• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.142-142
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• 2023

Humans inevitably and continuously produce wastewater in daily life worldwide. To decrease the degradation of river water bodies and aquatic ecosystem therein, humans have built systems at different scales to collect, drain, and treat household-produced wastewater. Particularly, municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with centralized controls have played a key role in reducing loads of nutrients in domestic wastewater for the last few decades. Notwithstanding such contributions, impaired rivers regarding water quality and habitat integrity still exist at the whole river basin scale. It is highly attributable to the absence of dilution capacity of receiving streams and/or the accumulation of the pollutant loads along flow paths. To improve the perspective for individual WWTPs assessment, the first crucial step is to achieve systematic understanding on spatial distribution characteristics of all WWTPs together in a given river basin. By taking the initiative, our former study showed spatial hierarchical distributions of WWTPs in three large urbanized river basins in Germany. In this study, we uncover how municipal WWTPs in the contiguous United States are distributed along river networks in a give river basin. The extended spatial scope allows to deal with wide ranges in geomorphological attributes, hydro-climatic conditions, and socio-economic status. Furthermore, we identify the relation of the findings with multiple factors related to human activities, such as the spatial distribution of human settlements, the degree of economy development, and the fraction of communities served by WWTPs. Generalizable patterns found in this study are expected to contribute to establishing viable management plans for recent water-environmental challenges caused by WWTP-discharges to river water bodies.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.1-16
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• 2023

Objectives We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the Korean medical critical pathway (CP) in treating childhood anorexia. Methods In total, 21 patients who met the criteria and agreed to provide information were assigned to the CP group, while 24 patients who met the criteria, agreed to provide information, but disagreed with CP application were assigned to the non-CP group. Demographic, clinical, and economic indices were compared between the two groups. Clinical indices before and after treatment were also compared between the two groups. Results In the CP group, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), BMI percentile, and food approach (FAP) increased significantly after treatment, and numeric rating scale (NRS) and food avoidance (FAV) scores decreased significantly. In the non-CP group, height, weight, weight percentile, BMI, BMI percentile, and FAP increased significantly, whereas NRS and FAV decreased significantly after treatment. Compared to the non-CP group, CP application increased FAP and decreased FAV, medical expenses per consultation, and the total treatment period. Conclusions The application of the Korean medical critical pathway for childhood anorexia is an effective cure system that decreases overall medical expenses with good-quality treatment by means of the standardization of medical practices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2022.05a
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• pp.324-327
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• 2022

Crack inspection of aged structures is mostly conducted by inspectors using surveying tools on site and visually inspecting them. This method greatly depends on professional worker, and consumes a lot of time and money. An artificial intelligence image classification algorithm is used to make reliable and objective judgments. Since 2018, image augmentation techniques have been used in the image pre-processing stage as they lead to high performance improvement. In this study, an analysis algorithm for cracks in concrete structures was developed using image augmentation techniques, in which the accuracy and speed according to the augmentation ratio were compared and measured for optimization. As a result, it was found that 8 times of image augmentation was appropriate when the accuracy was improved and economic feasibility was taken into account.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2023

With the development of technology worldwide, bridges are becoming larger, and the number of old bridges is also rapidly increasing. Monitoring the structural health of large, aging bridges is essential to preventing large-scale accidents. In this study, the application of a LoRa low-power wide-area network (LPWAN)-based wireless measurement system was investigated, and a LoRa wireless measurement system was established in the cable-stayed bridge section of Cheonsa Bridge, located in Shinan-gun, Jeollanam-do, Korea. The applicability of the LoRa LPWAN-based wireless monitoring system to large marine bridges was reviewed by comparing the performance and economic feasibility with wire-based monitoring systems that were built and operated by establishing a measurement system for the pylons, cables, and reinforcing girders of the bridge.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.23-44
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• 2022

Purpose - Recent issues such as vessel enlargement, strengthening of environmental regulations, and port smartization are expected to increase costs and intensify competition in the port industry. In the new normal era, when external growth has reached its limit, the efficient operation of ports is becoming indispensable for achieving sustainable growth. This study aims to identify the determinants of inefficiency by examining the cost structure and efficiency of container terminals in Korea and furthermore propose the political implications to derive the maximization of efficiency. Design/methodology - This study estimates the cost function of container terminal operators and identifies the efficiency of container terminals using stochastic cost frontier (SCF) in the first stage. In the second step, the SCF results are compared with the data envelopment analysis (DEA). Last, this paper proposes efficiency determinants on container terminal operation to establish appropriate strategies. Out of the 29 container terminal operators in South Korea, 13 operators participated in the survey. The translog cost function was estimated utilizing a total of 116 observations collected over the 2007-2017 period. Findings - Empirical analysis shows that economies of scale exist in Korea's container ports, which provides a rationale for the government's policy to establish the global terminal operator by integrating small terminal operators to enhance competitiveness. In addition, as a result of the determinants analysis, container throughput, weight of direct employment costs, and labour cost share have positive effects on improving cost efficiency, while inefficiency increases as the length of quay increases. More specifically, cost efficiency improves as the proportion of direct employment costs to outsourcing service costs increases. Originality/value - This study contributes to analyzing the inefficiency factors of container terminals through efficiency analysis with respect to a cost function. In addition, this study proposes the practical and political implications, such as establishing a long-term manpower pool, the application of the hybrid liner terminal system, and the construction of a statistical data system, to improve the cost inefficiency of terminal operators.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.285-304
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• 2016

e-Commerce in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises(SMEs) provides a platform for fair competition between SMEs and large enterprises, and brings economic benefits to SMEs. Thus in the recent years, the e-Commerce in SMEs developed rapidly. However, the overall proportion of e-Commerce in SMEs in China remains low, and many SMEs' decision-makers tend to feel that their business is relatively weak in terms of information construction of scale and financial management, thus they keep the 'wait and see' attitude about the e-Commerce development decisions. Therefore, SMEs are facing three puzzles about e-Commerce application. First, if the companies need to implement e-Commerce, what are the e-Commerce adoption decision factors. Second, what are the successful implementation factors of e-Commerce. And how about the relationship between them. The third is how to measure the implementation effect of e-Commerce. What is the performance evaluation factors of e-Commerce. In this paper, the theoretical and empirical exploration and research are conducted towards these SMEs. Considering the actual situation of SMEs, this paper builds a theoretical model, then puts forward relevant hypothesis. This paper analyzes present influencing factors based on enormous research papers, and finally discovers the critical successful factors in doing business with e-Commerce in SMEs by conducting Structural Equation Modeling. Five critical factors are verified by cases of enterprise by demonstration study. Lastly, we can draw a conclusion that the innovation ability of leaders, the IT support of leaders and e-Commerce strategies are the success factors of e-Commerce for Chinese SMEs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2021.05a
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• pp.508-510
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• 2021

As the international standardization of 5G element technologies (e.g., 5G vertical satellite, direct communication functions between 5G NR (New Radio)-based devices) required not only in 5G verticals but also in autonomous navigation services is currently underway, it is expected to be utilized for autonomous navigation services while utilizing the economic size advantages of the scale of international standard-based solutions through 3GPP international standardization of marine communication services related to autonomous navigation vessels. In order to establish the ecosystem of ICT convergence market related to autonomous navigation vessels and to preoccupy core communication technology based on international standards, it is necessary to develop digital communication systems and gateways that have global compatibility, (2) secure core element technology based on next generation communication, and (3) promote international standardization for internationalization of related technologies. For this, data analysis and standard technology should be developed through service analysis by distance. Currently, the requirements for the operation of autonomous navigation vessels can be classified into three categories.

• 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2021.04a
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• pp.33-42
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• 2021

Based on the findings of Lee et al.(2020) and Lee & Oh(2021), this paper aims to fill the gap in our knowledge regarding the relationship between strategic choices and corporate growth by utilizing a novel dataset of 'Unicorn' and 'Hyper-growing' companies. Two previous studies provide coherent findings that the relationship between firms' strategies and their performance should be explored under a more comprehensive framework with consideration of both internal and external factors. Therefore, in this study, we apply a single conceptual framework to two different datasets, which considers the strategy factors as independent variables, and the industry(market) and the firm age as moderating variables. For our dependent variables, valuations for unicorn companies and revenue CAGR for hyper-growing companies are used after categorizing them into three uniform groups. The strategy variables include 'Generic (Cost-leadership, Differentiation, focus) strategies', 'Growth(Organic, M&A) strategies', 'Leading(Pioneer, Fast-follower) strategies', 'Target market(B2B, B2C, B2G, C2C) strategies', 'Global(Global, Local) strategies', 'Digital(Online, Offline) strategies.' For industry(market) factors, it consists of historical growth rate for industries and economic, demographic, and regulatory aspects of states and countries. To overcome the differences in their units, they are also uniformly categorized into multiple groups. Before we conduct a regression analysis, we analyze the industry distribution of the 'Unicorn' and the 'Hyper-growing' companies with descriptive statistics at the integrated and individual levels. Next, we employ hierarchical regression models on Study A('Unicorn' companies in 2019) and Study B('Hyper-growing' companies in 2019) under the same comprehensive framework. We then analyze the relationship between the 'strategy' and the 'performance' factors with two different approaches: 1) an integrated regression model with both the sample of Study A and B and 2) respective regression models on Study A and B. This empirical study aims to provide a complete understanding and a reference to which strategy factors should be considered to promote firms' scale-up and growth.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.239-247
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• 2023

As an industry that serves as a greater catalyst for social and cultural exchange than any other industry, the tourism industry has a strong responsibility toward sustainable management in economic, social, and environmental respects. However, there is a low level of awareness for ESG(environmental, social, governance), and as of now, only companies whose parent company is a large corporation are interested in ESG. Moreover, tourism companies taking part in ESG only focus on the environmental field of ESG. Thus, the present study attempted to understand the current status of ESG research in the tourism field and, based on this understanding, offer a field of research urgently in need. Based on the research results, the study found that awareness studies on the type of ESG management that stakeholder groups take into consideration must take place in advance in order to understand and develop ESG for the tourism industry. Additionally, ESG evaluation variables that reflect the characteristics of the tourism industry must be developed. Lastly, strategies and techniques that objectively disclose ESG management activities are necessary based on a disclosure strategy presented by GRI(Global Reporting Initiative).

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.21-43
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• 2015

Korean floricultural industry has grown under the full backing of government, as it placed itself as the main export item since 2000s. Despite its high-speed growth after the domestic production scale of trillion won, the floricultural industry lost its pace after 2005, due to the market-opening of agricultural product and global economic depression. Although the national income is growing and the level of civilized living is following, spending on flowers is faltering. As of such circumstances, necessity for analyzing flower consumption trend and behavior has came out, along with the calls for expansion plan of flower consumption, under the basis of result analysis on consumer reports. The result of the research contains the trend/consumption behavior analysis on domestic and foreign flower industry to boost floricultural industry, along with reviews on various studies of the developmental process of domestic and foreign cut-flowers/pot-plants consumption trend. Also this study has reached to the various recognition of people toward flower, through a public survey. Through such results, this study would like to propose the measures for diffusion of flower-consumption culture, achieving the improvement of life-quality of public along. First, efforts on reviewing the customer accessibility is essential to create flower- culture and the consumption. Second, to eliminate the obstacles that prevents flowers from public's daily life is essential. Third is the effective public-relations on flowers. To create consuming culture and to adhere the positive images, it is essential to research and systematically organize categories of color, scent, and elements of flower and utilize them. Last proposal is the organization of flower-concerned personnels and the leading groups. The change is affected by the economical, social environment, along with the emotions of consumers. Therefore the necessity for the leading group to be the control-tower of such changes are very clear.