these inhibitors also showed anti-biofilm activities against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Within the context of S–O–R framework, we examined whether consumers linked aspects of sales associate's appearance to their emotions, to the store's image, and to their purchases. Data was collected from undergraduates (n=65). Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire immediately after completing a shopping trip for apparel, shoes, or accessories in a specialty or department store. Participants noted being influenced by associate's appearance as reflected in their appearance-oriented comments and their evaluative comments. Associate appearance cues referenced by participants varied depending on whether participants were asked about their emotions, store image, or their purchases.

Many studies have examined the relationship between the built environment and health. Yet, the question of how and why the environment influences health behavior remains largely unexplored. As health promotion interventions work through the individuals in a targeted population, an explicit understanding of individual behavior is required to formulate and evaluate intervention strategies. Bringing in concepts from various fields, this paper proposes the use of an activity-based modeling approach for understanding and predicting, from the bottom up, how individuals interact with their environment and each other in space and time, and how their behaviors aggregate to population-level health outcomes.

To facilitate accurate control of the amount of the transmitted light to a micro-display projection TV, the voltage output from a magnetic rotation sensor should vary linearly with aperture motion. Higher sensor sensitivity is also preferred. The sensor in consideration consists of a magnet, an aperture mechanism and a magnetic sensor. Because the magnet attached to the aperture generates magnetic field, which works as the source of the voltage change in the sensor, the sensor performance is most significantly affected by the magnet configuration. Thus, this investigation aims to find the optimal magnet configuration that can maximize the sensitivity and enhance the linearity of the magnetic rotation sensor. Instead of a common cylindrical magnet, two oppositely polarized magnets are considered as a candidate configuration. As a means to find the optimal magnets, the design problem is formulated as a topology optimization problem. When the present formulation is employed and an iterative optimization process is completed, a pair of oppositely polarized crescent shaped-magnets are found. To verify the superior performance of the optimized magnets, a series of numerical simulations are carried out. The physics to explain why the optimized magnets perform better than the nominal is also given.

Inhibitors of 3OC12, an initial signal molecule of the quorum sensing (QS) signaling cascade in Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been developed. Eight inhibitor candidates were synthesized by substituting the head part of 3-oxododecanoyl-homoserine lactone (3OC12) with different aromatic rings, and their docking poses and scores (binding energies) were predicted by in silico modeling study. All compounds gave better docking scores than 3OC12 and good inhibition effects on LasR activity in the in vivo bioassay. Like the modifications in the tail part of 3OC12 in our previous study Kim et al. (2008), the head-part modifications also showed inhibition activity in a fairly good proportion to the docking scores from the modeling analysis. This implies that the head part of 3OC12 also contributes significantly to forming the active conformation of the LasR-3OC12 complex, and its modification could effectively induce the inactive conformation of the complex. We suggest that the head part of 3OC12 is also a good target moiety to develop the structure-based Pseudomonas QS inhibitors.

We examined the direct effects of moral judgment, moral intensity, and moral affect, specifically shame and guilt, on undergraduates' purchase intent concerning counterfeits, gray-market products, and imitations. The indirect effects of moral intensity, shame, and guilt on moral judgment were also investigated. A between subjects experiment was designed and participants ( n = 313) responded to a scenario. For both the counterfeit and imitation products, moral judgment had a significant negative effect on purchase intent. Moral intensity had no significant effect on purchase intent for all product types but it had significant positive influence on moral judgment for all product types. Guilt had a significant negative influence on purchase intent for gray-market products and a positive influence on moral judgment for all product types. In addition, moral judgment mediated the impact of guilt on intent to purchase gray-market products.

Dense phase carbon dioxide (DPCD) is one of the most promising techniques available to control microorganisms as a non-thermal disinfection method. However, no study on the efficiency of biofilm disinfection using DPCD has been reported. The efficiency of DPCD in inactivating Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm, which is known to have high antimicrobial resistance, was thus investigated. P. aeruginosa biofilm, which was not immersed in water but was completely wet, was found to be more effectively inactivated by DPCD treatment, achieving a 6-log reduction within 7 min. The inactivation efficiency increased modestly with increasing pressure and temperature. This study also reports that the water-unimmersed condition is one of the most important operating parameters in achieving efficient biofilm control by DPCD treatment. In addition, observations by confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed that DPCD treatment not only inactivated biofilm cells on the glass coupons but also caused detachment of the biofilm following weakening of its structure as a result of the DPCD treatment; this is an added benefit of DPCD treatment.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the susceptibility of active and dormant cell populations from Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms to non-antibiotic antimicrobial agents such as chlorine, hydrogen peroxide and silver ions in comparison with antibiotics. Methods: Active cells in colony biofilm were differentially labelled by induction of a green fluorescent protein (GFP). Active and dormant cells were sorted in phosphate buffered solution by flow cytometry. Reductions in viability were determined with plate counts. Results: The spatial pattern of metabolic activity in colony biofilm was verified, and the active and dormant cells were successfully sorted according to the GFP intensity. Active cells had bigger cell size and higher intracellular density than dormant cells. While dormant cells were more tolerant to tobramycin and silver ions, active cells were more tolerant to chlorine. Metabolically active cells contain denser intracellular components that can react with highly reactive oxidants such as chlorine, thereby reducing the available concentrations of chlorine. In contrast, the concentrations of silver ions and hydrogen peroxide were constant during treatment. Aerobically grown stationary cells were significantly more tolerant to chlorine unlike other antimicrobial agents. Conclusions: Chlorine was more effective in inactivation of metabolically inactive dormant cells and also more effective under anaerobic conditions. The high oxidative reactivity and rapid decay of chlorine might influence the different antimicrobial actions of chlorine compared with antibiotics. This study contributes to understanding the effects of dormancy and the presence of oxygen on the susceptibility of P. aeruginosa biofilm to a wide range of antimicrobial agents.

The proinflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-6 has been proposed to be one of the mediators that link obesity-derived chronic inflammation with insulin resistance. Signaling through the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) has been found to impact insulin sensitivity under various pathological conditions, through serine phosphorylation and inhibition of insulin receptor substrate by the downstream effector of mTOR, ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (S6K1). However, an involvement of mTOR in IL-6-induced insulin resistance has not yet been reported. Here we show that rapamycin, the inhibitor of mTOR signaling, rescues insulin signaling and glycogen synthesis from IL-6 inhibition in HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells as well as in mouse primary hepatocytes. IL-6 activates S6K1 in these cells, but unexpectedly, S6K1 is not involved in IL-6 inhibition of insulin signaling, since the effect of IL-6 persists in cells with drastically reduced S6K1 levels induced by RNA interference, suggesting that the function of mTOR signaling is through a mechanism different from the prevailing model of S6K1 phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1. Interestingly, we find that the phosphorylation of STAT3 on Ser(727) and STAT3 transcriptional activity are regulated by mTOR upon IL-6 stimulation and that STAT3 is required for IL-6 inhibition of insulin signaling. Furthermore, IL-6-induced SOCS3 expression is inhibited by rapamycin, and ectopic expression of SOCS3 blocks the ability of rapamycin to enhance insulin sensitivity in the presence of IL-6. Taken together, we propose that mTOR plays a key role in IL-6-induced hepatic insulin resistance by regulating STAT3 activation and subsequent SOCS3 expression.

The Fenton reaction, which refers to the reaction between ferrous ions and hydrogen peroxide to produce the OH radical, has not been widely applied to the disinfection of microorganisms despite being economic and environmentally friendly. Cho et al. have previously proposed the neutral photo ferrioxalate system as a solution to the problems posed by the Fenton reaction in acidic conditions, 1) but this system still requires an external hydrogen peroxide supply. In the present study, we developed a simple disinfection technology using the photo or solar ferrioxalate reaction without the need for an external hydrogen peroxide supply. E. coli was employed as the indicating microorganism. The study results demonstrated the effectiveness of the photo ferrioxalate system in inactivating E. coli without any external hydrogen peroxide supply, as long as dissolved oxygen is supplied. Furthermore, the solar ferrioxalate system achieved faster inactivation of E. coli than an artificial light source at similar irradiance.

The necessity of disinfecting playground soil is an important issue, because pathogenic protozoa, bacteria, and parasite eggs remain viable for several months and can infect children. UV irradiation has been used to decontaminate water but its effectiveness on soil is unclear. We determined the efficacy of UV radiation for inactivation of an indicator bacteria, E. coli (strain ATCC 8739), on playground soil. While 99% inactivation of E. coli in the soil was readily achieved by UV radiation within 55 min at 0.4 mW cm-2, complete inactivation was not achieved, even after prolonged treatment at 4 mW cm-2. This was attributed to the irregular surface of the soil. A small number of E. coli escaped the UV radiation because they were situated in indentations or under small particles on the soil surface. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed that the surface characteristics of the soil is the major limiting factor in the inactivation of E. coli by UV radiation. Thus UV treatment may not be adequate for disinfecting some soils and should be carefully evaluated before being used on playground soils.

The feasibility of using the topology design method for structural damage identification was investigated. For efficient damage identification in a structure, we used not only resonances but also anti-resonances as the damage identifying modal parameters and set up a formulation suitable for damage identification. The use of anti-resonances as well as resonances made it possible to identify damage location more effectively because changes in mode shapes due to any damage can be indirectly represented by the changes in anti-resonances. Point-frequency response functions were used to facilitate the extraction of the anti-resonances of a damaged structure. A finite element model of an undamaged structure was assumed to be given. Since considerably many resonances and antiresonances were used for damage identification, they were stated as constraint equations in the present formulation. An explicit penalty function designed to suppress intermediate design variables was used as the objective function because it may be otherwise difficult to obtain clear black-andwhite images at the end of the identification process. When damage extent is not severe, it may be difficult to identify the damage location only with a single-stage application of the present topology optimization-based method. To overcome this difficulty, a multi-stage damage location identification scheme, which reduces the number of candidate damaged elements over several topology optimization stages, was proposed. With the multi-stage technique, relatively small-sized damages were identified accurately as compared with a single-stage application. Through numerical examples, the identification performance improvement by the additional consideration of anti-resonances was demonstrated and the effectiveness of the multi-stage identification technique was also confirmed.

We experimentally and theoretically demonstrate subwavelength scale localization of spoof surface plasmon polaritons at a point defect in a two-dimensional groove metal array. An analytical expression for dispersion relation of spoof surface plasmon polaritons substantiates the existence of a band gap where a defect mode can be introduced. A waveguide coupling method allows us to excite localized spoof surface plasmon polariton modes and measure their resonance frequencies. Numerical calculations confirm that localized modes can have a very small modal volume and a high Q factor both of which are essential in enhancing light-matter interactions. Interestingly, we find that the localized spoof surface plasmon polariton has a significant toroidal dipole moment, which is responsible for the high Q factor, as well as an electric quadrupole moment. In addition, the dispersion properties of spoof surface plasmon polaritons are analyzed using a modal expansion method and numerical calculations.

A novel series of polystyrene (PS) beads containing various sulfonamide groups was prepared, and their chemical stabilities in an aqueous solution were tested in order to determine their ability to inactivate microbes. By reacting aminomethyl polystyrene (AM PS) beads or carboxy polystyrene beads with various benzenesulfonic acid derivatives, the sulfonamide groups were introduced on the PS beads. The characteristics of the product beads were analyzed by elementary analysis after the substitution of various sulfonamide groups. Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), and FT-IR analysis were used to analyze the elemental functional group composition, respectively. The hydrolytic stabilities of the PS beads containing various sulfonamide groups along with the relationship between the swelling ratio and their hydrophilicity were investigated. The antibacterial activity of the beads was determined by their ability to inactivate E. coli. This study reports that PS beads containing sulfonamide groups had lasting antibacterial efficacy over a satisfactory period, whilst maintaining their chemical stabilities against hydrolysis. The 8 synthesized polymer beads exhibited antibacterial ability.

With a population of 1.12 million (in 2005) and an area of 741 km2, Hiroshima City is regarded as a metropolis in Japan. On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima became the first city in the world to have an atomic bomb dropped on it, and the delta area was completely destroyed. Almost all the vegetation was burnt and disappeared from the area. This paper summarizes the content and achievements of every campaign conducted throughout the period from the dropping of the bomb in 1945 until 2005. The achievements of the first to third greenery campaigns have been analyzed individually from the viewpoint of the social environmental management system (SEMS). The first campaign corresponds to the system-making stage of the SEMS, the second is the system-working stage, and the last was categorized as the self-management stage. Compared with the brown issue (abiotic environmental problem), the time needed to achieve the goals of each greenery campaign was much longer, because of a variety of struggles caused by urban development in the limited space of the delta area. A case study was conducted on the small parks in the deltaic urban zone in the master plan of greenery. Unexpectedly, new parks have fewer plants and simple structural diversity. Problems relating to the greenery policy and the future direction of biodiversity conservation in urban areas are also discussed in the post-third greenery campaign.

Landscape change in rural ecosystems is a major global issue because they are an important ecological and socio-cultural resource. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the driving forces behind landscape changes. Changes in the patterns and processes of landscape mosaics and vegetation community in two rural areas (Teokdong-ri, TD and Teokseong-ri, TS) in Korea were studied between 1988 and 2002. Quantitative data of vegetation community, landscape mosaics, and local statistics of the two study areas were analyzed. Agricultural efficiency increased even decreasing household population and the agricultural area. In both areas, as the human dependence on natural resources decreased, the patterns and processes of landscape mosaics and forest structure were changed due to changing human impacts on land use. Owing to the abandonment of forest management for 14 years, the spatial heterogeneity of TD significantly increased more than that of TS. In detrended correspondence analysis ordination, floristic compositions of forest patches of two areas were unevenly located on the ordination axes. Pinus densiflora communities of both areas in 1988 were separately located in 2002 as two directions according to management intensity. The species composition of P. densiflora in one direction of 1988 became similar to those of Quercus forests in 2002. This may be because species composition of P. densiflora has been influenced due to changed habitat environments. Finally, we concluded that the development of forest communities and vegetation succession predicted the spatial pattern of future landscape mosaics and due to the vegetation dynamics of rural ecosystems in Korea.

A feasibility of using the topology optimization method for structural damage identification is investigated for the first time. The frequency response functions (FRFs) are assumed to be constructed by the finite element models of damaged and undamaged structures. In addition to commonly used resonances, antiresonances are employed as the damage identifying modal parameters. For the topology optimization formulation, the modal parameters of the undamaged structure are made to approach those of the damaged structure by means of the constraint equations, while the objective function is an explicit penalty function requiring clear black-and-white images. The developed formulation is especially suitable for damage identification problems dealing with many modal parameters. Although relatively simple numerical problems were considered in this investigation, the possibility of using the topology optimization method for structural damage identification is suggested through this research.

Adiponutrin and a related protein, adipocyte triglyceride lipase (ATGL; also known as Desnutrin), were recently described as adipocyte-specific proteins with lipid hydrolase activity. Using bioinformatics, we identified three additional Adiponutrin family members (GS2, GS2-Like, and PNPLA1). Here, we report on the expression, regulation, and activity of GS2 and GS2-Like compared with Adiponutrin and Desnutrin/ATGL. GS2-Like is expressed and regulated in a manner similar to Adiponutrin; however, the absolute levels of mRNA are significantly lower than those of Adiponutrin or Desnutrin/ATGL. GS2 transcripts were identified only in humans and are highly expressed in adipose as well as other tissues. All four proteins show lipase activity in vitro, which is dependent on the presence of the active site serine for Adiponutrin, Desnutrin/ATGL, and GS2. Overexpression of Desnutrin/ATGL, GS2, and GS2-Like, but not Adiponutrin, decreases intracellular triglyceride levels. This is consistent with a function for Desnutrin/ATGL, GS2, and GS2-Like in lipolysis, but not for Adiponutrin. Consistent with previously reported data, Desnutrin/ATGL is upregulated by fasting in adipose tissue, whereas Adiponutrin is downregulated. Additionally, Adiponutrin and GS2-Like, but not Desnutrin/ATGL, are strongly induced in the liver of ob/ob mice. Our data support distinct functions for Adiponutrin and Desnutrin/ATGL and raise the possibility that GS2 may contribute significantly to lipolysis in human adipose tissue.