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This study investigated whether faking in personality assessments affects the prediction of job performance and consequences of selection decisions when a nonlinear relationship was assumed between personality scores and job performance. It was also examined whether a selection strategy suggested for nonlinear relationships reduces the adverse impact of faking on consequences of selection decisions. The findings from the item response theory-based simulations indicated that the prediction of job performance was affected by faking, whereas selection accuracy was not substantially affected by faking. The improvement in selection accuracy due to the strategy suggested for a nonlinear relationship was not noticeable. However, the suggested strategy reduced adverse impacts of faking on the estimation of selected applicants' performance scores.

In this paper, we propose a transparent and soft vibrotactile actuator based on silicone rubber. Silicone rubber, which is the nonionic dielectric elastomer, was sandwiched between ionic polyacrylamide hydrogels. Silicone rubber is repetitively compressed and expanded by the electric field generated by lithiated hydrogels, which generates the vibration. We systematically explore the vibration acceleration of silicone interface between ionic hydrogels based on the frequency and voltage of input signal. This proposed vibrotactile actuator significantly generates the vibration in the frequency range 1 Hz to 500 Hz. Furthermore, the peak resonant (1.016 g) frequency is observed at 290 Hz. The detailed investigation suggests that the developed actuator can be controlled by the input voltage in the range of 0.1 kV to 2.5 kV. The proposed vibrotactile actuator can satisfactorily be utilized in deformable or transparent devices such as smart windows, wearable devices, and transparent display equipment.

Internet of Things (IoT) is an environment where various devices are connected to each other via a wired/wireless network and where the devices gather, process, exchange, and share information. Some of the most important types of IoT devices are mobile IoT devices such as smartphones. These devices provide various high-performance services to users but cannot be supplied with power all the time; therefore, power management appropriate to a given IoT environment is necessary. Power management of mobile IoT devices involves complex relationships between various entities such as application processors (APs), HW modules inside/outside AP, Operating System (OS), platforms, and applications; a method is therefore needed to systematically analyze and manage these relationships. In addition, variabilities related to power management such as various policies, operational environments, and algorithms need to be analyzed and applied to power management development. In this paper, engineering principles and a method based on them are presented in order to address these challenges and support systematic development of IoT device power management. Power management of connected helmet systems was used to validate the feasibility of the proposed method.

In warehousing process, picking is the matter to be considered preferentially for reducing the operating coast and improving the production efficiency. While large warehouses apply considerable amount of IT technology on picking work, most small and medium warehouses carry out picking process manually. Although manual process involves numerous errors, small and medium companies have hard time introducing the picking system due to the cost issue. To solve such problem, this study suggests the monitoring system for smart picking at small and medium warehouses. The suggested system provides the monitoring service to worker and manager at warehouse for smart picking. Also, the system includes core features such as real-time data exchange, picking service, and monitoring on inventory status. The suggested system reduces time and expense for worker and manager at warehouse. Furthermore, this study shows the processing of smart picking based on the suggesting system.

In the field of firefighting, firefighters are usually confronted with isolation situation caused by disconnected communication and decreased visual and auditory sensing ability. Mostof all, they experience the lack of their own and co-workers’ location information. This paperproposes augmented and intelligent services for firefighters doing rescue operation in the dangerous fire scene. The proposed services are developed on a distributed and collaborating software framework and specially designed hardware systems.

An Internet of Things (IoT) is a system where various "things" are connected to each other via a wired/wireless network, and where information is gathered, processed, and interchanged/shared. One of the important actors in IoT is a mobile IoT device (such as a smartphone or tablet). These devices tend to consume a large amount of power in order to provide various high performance application services; however, as the devices cannot be supplied with power all the time, efficient power management is necessary. Power management of mobile IoT devices involves complex relationships between various entities such as application processors (APs), HW modules inside/outside AP, operating systems, mobile IoT platforms, and applications. In order to develop power-efficient mobile IoT devices, a method is needed to systematically analyze these relationships and manage power based on a clear understanding of them. To address this problem, software engineering principles for the development of power-efficient mobile IoT devices are presented in this paper. The feasibility of the proposed principles have been validated in the domain of smartphone camera power management.

The current study investigated the impact of matching criterion purification on the accuracy of differential item functioning (DIF) detection in large-scale assessments. The three matching approaches for DIF analyses (block-level matching, pooled booklet matching, and equated pooled booklet matching) were employed with the Mantel–Haenszel procedure. Five factors—the length of a test, the proportion of items exhibiting DIF, a sample size, a ratio of a reference and focal group, and the existence of an average ability difference between two groups—were manipulated. The three matching approaches were used with and without purification. Also, a systematic test form difference was considered. The results indicated that overall, matching criterion purification in the three approaches contributed to the improvement of power in the detection of DIF. Depending on the psychometric characteristics of items exhibiting DIF and the existence of an average ability difference, the amount of power improvement due to matching criterion purification was different across the three approaches. The purification of a matching criterion contributed to the slight reduction of Type I error rates in the three approaches when no mean ability difference existed between the two groups. Considering power improvement with the control of Type I error rates, the purification of a matching criterion in the pooled booklet matching and the equated pooled booklet matching approaches can be recommended for DIF analyses in large-scale assessments.

Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis is important in terms of test fairness. While DIF analyses have mainly been conducted with manifest grouping variables, such as gender or race/ethnicity, it has been recently claimed that not only the grouping variables but also contextual variables pertaining to examinees should be considered in DIF analyses. This study adopted propensity scores to incorporate the contextual variables into the gender DIF analysis. In this study, propensity scores were used to control for the contextual variables that potentially affect the gender DIF. Subsequent DIF analyses with the Mantel-Haenszel (MH) procedure and the Logistic Regression (LR) model were run with the propensity score applied reference (males) and focal groups (females) through propensity score matching. The propensity score embedded MH model and LR model detected fewer number of gender DIF than the conventional MH and LR models. The propensity score embedded models, as a confirmatory approach in DIF analysi...

A novel dual-band compact patch wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) antenna using μ-negative (MNG) transmission lines (TLs) for the smart helmet is presented. In the smart helmet scenario, rescue agent is able to communicate with the other rescue agents, control centre, and drones via the helmet by Wi-Fi dual bands. For the smart helmet communication, the antenna, which consists of two MNG-TL loops located on the outside and inside, is devised. The dual-band corresponds to the zeroth-order resonance (ZOR) and second-positive-order resonance (SPOR) of the outer MNG-TL. The ZOR frequency of the outer MNG-TL is near the Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz band, and the SPOR frequency of the outer MNG-TL, excited by the coupling between the inner and outer MNG-TL loops, is the Wi-Fi 5 GHz band. The prototype of the proposed antenna has been fabricated and measured. The bandwidth of the antenna includes Wi-Fi 2.4 and 5 GHz bands with high radiation efficiencies of >49% and a compact size of 27.6 mm × 27.6 mm × 1.27 mm (1/4.5 λ × 1/4.5 λ × 1/98.4 λ at the lowest operating frequency).

Firefighters are typically exposed to dangerous environments where a sense of vision, auditory, and direction is blocked by smoke, dusts, or flame. Some environments are even "infra-less"; power and communication infra is destroyed. Any commands and signals from outside are unavailable, so recognizing directions and making decisions are usually difficult. To protect and save lives of firefighters, we propose a system, ATHENA that provides salient features including tracking and navigation, emergency monitoring and notification, and information sharing among co-workers. ATHENA is a result of an on-going project supported by Korea Government. This paper provides an overview and demonstration of ATHENA.

We adapted three practice College Scholastic Ability Tests (CSAT) of English listening, each with five-option items, to create four- and three-option versions by asking 73 Korean speakers or learners of English to eliminate the least plausible options in two rounds. Two hundred and sixty-four Korean high school English-language learners formed three groups. Each took three of the nine tests, one with five-option items, one with four-, and one with three-, with administrations counterbalanced to control for order and practice effects. Mean test scores of the three-option tests were significantly higher than those of four- and five-option tests. While no difference was found in mean item discriminations across the three different test formats, reliability coefficients showed inconsistent patterns depending on the number of options and test versions. One possible interpretation of the low correlations among the scores of three test formats is that items with different numbers of options tap into skills other than listening. The findings suggest that statistically, three options may or may not be optimal depending on the point of view taken – from that of the test score users, or from that of the test stakeholders. Test developers must consider multiple statistical, affective, and contextual factors in determining the optimal number of options.

Based on the thermosensitivity of Pluronic® F127 and the cytointeractability of Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequences, RGD-modified F127 dimethacrylate (FM-RGD) hydrogel was investigated as a 3-dimensional culture matrix for chondrocytes. Chondrocytes were encapsulated in the hydrogel by radical copolymerization of FM-RGD and FM in the presence of cells. The FM-RGD hydrogel modulus could be modulated by temperature variation from 15 °C (1,300 Pa) to the culture temperature of 37 °C (8,900 Pa), at which the hydrogel provided a condrocyte-compatible microenvironment. Compared with the hydrogel prepared from F127 dimethacrylate (FM) without RGD, the RGD-modified hydrogel produced significant (p

Amphiphilic block copolymers can self-assemble into micelles in water and can further form thermosensitive gels. Here, we explored Pluronic F127 ABA triblock copolymer of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG; A) and poly(propylene glycol) (PPG; B), modified with telechelic ionic peptides, either anionic Gly-Phe-Gly-Asp (GFGD) or zwitterionic Gly-Arg-Gly-Leu (GRGL) or Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp (GRGD). All block copolymers formed micelles, but only those bearing zwitterionic peptides formed thermoreversible nanoassembly of micellar aggregates. These aggregates facilitate to form a gel at high polymer concentrations, thus making the sol-to-gel transition temperature lower than F127 and FGM. An increase in the sol-to-gel transition temperature and a decrease in the gel modulus have been a concern for biomedical applications of hydrophobically modified Pluronics. Current zwitterionic modified Pluronic F127, on the contrary, decreased the sol-to-gel transition temperature without loss of the gel modulus. The gelation, evidenced by...

In this paper, we presented a new LC prototype synthesis method for the multi-band filter. For synthesis a multi-band filter with the required frequency response, we proposed the diagram of poles and zeros, also, we proposed the opti- mization process for finding the combination of optimized poles and zeros. From the transfer and reflection functions calculated from poles and zeros, we performed the quasi-elliptic LC prototype synthesis of multi-band filter. Using the proposed LC prototype synthesis method of multi-band filter, dual-band filter operating at GSM(880 960 MHz) and ISM(2,400 2,500 MHz) and triple-band filter operating at GSM(880 960 MHz) and ISM(2,400 2,500, 5,725 5,850 MHz) were designed and fabricated.

In this paper, we designed and fabricated a ultra-wideband(UWB) bandpass filter with a good performance of a stopband, and a notched band in passband. The transformed equivalent circuit of the highpass filter was realized by distributed element. A wide-passband with 3-dB fractional bandwidth of more than 100 % was achieved by using optimum response of the HPF. For improving lower and upper stopband characteristic, a cross coupling between feed lines was employed, which was analyzed by desegmentation technique. In order to reject interference of Wireless LAN and Hyper LAN(5.15~5.825 GHz), the narrow notched(rejection) band was realized by a spurline. The fabricated BPF indicated the passband from 3.1 to 10.55 GHz and the flat group delay of less than 0.94 ns over the entire passband except the rejection band. The filter shown sharp attenuation both inside and outside the band and notched band from 5.2 to 6.12 GHz.

Schematic of the CO elimination efficiency evaluation setup composed of a JASCO FT-IR-460 spectrometer. Figure S2. Face mapping images of CuMnOx@MS-.4. Figure S3. ICP analysis of Cu and Mn element contents in binary metal oxide. Figure S4. TG curves of binary CuMnOx nanoparticles impregnated MS catalysts synthesized various Mn contents: (a) CuMnOx@MS-1, (b) CuMnOx@MS-2, (c) CuMnOx@MS-4. (DOCX 1.83 mb)

Cytokine release from irradiated cells has been postulated to start soon after irradiation preceding detectable clinical and pathological manifestation of lung injury. The expression of transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta), a fibrogenic and radiation-inducible cytokine, was studied from 1-16 weeks after the 15 and 30 Gray (Gy) of thoracic irradiation to rats. Thoracic irradiation caused an increase in TGF beta protein in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid peaking at 3-6 weeks as compared to sham-irradiated control rats. Steady state TGF beta mRNA expression as shown by whole lung northern blot assay paralleled the TGF beta protein expression in BAL fluid. The peak of TGF beta protein increase in BAL fluid between 3 and 6 weeks coincided with the initial influx of inflammatory cells in BAL fluid, but preceded histologically discernable pulmonary fibrosis that was not apparent until 8-10 weeks after irradiation. In conclusion. TGF beta and mRNA and protein upregulation preceded the radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis, suggesting a pathogenetic role in the development of radiation fibrosis.

Product line (PL) engineering is a software engineering paradigm, which guides organizations toward the development of products from core assets rather than the development of products one by one from scratch [1–3]. Two major activities of PL software engineering are core asset development (i.e., PL engineering) and product development (i.e., application engineering) using the core assets.

In software product line engineering (SPLE), commonality and variability across products of a product line domain are captured typically by a feature model. Reusable components are then developed from features. However, mapping features to components remains a complex task requiring a systematic way of exploring and analyzing various concerns arising from inadequate/insufficient domain assumptions. Essentially, those concerns prevent SPLE from achieving various quality attributes. This paper proposes a problem frames-based approach to addressing this problem. An elevator product line example is used to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach.

Determining resonant frequency was proposed for the bandpass filter using single dual-mode resonator. Because a coupling coefficient implied the information which is the position of poles for the bandpass filter, the resonant frequencies (ƒ e , ƒ m ) were obtained through the equivalent circuit analysis and the simple calculation. Furthermore, the frequencies were determined to even- and odd-mode resonant frequency proper for the position of the transmission zero (at a lower or upper stopband). To verify the theory, the filter example was demonstrated and its measured result was suitable for the required frequency response. Therefore, we expect that the theory will be used to design the bandpass filter using the single dual-mode resonator.

In this paper, we proposed the Balun-BPF(band pass filter) using the magnetically coupled resonators. The proposed Balun-BPF is a deformation of the transformer which operates like the ideal Balun in low frequency. The conventional coupled-resonator filter design theory was used for the design of a Balun-BPF. Moreover, the Interdigital-loop resonator was used to miniaturize the Balun-BPF. This Balun-BPF operated in a 2.4∼2.5 GHz band, generally used in the wireless communication. Experimental measurements are also presented to validate the theory and EM simulations.

Objective. This study examined lung involvement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and identified factors associated with airway disease (AD) and interstitial lung disease (ILD). Methods. A total of 507 RA patients were enrolled in a cross-sec- tional study. Lung involvement was assessed by high-resolution computed tomography scan. The patient groups were classified according to normal, AD, and ILD. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with AD and ILD. Results. The most frequent lung involvement was AD (38.3%) followed by ILD (12.6%). Old age (adjust odds ratio (aOR) 2.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.70 to 3.90 for AD; aOR 4.38, 95% CI 2.30 to 8.35 for ILD), male gender (aOR 2.57, 95% CI 1.22 to 5.42 for AD; aOR 5.48, 95% CI 2.20 to 13.65 for ILD) were factors associated with AD and ILD in RA patients. ILD was associated with short disease duration (aOR 0.30, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.62), AD was associated with high titers of anti-cy- clic citrullinated peptides antibodies (anti-CCP; aOR 1.61, 95% CI 1.07 to 2.44). Conclusion. AD was the most frequent lung involvement in patients with RA. Old age and male gender were both associated with AD and ILD. Short disease duration was associated with ILD. High titers of anti-CCP was associated with AD. (J Rheum Dis 2016;23:101-108)

Calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal deposition disease is associated with an acute mono- or pauciarthritis, termed “pseudogout” in elderly patients, involving a large joint (including the knees, ankles) or a chronic arthropathy manifesting as mild joint pain and stiffness. Pseudogout is a crystal-deposition disease of peripheral joints, usually encountered in elderly patients. However, acute presentation of pseudogout around the odontoid process comprises a “crowned-dens” appearance, and requires contemplation of differential diagnoses. We recently experienced a case of pseudogout in the cervical spine presenting with fever and acute neck pain that was successfully treated with a colchicine and low-dose oral steroid. We reported this case with a review of the relevant literature. (J Rheum Dis 2016;23:122-124)

Objective. The aim of this study is to analyze the capacity of three demographic variables - age, sex, and formal education level - as well as disease duration to explain variation in 7 Core Data Set variables and 4 indices used to assess rheumatoid arthritis (RA), in a cohort of Korean patients seen in usual care. Methods. All RA Core Data Set measures were collected in usual care of 397 RA patients, including tender/swollen joint counts (TJC, SJC) 28, physician global estimate of status, erythrocyte sed- imentation rate, C-reactive protein, and a multidimensional health assessment questionnaire to assess physical function, pain, and patient global estimate of status (PATGL). Four indices were computed: disease activity score with 28 joint count (DAS28), simplified disease activity index (SDAI), clinical disease activity index (CDAI), and routine assessment of patient index data 3 (RAPID3). Descriptive statistics and multivariate generalized linear models were used in data analysis. Results. Patients with lower education had higher scores, indicating greater severity, for all 7 Core Data Set measures and 4 indices (significant for TJC, function, pain, PATGL, DAS28, SDAI, CDAI, RAPID3). In a series of regressions that included age, sex, disease duration, and education, formal education level was the only significant variable to explain variation in TJC, pain, PATGL, physician global estimate of status (DOCGL), DAS28, SDAI, CDAI, and RAPID3. Conclusion. Significant associations with education were found in Korean RA patients according to most RA Core Data Set measures and 4 indices. Education was more likely than age, sex, or disease duration to explain variation in most measures and indices. (J Rheum Dis 2015;22:231-237)