Taste Visualization Technique for Online Food Shopping Malls: Development and Application

The main goal of this study is to visualize tastes of foods and agro-products to reduce the uncertainty of purchasing of them in online shopping malls. To accomplish the goal, we select two Korean traditional foods; Kimchi and Gochujang, develop the criteria for visualization of their tastes, choose about ten products for each food that are on sale in the online shopping malls, make visualization tables and apply them to the real shopping mall. And then, we contrast the customer satisfaction, purchasing pattern, and sales of both before and after applying the taste visualization tables

The moral foundations of cryptocurrency: evidence from Twitter and survey research

Despite its relatively brief history, cryptocurrency has already had a profound impact on the economy, with some predicting that it will eventually replace traditional fiat currencies. Historically, it had dark associations with illegal activities in the early days, although perceptions and associations likely have, in recent years, changed for the better. Thus, understanding how people perceive the morality of cryptocurrency currently forms the motivation of the current research. We, in particular, examine associations dependent on political ideology. Across both a large-scale analysis of Twitter posts (N = 959,393) and controlled survey research (N = 487), we find that cryptocurrency is currently best understood as being more strongly linked to conservative vs. liberal moral foundations. Cryptocurrency-related posts were more likely to express conservative moral foundations (Authority, Purity, and Loyalty) rather than liberal moral foundations (Fairness and Care), and individual endorsement of these conservative moral foundations was associated with increased interest in crypto investment

LsrR-Mediated Quorum Sensing Controls Invasiveness of Salmonella typhimurium by Regulating SPI-1 and Flagella Genes

Bacterial cell-to-cell communication, termed quorum sensing (QS), controls bacterial behavior by using various signal molecules. Despite the fact that the LuxS/autoinducer-2 (AI-2) QS system is necessary for normal expression of Salmonella pathogenicity island-1 (SPI-1), the mechanism remains unknown. Here, we report that the LsrR protein, a transcriptional regulator known to be involved in LuxS/AI-2-mediated QS, is also associated with the regulation of SPI-1-mediated Salmonella virulence. We determined that LsrR negatively controls SPI-1 and flagella gene expressions. As phosphorylated AI-2 binds to and inactivates LsrR, LsrR remains active and decreases expression of SPI-1 and flagella genes in the luxS mutant. The reduced expression of those genes resulted in impaired invasion of Salmonella into epithelial cells. Expression of SPI-1 and flagella genes was also reduced by overexpression of the LsrR regulator from a plasmid, but was relieved by exogenous AI-2, which binds to and inactivates LsrR. These results imply that LsrR plays an important role in selecting infectious niche of Salmonella in QS dependent mode

Laddered motivations of external whistleblowers: The truth about attributes, consequences, and values

The purpose of this study was to explore the motivational structures of external whistleblowers involved in the decision to blow the whistle by applying MEC theory and the laddering technique. Using both soft and hard laddering methods, data were collected from 37 Korean external whistleblowers. Results revealed that the means-end chain of external whistleblow-ers was the hierarchical linkage among two concrete attributes (the power of external whistleblowing to make changes and its warning about the seriousness of wrongdoing to the public), two functional consequences (correcting a wrongdoing and making those who violated laws admit their offenses), and one terminal value (the truth). The extant whistleblowing literature has either made assumptions about whistleblowers’ motivations when developing models or has drawn indirect inferences from measures of other variables. Our study is the first with an explicit and empirical focus on whistleblowers’ motivations. The findings provide evidence of the motivational structures of external whistleblowers that consist of a set of complex paths linked by multi-layered motivators. This research will be helpful in designing and reviewing whistleblowing programs for organizations, regulatory agencies, and journalists

EXPLORING THE ROLE OF SOMATIC MARKERS IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

The dissertation is composed of two papers, and attempts to draw a more complete picture of the processes underlying consumers’ emotional experiences by studying antecedents of somatic marker activation and the downstream impact of activated somatic states on consumer behavior. The first paper studies the downstream impact of activated somatic states on consumers’ experience of regret. This paper challenges the predominant view in the literature that regret is a cognitive emotion that stems from deliberation by showing that the experience of regret can stem from spontaneous bodily arousal. The second paper examines an antecedent and downstream consequences of somatic marker activation in a consumption setting. By examining how modes of payment (i.e., cash vs. card) impact the activation of somatic states and how the somatic states curb impulsive purchase intention, this paper contributes to the literature on mode of payment through more fundamental conceptualization of underlying emotional processes

Robust control algorithm using time delay estimation for speed mode of twisted string actuator

Twisted string actuators (TSAs) have been used where conversion of the rotational motion of a motor into a translatory motion by twisting two strings to control the length of the actuator is needed, e.g., in robot applications. Speed mode TSA (SM-TSA) improves the translatory motion achieved in previous TSAs by adding a shaft between two strings. However, the nonlinear response of the translatory displacements remains a problem. Modeling has been one approach, but payload changes or disturbances make it difficult to solve the nonlinear response of SM-TSA through modeling. Here, proportional–integral–derivative (PID) control and time delay control (TDC) in SM-TSA are evaluated as feedback mechanisms during translatory displacements. By following the desired trajectory through PID control and TDC under conditions of payload changes and spring disturbances in SM-TSA and evaluating tracking results, we show that both control methods can provide somewhat precise positional control in SM-TSA even if there are payload changes or spring disturbances. However, TDC shows smaller tracking errors and yields more robust performance against payload changes and disturbances compared to PID control. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd1

Magnetically steerable manipulator with variable stiffness using graphene polylactic acid for minimally invasive surgery

For manipulators used in minimally invasive surgery (MIS), variable stiffness and miniaturization are very important characteristics. However, previously proposed mechanisms are difficult to miniaturize due to large and complex structures; thus, they do not achieve variable stiffness characteristics, consequently being difficult to be applied to manipulators used in MIS. In this study, we proposed a manipulator that can be magnetically steered by a permanent magnet at the end and can have variable stiffness characteristics by a phase transition of graphene polylactic acid (GPLA). Thus, the proposed manipulator is easy to fabricate and miniaturize as a magnetic steering MIS manipulator. To verify the magnetic steering and variable stiffness performances of the proposed manipulator, various basic experiments and analysis simulations were executed. In addition, by applying the discriminating properties of the proposed manipulator (magnetic steering, variable stiffness), we can construct a double-segment manipulator with variable stiffness and verify its implementation in postures which are difficult to achieve in other MIS manipulators. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.1