Beacon-based active media control interface in indoor ubiquitous computing environment

Springer Science + Business Media 2016 CLUSTER COMPUTING Vol.19 No.1

<P>In ubiquitous computing, diverse media technologies have recently been extensively researched and applied to various fields. The goal of media technologies is to improve our daily lives by enabling us to control activemedia devices such as smart phones, tablets, and TVs. The locations of users are important to providing a variety of services to users. In addition, given that all devices cannot be simultaneously utilized, and only one device is sometimes being used, the location information can be utilized to help determine one of the core active media devices at a specific instant in time. This paper proposes an active media-control interface that is based on location recognition methods using beacons in indoor ubiquitous computing. In the proposed environment, users have a beacon that denotes the location of each user. The one that is the nearest from the beacon is selected from among multiple active media devices for servicing. In the experiments, four access points and one beacon was used to validate the proposed method. The advantage of the proposed method is that it enables us to apply active media technology to indoor environments. By recognizing user locations in indoor environments, several kinds of active media services become available.</P>

Topic category analysis on twitter via cross-media strategy

Springer Science + Business Media 2016 MULTIMEDIA TOOLS AND APPLICATIONS Vol.75 No.20

<P>The growing popularity of social media provides a huge volume of social data including Tweets. These collections of social data can be potentially useful, but the extent of meaningful data in these collections has not been sufficiently researched, especially in South Korea Twitter data. In general, the South Korea Twitter data has been researched as a source of political media. Nonetheless, previous research on South Korea Twitter data has not adequately covered what kind of trend Twitter represents in terms of major topic categories such as politics, economics, or sports. In this paper, we present a cross-media approach to define the nature of South Korea Tweets by inferring the topic category distribution through short-text categorization. We select newspapers as cross-media, examine the categorization of news articles from major newspapers, and then train our classifier based on the features from each topic category. In addition, for grafting news topics onto South Korea Tweets, we propose a word clustering and filtering approach to exclude those words that do not provide semantic content for the topic categories. Based on the proposed procedures, we analyze the South Korea Tweets to determine the primary topic category focus of Twitter users. We observe the special behaviors of the South Korea Twitter users based on various parameters such as date, time slot, and day of the week. Because our research includes a macroscopic analysis of Twitter data using a cross-media strategy, our research can provide useful resources for other social media analysis as well.</P>

Uncovering stakeholders in public–private relations on social media: a case study of the 2015 Volkswagen scandal

Jung, K.,Chilton, K.,Valero, J. N. Springer Science + Business Media 2017 Quality & quantity Vol.51 No.3

<P>While researchers have focused on the nature of interpersonal communication on social media, few have investigated the patterns and structures of interactions among stakeholders engaged in an unexpected event. On September 18, 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation of the U.S. Clean Air Act to Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., citing Volkswagen's inappropriate software that circumvented the United States' emission standards. This research is systemically designed to examine the evolutionary structures of interpersonal issue networks on social media by focusing on the 2015 Volkswagen scandal on social media. The interpersonal network emerged and evolved to build a discourse on issues by stakeholders after the event. By using longitudinal data collected from the Volkswagen USA's Facebook page between September 17 and 20, 2015, this research tests four hypothesized network structures, which are reciprocity, transitivity, popularity, and activity, which assess the evolution of interpersonal issue networks. The results of exponential random graph models, analyzing 4131 stakeholders, show that interpersonal issue networks on social media have evolved overtime into a set of reciprocal relations and stakeholders transmitting critical information to bystanders. The findings imply that stakeholders who have Volkswagen's cars and stocks play a critical role in placating the scandal by mutually interacting with diverse bystanders on social media.</P>

Amelioration of Horticultural Growing Media Properties Through Rice Hull Biochar Incorporation

Kim, H. S.,Kim, K. R.,Yang, J. E.,Ok, Y. S.,Kim, W. I.,Kunhikrishnan, A.,Kim, K. H. Springer Science + Business Media 2017 Waste and biomass valorization Vol.8 No.2

<P>The current study was conducted in order to examine the applicability of rice hull derived biochar (BC) to improve the properties of growing media (GM). Biochar was incorporated into a growing media composed of coir dust, perlite and vermiculite at 0, 1, 2 and 5 % (w/w). Subsequently, the physicochemical properties of the GM-BC mixtures were determined in the cultivation of kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala) for 25 days through the observation of the plant growth response. During kale cultivation in the GM-BC mixtures, the leachates were collected and analyzed to determine the changes in nutrient levels due to BC amendment. Application of rice hull-derived BC increased the retention of nutrients in the growing media due to a biochar-induced increase in cation exchange capacity, in addition to the biochar nutrient supply such as potassium and phosphorus. Furthermore, a higher water content of the growing media was observed when BC was used as an amendment, mainly due to the increased proportion of pore space available for water storage. The growth rate of kale was also increased as the biochar incorporation rate was increased. For example, the dry weight of the kale shoots was 150 % higher when grown in media containing 5 % GM-BC mixture than with the control growing media (with no biochar). From these results, it can be concluded that the rice hull-derived biochar would be a practically applicable amendment to improve the properties of the growing media.</P>

Effect of a microwave warming of cell culture media on cell viability and confluence rate

Yoon, J. K.,Sim, W. Y.,Xu, F.,Lee, W. G. Springer Science + Business Media 2016 Microsystem Technologies Vol.22 No.9

<P>Here we present a method for rapidly and stably warming up a small volume of cell culture media that can maintain cell viability and confluence rate. This method uses microwave radiation for warming without any direct contact with water, preventing the potential issue of contamination induced by the use of a water bath. To demonstrate the proof of concept validation, we used a conventional microwave oven for warming cell culture media. In our experiments, it took only 10 s to warm a 50 mL-media tube (mostly proper volume for the use of microfluidic cell culture experiments) up to 37 degrees C. Multiple tubes can also be used to increase the volume of cell culture media by placing them in a plastic support within the oven at the same time in a scalable manner. The results show that there was no jump discontinuity to a higher temperature than 37 degrees C within 10 s. Both apoptosis and necrosis were monitored and examined to confirm whether the new method can affect cell viability and metabolism. The proposed method is fast, easy and user-friendly in conventional cell culture process, even scalable for the use of large media volume, and free of biological contamination due to water contact occurred by use of conventional water baths. We urthermore believe that this approach can be potentially helpful for advancing on-chip cell culture process that may require a small volume of cell culture media often used in microfluidic devices.</P>

Compensation of audio data with a high frequency components for realistic media FTV

Springer Science + Business Media 2017 MULTIMEDIA TOOLS AND APPLICATIONS Vol.76 No.9

<P>Like the concept of free-viewpoint TV (FTV), the audio data should be rendered according to video data. However, on condition that minimum numbers of microphone are used, it is difficult to acquire accurate audio signal for rendering audio data to the image with the choice of view point. Especially, degradation of high frequency components (HFC) happens due to the characteristic of polar pattern for microphone. The degradation of HFC causes imperfection of signal restoration and leads to the degradation of clarity for hearing. In this paper, a compensation method for the degradation of HFC audio signal is proposed for producing an immersive audio effect at realistic media. Our experimental results show that low frequency components (LFC) of audio signal had a little directional degradation in spite of effect of the polar patterns of microphone and the compensation of HFC can be realized with adapting the attenuation inclination of LFC. This research is expected to be helpful for producing an immersive audio effect for a realistic media.</P>

α-Galactosidase delivery using 30Kc19-human serum albumin nanoparticles for effective treatment of Fabry disease

Lee, H. J.,Park, H. H.,Sohn, Y.,Ryu, J.,Park, J. H.,Rhee, W. J.,Park, T. H. Springer Science + Business Media 2016 Applied microbiology and biotechnology Vol.100 No.24

<P>Fabry disease is a genetic lysosomal storage disease caused by deficiency of alpha-galactosidase, the enzyme-degrading neutral glycosphingolipid that is transported to lysosome. Glycosphingolipid accumulation by this disease causes multi-organ dysfunction and premature death of the patient. Currently, enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) using recombinant alpha-galactosidase is the only treatment available for Fabry disease. To maximize the efficacy of treatment, enhancement of cellular delivery and enzyme stability is a challenge in ERT using alpha-galactosidase. In this study, protein nanoparticles using human serum albumin (HSA) and 30Kc19 protein, originating from silkworm, were used to enhance the delivery and intracellular alpha-galactosidase stability. 30Kc19-HSA nanoparticles loaded with the alpha-galactosidase were formed by desolvation method. 30Kc19-HSA nanoparticles had a uniform spherical shape and were well dispersed in cell culture media. 30Kc19-HSA nanoparticles had negligible toxicity to human cells. The nanoparticles exhibited enhanced cellular uptake and intracellular stability of delivered alpha-galactosidase in human foreskin fibroblast. Additionally, they showed enhanced globotriaosylceramide degradation in Fabry patients' fibroblasts. It is expected that 30Kc19-HSA protein nanoparticles could be used as an effective tool for efficient delivery and enhanced stability of drugs.</P>

The synthesis of large area graphene/carbon nanotubes as additive material and their enhanced specific capacitance

Ye, S.,Kim, I. J.,Yang, S. h.,Roh, K. C.,Oh, W. C. Springer Science + Business Media 2016 Journal of materials science. Materials in electro Vol.27 No.9

<P>Two-dimensional large area graphene/carbon nanotubes (LAG-CNTs) nanocomposites as additional material for carbon-based electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) performance have been fabricated by using chemical vapor deposition method. The as-prepared LAG-CNTs are characterized with Raman, field emission scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images. Finally, EDLC electrodes based with high surface area activated carbon (YP50F) and LAG-CNTs were fabricated by a facile step. The prepared electrodes (8LAG-CNTs/AC) exhibit a specific capacitance of 15.5 F cc(-1) at 0.5 mA cm(-2), excellent cycling stability (96.1 % retention after 100 cycles) and high rate capability. These excellent capacitive performances may make the as-prepared nanocomposites as conductive material for preparation of promising electrode materials of EDLC.</P>

Odontoblastic inductive potential of epithelial cells derived from human deciduous dental pulp

Lee, H. K.,Park, J. W.,Seo, Y. M.,Kim, H. H.,Lee, G.,Bae, H. S.,Park, J. C. Springer Science + Business Media 2016 Journal of molecular histology Vol.47 No.3

<P>For the dentin regeneration, dental epithelial cells are indispensible and must possess odontoblastic induction capability. Epithelial cell-like stem cells were recently identified in human deciduous dental pulp (DPESCs). However, their cellular characteristics remain poorly defined. The purpose of this study was to characterize DPESCs compared to HAT-7 ameloblastic cells. Expression levels of ameloblast-specific markers [odontogenic ameloblast-associated protein (Odam), matrix metalloproteinase (Mmp)-20, amelogenin, and ameloblastin] were detected in DPESCs. Co-culturing odontoblastic MDPC-23 cells with DPESCs increased expression of odontoblast differentiation markers (Dmp1 and Dspp) from days 4 to 10, while the expression of bone sialoprotein rapidly decreased. MDPC-23 cells cultured in DPESC-conditioned medium (CM) showed increased Dspp promoter activity compared with control MDPC-23 cultures. Mineralization was first observed in the CM groups from day 4 and proceeded rapidly until day 14, whereas mineralized nodules were found from day 7 in control media-cultured cells. In conclusion, DPESCs in human deciduous pulp possess ameloblast-like characteristics and differentiation properties, and substances derived from DPESCs promote odontoblastic differentiation. Thus, our results indicate that DPESCs can be a realistic epithelial source for use in odontoblastic induction and dentin formation of dental mesenchymal cells.</P>

Hashtag-based topic evolution in social media

Alam, M. H.,Ryu, W. J.,Lee, S. Springer Science + Business Media 2017 World wide web Vol.20 No.6

<P>The rise of online social media has led to an explosion of metadata-containing user generated content. The tracking of metadata distribution is essential to understand social media. This paper presents two statistical models that detect interpretable topics over time along with their hashtags distribution. A topic is represented by a cluster of words that frequently occur together, and a context is represented by a cluster of hashtags, i.e., the hashtag distribution. The models combine a context with a related topic by jointly modeling words with hashtags and time. Experiments with real-world datasets demonstrate that the proposed models discover topics over time with related contexts effectively.</P>