• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.79-91
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• 2015

Purpose - First, the study identifies and analyzes consumer preferences with regard to health foods and supplements. Second, it identifies and analyzes consumer preferences with regard to the properties of Vitamin C supplements. Third, in order to provide a basic data for the development of Vitamin C supplements and to measure how consumers value the properties of different Vitamin C products, a consumer survey was conducted through the choice-based conjoint model. Based on the results, the research estimates consumers' relative product-related priorities as well as price levels and willingness to pay (WTP) for different product types, and makes suggestions regarding consumer-oriented new product development and progressive directions for the successful launch of health foods and supplements. Research design, data, and methodology - This study aims to define the attributes of health foods and supplements based on several characteristics including their natural ingredients, product price, product originality, natural ingredient content, and additional functional ingredients, and makes suggestions regarding strategic market pricing and product development for health foods and supplements according to customer attitudes and characteristics. The research used choice-based conjoint analysis methodology based on the Multinomial Logic Model and collected 94 questionnaires filled out by users of Korean Vitamin C supplements. Results - Product price is the most influential factor among the five analyzed properties. When consumers buy Vitamin C products, the relative significance level of four of the examined properties is as follows: 40.9% for product price, 23.3% for product originality, 21.9% for natural ingredient content, and 13.9% for additional functional ingredients. Vitamin C content is excluded as it is not a statistically significant factor. It is interesting that supplement manufacturers and retailers consider Vitamin C content to be very important whereas consumers do not regard it as an important factor at the time of purchase. The results for the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for each property of Vitamin C supplements show that consumers are willing to pay an additional 11,146 Korean won for a 50% increase in the natural ingredient content. With regard to product originality, consumers are willing to pay an additional 11,301 Korean won for products manufactured in Europe than for products manufactured in China. Moreover, consumers show a greater preference for products manufactured in Korea than in Europe. However, consumers are not willing to pay more for additional Vitamin C or additional functional ingredients added to Vitamin C products. Conclusions - According to the results of consumer research on Vitamin C supplements, which represent a popular health food supplement in Korea, most Korean health food and supplement companies are not consumer- or market-oriented when developing new products. Companies gather information from either R&D specialists or sales managers and their opinions are highly reflected in new product development. The study's results will help companies recognize the importance of understanding consumers' unmet needs in advance to develop new products in the future.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.77-85
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• 2019

Purpose - Statistics of Traditional Market is the only source of information on traditional markets, shopping street, and underground shopping street. The government conducts a survey of traditional market conditions every year to look at the current status of traditional markets and provide effective support. Therefore, this study examines the necessity and validity of updating about the Survey Population of Traditional Market Research design, data, and methodology - This study investigated the necessity of updating about the Survey Population of Traditional Market through literature review. Therefore this study examined the necessity of the current population based on the review of the population related to the sample design, methods, and the sampling frame. Next, we examined the change patterns of the population and the sample by dividing the population and sample of the current survey of the traditional market survey into the market unit, the store unit within the market, and finally the individual store unit. Results - As a result, the population of traditional market changes about 4~6%. Next, the analysis of the store unit in the market shows that the number of stores is very variable even though the market is continuously included in the survey target. Finally, as a result of examining the characteristics of individual stores, the stores with less than one year were more than 6% of the total surveyed stores based on the traditional market. These results are generally inconsistent with the idea that stores in traditional markets will operate for a long time in one place. Next, we proposed the establishment of a management system, applying Citizen Generated Data, and circulation survey. Additionally, this study proposes to change the stratification variables at the regional level rather than the market unit. Conclusions - Therefore, in this study, it is suggested that a current population of traditional market is needed updating, and that a population survey should be updated at least four years. In addition, a system for investigating traditional markets and districts was established and a circulation survey was proposed for efficient use of budgets. Based on these research results and policy suggestions, the future research directions are suggested.

• Journal of KIISE:Databases
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.432-446
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• 2008

Queries for tracing tag locations are among the most challenging requirements in RFID based applications, including automated manufacturing, inventory tracking and supply chain management. For efficient query processing, a previous study proposed the index scheme for storing tag objects, based on the moving object index, in 3-dimensional domain with the axes being the tag identifier, the reader identifier, and the time. In a different way of a moving object index, the ranges of coordinates for each domain are quite different so that the distribution of query regions is skewed to the reader identifier domain. Previous indexes for tags, however, do not consider the skewed distribution for query regions. This results in producing many overlaps between index nodes and query regions and then causes the problem of traversing many index nodes. To solve this problem, we propose a new disproportional insertion and split policy of the index for RFID tags which is based on the R*-tree. For efficient insertion of tag data, our method derives the weighted margin for each node by using weights of each axis and margin of nodes. Based the weighted margin, we can choose the subtree and the split method in order to insert tag data with the minimum cost. Proposed insertion method also reduces the cost of region query by reducing overlapped area of query region and MBRs. Our experiments show that the index based on the proposed insertion and split method considerably improves the performance of queries than the index based on the previous methods.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.87 no.3
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• pp.445-458
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• 1998

The present study focused on the vegetation structure and dynamics of Betula davurica forest were to provide the information for management, distribution and utilization of B. davurica forest in Mt. Chiri national park, southern Korea. The layer structure of B. davurica forest were consist of tree layer(18 species), middle layer(29 species), shrub layer(43 species) and herb layer(68 species). According to the importance value of stratification of layers, In tree layer, B. davurica dominant the highest value of 123.97%, Alnus hirsuta 49.04., Castanea crenata 25.58%, Quercus serrata 25.02%, Stewartia koreana 14.49%, in middle layer were B. davurica 70.81%, Q. serrata 37.74%, Fraxinus rhynchophylla 25.35% Lindera erythrocarpa 24.52%, S. koreana 18.86%, shrub layer were Sasa borealis 28.28%, L. erythrocarpa 24.94%, Rhus trichocarpa, 20.42%, Stephanandra incisa 19.90% and herb layer Schizandra chinensis 18.51%, Aster scaber 12.26%. Disporum smilacinum 10.63% etc, respectively. Results of chi-square test statistics based on presence-absence parameters, the positively associated species pair were Quercus variablis - Q. acutissima, Stewartia koreana - Symplocos paniculata, Acer pseudo-sieboldianum - Quercus mongolica. And covariation was calculated based on quantitative measure of density. The results showed that the association and covariation values among species not agreed with each other. The frequency distribution of DBH Betula davurica species showed reverse J-shaped, therefore it's seems to retrain as a dominant species. When predicting succession in Betula davurica forest, it is seedling and saplings were not richness, succession was governed by competition of hardwood species of subtree and tree layer.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.331-343
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• 2001

Advances in medical procedures and utilization of medication have resulted in expanding aged population, which leads to increased aged patients with salivary hypofunction and its associated symptoms in dental clinic. The purpose of this study was to investigate clinical characteristics of patients with dry mouth and its correlation with their salivary flow rate. Forty dry mouth patients (7 males, 33 females, mean age 42.0 years) whose flow rate of unstimulated whole saliva was less than 0.15 ml/min were included and their gender- and age-matched controls (7 males, 33 females, mean age 42.9 years) who did not report any complaints, suggestive of salivary gland dysfunction and had the flow rate of greater than 0.20 ml/min were included for comparison. The salivary flow rate was measured in both unstimulated and stimulated conditions. Dry mouth-related clinical information including history, dry mouth associated symptoms, exacerbating and relieving factors, drugs, systemic diseases, and family history was investigated using questionnaires. The differences in distribution of patients and control subjects to each question and their relation to the salivary flow rate were analyzed and we came to following conclusions. 1. There were statistically significant differences in the distribution of patients and controls to the following questions: the period and frequency of suffering from dry mouth; severity of dry feeling during a meal; severity of discomfort during swallowing; necessity of sipping liquids during swallowing dry foods, severity of discomfort in usual life due to dry feeling; self-assessment of residual salivary volume; taking medications. 2. The patients had more stress-related medical histories including indigestion, insomnia, and gastritis compared with controls. The patients took many kinds of medications to control their systemic diseases. 3. There were statistically significant differences in the salivary flow rate between different groups of patients to following questions: severity of dry feeling during a meal; severity of discomfort during swallowing; necessity of sipping liquids during swallowing dry foods. The difference was more significant in the case of stimulated salivary flow rate rather than unstimulated one. 4. The salivary flow rate of patients taking medications was significantly less than that of patients who did not take medications. The difference was more significant in the case of stimulated salivary flow rate rather than unstimulated one.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.159-175
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• 2013

Objectives Herniated Intervertebral Disc of C-spine is one of the most common diseases that causes posterior neck pain. This study was designed to analyze the general distribution and hospital cost by day and case of Korean medical treatment for Cervical Herniated Intervertebral Disc (HIVD). Methods The 132 impatients for treatment of HIVD were analyzed according to the distribution of sex, age, the duration of HIVD, the contributory factors, the Clinical grade at admission, the clinical findings at admission, the duration of hospitalization, the clinical grade at admission and the hospital cost per day and case. Results 1) The total hospital cost per case averaged 1,985,600 Won, which was consisted of room charge 584,044 Won (29.41%), performance fee 511,463 Won (25.76%), herbal medication 381,517 Won (19.21%), Korean medical physiotherapy 296,310 Won (14.92%), food expenses 199,997 Won (10.07%) in order. 2) The total hospital cost per day averaged 137,285 Won, which was consisted of room charge 39,036 Won (28.43%), performance fee 33,594 Won (24.47%), herbal medication 30,642 Won (22.32%), food expenses 12,870 Won (9.37%), and the average duration of hospitalization was 15.1 days. 3) There was statistically significant difference in the consultation fee, room charge, and herbal medication on the part of sex. 4) There was statistically significant difference not only in the performance and consultation on the part of duration of hospitalization but also the in the duration of average duration of hospitalization. 5) There was statistically significant difference in the Korean medical physiotherapy and herbal medication on the part of clinical findings. 6) There was statistically significant difference in the Korean medical physiotherapy and herbal medication on the part of duration of HIVD. 7) There was statistically significant difference in the Korean medical physiotherapy and herbal medication on the part of clinical outcome. 8) There was not only statistically significant difference in the performance, but also in the herbal medication on the part of clinical grade at admission. Conclusions This study provides plenty of information to design out the specific terms of Korean medical expenses of Cervical HIVD inpatients hospitalized at Korean medicine hospital.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2020

This paper introduces SNUDM, an analysis program for Ratcliff's diffusion model, which has been one of the most important models in cognitive psychology over the past 35 years and which has come to occupy an important place in cognitive neuroscience in recent years. The analysis tool is designed with the basic principles of easy comprehension and simplicity in use. A diffusion process was programmed as the limit of a simple random walk in a manner resembling Ratcliff & Tuerlinckx(2002). The response time distribution of the model was constructed by simulating the time taken by a random walk until it reaches a threshold with small steps. The optimal parameter values in the model are found to be the smallest value of the chi-square values obtained by comparing the resulting distribution and the experimental data using Simplex method. For simplicity and ease of use, the input file used here is created as a file containing the quantile of the reaction time, the trials and other information. The number of participants and the number of conditions required for such work programs are given in a way that answers the question. Using this analysis tool, the experimental data of Ratcliff, Gomez, & McKoon(2004) were analyzed. We found the very similar pattern of parameter values to Ratcliff et al.(2004) found. When comparing DMAT, fast-dm and SNUDM with the generated data, we found that when the number of trials is small, SNUDM estimates the boundary parameter to a value similar to fast-dm and less than the DMAT. In addition, when the number of trials was large, it was confirmed that all three tools estimate parameters similarly.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.111-121
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• 2016

In this study, measurements were conducted by image processing to do an in-depth evaluation of strain of rebar in a uniaxial tension test. The distribution of strain and the necking region were evaluated. The image processing is used to analyze the color information of a colored image, so that the parts consistent with desired targets can be distinguished from the other parts. After this process, the image was converted to a binary one. Centroids of each target region are obtained in the binary images. After repeating such process on the images from starting point to the finishing point of the test, elongation between targets is calculated based on the centroid of each target. The tensile test were conducted on grade 60 #7(D22) and #9(D29) rebars fabricated in accordance with ASTM A615 standards. Strain results from image processing were compared to the results from a conventional strain gauge, in order to see the validity of the image processing. With the image processing, the measuring was possible in not only the initial elastic region but also the necking region of more than 0.5(50%) strain. The image processing can remove the measuring limits as long as the targets can be video recorded. It also can measure strain at various spots because the targets can easily be attached and detached. Thus it is concluded that the image processing helps overcome limits in strain measuring and will be used in various ways.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.45-54
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• 2016

Purpose - There have been numerous studies investigating the effects of corporate social responsibility initiatives on corporate associations or corporate images. In line of this research stream, current research examined the potential impact of customer participation in the process of corporate social responsibility initiatives on attitude toward the company. This research differentiates from previous studies that it is the first to connect corporate social responsibility and customer participation. Specifically, we suggest a structural model on corporate associations which was classified into corporate ability associations and corporate social responsibility associations that the more the customers participate in initiating corporate social responsibility, corporate associations were formed more positively. And this leads to the increase of revisit intentions through customer satisfaction. Research design, data, and methodology - To test our research model, we collected data of real consumers of a large discount store in Korea. At the large discount store, customers were given an opportunity to participate the discount store's CSR activity program. We performed field survey and collected data of 146 respondents. We analyzed the data using PASW statistics 21.0 and AMOS 16.0 in order to test our structural model. Results - The results showed that consumers who participated more in initiating corporate social responsibility revealed higher score for corporate ability associations and corporate social responsibility associations. These corporate associations had a positive effect on customer satisfaction, which leads to higher attitude toward revisit intentions. Specifically, hypothesis 1.1 "As Customer participation in CSR process increases, the evaluation of CA associations will be positive,"was supported. Hypothesis 1.2 "As Customer participation in CSR process increases, the evaluation of CSR associations will be positive," was supported. Hypothesis 2.1 "As the evaluation of CA associations is positive, satisfaction with the firm will increase," was supported. Hypothesis 2.1 "As the evaluation of CSR associations is positive, satisfaction with the firm will increase," was supported. Hypothesis 3 "As satisfaction with the firm increases, revisit intentions with the firm will increase," was supported. Conclusions - This research is the first to study the relationship between customer participation in CSR process, CSR, and consumer reactions. This research also contributes to customer participation and corporate social responsibility literature by suggesting customer participation as an antecedent and empirically demonstrating the positive relationships between the constructs. The findings of this research may offer managerial implications for marketing practitioners. When performing corporate social initiatives, it is better to let the customer participate in the process which leads to higher corporate ability associations and corporate social responsibility associations, also higher satisfaction and revisit intentions. Our results provide useful information to practioners that spontaneous participation of consumers makes CSR initiatives effective and successful. Limitations and ideas for further research remain in this research. For example, our focus on the logic was cognitive evaluations(e.g. corporate associations) but affective dimensions might be considered since recent researches are investigating the relationship between customer participation and affective reaction as a response. Despite the limitations, this research have unique and applicable implications for academics and practitioners.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.73-83
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• 2016

Purpose - The parcel delivery service(courier) industry all over the world has been expanding its market so far, but its growth has been declining in recent years. In this situation, most parcel delivery companies are having trouble with managing themselves because of the pressure from the customer to increase service level and decrease the rate. The purpose of this study is to provide ways to improve competitive advantages of the parcel delivery service industry by evaluating the multi-period operating efficiency of Korea, Japan and global service providers. Research design, data, and methodology - The data for the period of 2011 to 2014 were collected from the annual reports published by parcel delivery companies. In this study, we analyze the marketability (revenue), profitability (operating profits), and management conditions (net profits) of parcel service companies by combining information on human resources (number of employees) and material resources (total assets and equity). Therefore, the number of employees, total assets, and equity are selected as input variables, and revenue, operating profits, and net profits as the output variables. In this study, DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) is used to measure the comparative efficiency and MPI (Malmquist Productivity Index) is used to analyze the trend of change of the efficiency for a multi-year period. Results - The operational efficiency scores of medium-sized parcel delivery companies in Korea are higher than other larger competitors such as Korean, Japan and Global larger companies. As of 2014, Logen(1.878) was found to be the most efficient parcel delivery enterprise, followed by KGB (1.224), and Kyoungdong(1.002). Otherwise, Hanjin(0.235), CJ(0.262), Hyundai Logistics(0.657), DHL(0.611), UPS(0.766), FedEx(0.498), TNT(0.350), Yamato(0.762) and Sagawa(0.520), larger sized companies, were done inefficiently. The productivity of parcel delivery companies is influenced by endogenous factors as well as exogenous ones such as changes in business environment and technological advances. Conclusions - Korean medium-sized companies have relatively high efficiency scores in operation. That is why they still survive the competitive market in Korea where market restructuring on the industry has been expected to be conducted for many years. The reason why medium-sized couriers had higher efficient scores than larger couriers is that most of couriers spend more operating expenses versus unit price of delivery which is the amount of money that is needed in order to send a package by parcel service. So the delivery unit price must be taken into account by all the expenses associated with the cost of fuel, labor and maintenance expenses for facilities, etc. therefore, the unit price must be increased to strengthen business competitive power. In order for the industry to have more competitive advantage, the companies need to make profits by increasing demand volume and raising the delivery rate to provide high-quality delivery service to customers. And both endogenous and exogenous change must take precedence in order to strengthen their competitiveness.