• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.83-90
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• 2014

Purpose - Increasing sales of PB rice products can hinder the growth of domestic brands of rice, notwithstanding that the government is promoting domestic brands of rice. This analysis evaluated the influencing relationship among the variables of PB image, product credibility, and purchase intention of consumers who have never bought PB rice, to know the factors influencing consumers' decisions to purchase PB products. Research design, data, and methodology - PB products' brand image was analyzed as the factor that has a direct effect on purchase intention. The mediation effect of credibility on PB products is also analyzed, in terms of influencing the relationship between PB products' brand image and purchase intention. The analysis is performed on consumers that have not purchased a PB product and consumers who have purchased PB products from major distributors. Data is collected through questionnaires, from 389 of responders, and the AMOS 19.0 statistics package is used as a statistical tool. Results - It is proven that brand image has direct effects on the credibility of the product, and the credibility of product has a direct effect on purchase intention. However, it is revealed that brand image does not directly affect purchase intention, but that brand image indirectly affects it through the credibility of the product. Although the customers' recognition about PB image is low, the result shows that PB products' external attributes have effects on customers' purchase intention relating to the PB product. Therefore, it is important to establish the credibility of the PB product more than other products in terms of marketing. Conclusions - The following are the implications of the study. First, in a rice brand promotion, the credibility of the product should be ensured by a uniform brand image. To ensure the credibility of a product, the RPC brand and other brands should be unified, and the unified brand image should be applied to every product. Second, the package must possess a design as well as contents that could build consumers' perception of product credibility. Products' external attributes contribute to their credibility, which leads the consumers to purchase the products, including those consumers who have never bought PB rice products. Therefore, the products' credibility and sales can be reinforced by applying information about consumers' considerations when buying the PB rice product in different colors, font sizes, and packaging designs. This study is meaningful in two ways. First, it seeks to identify an NB revitalization strategy by exploring the purchasing behavior of customers who have no experience in buying PB rice products. Second, the results of previous studies about general brands are considered and applied in this study in order to investigate the influencing relationship among different factors of PB products. However, this study is a consumer awareness investigation; therefore, its results only have limited meaning to the relationship between brand image and purchase intention.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.416-424
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• 2005

Purpose : To find the risk factors associated with coronory artery lesions, non-responsiveness to intravenous immunoglobulin(IVIG) treatment, and recurrences in Kawasaki disease patients. Methods : We retrospectively analyzed 1,000 Kawasaki disease patients who were admitted to Yonsei University Medical Center from September 1990 to December 2003. We compared between responder and non-responder groups to IVIG treatment as well as between relapsed and non-relapsed groups, and as to the relapsed group, we also compared variables between patients in their first and second attack states. Finally, factors associated with longer-fever duration from disease onset were evaluated. Results : Longer fever durations before and after IVIG treatment, male sex, lower Hgb and Hct level, higher WBC count and segmented WBC proportion, and higher CRP and Harada's score were related with coronary artery lesions. Non-responsiveness was related to higher WBC count, segmented WBC proportion, CRP, SGPT, Harada's score, and pyuria. Moderate-to-severe coronary artery dilatations and recurrences were more commonly seen among the non-responder group. No significant predictive factors for recurrence were found. In the relapsed group, lower WBC count, CRP, and shorter fever duration from disease onset were observed in their second attack state. Fever duration from disease onset showed positive correlation with WBC count, CRP, and Harada's score and negative correlation with Hgb levels. Conclusion : Higher WBC count, CRP, and higher Harada's score were related to both higher incidences of coronary artery lesions and non-responsiveness to IVIG treatment, and these factors were also related with longer fever duration. Non-responders to IVIG treatment showed higher recurrence rate and more moderate-to-severe coronary artery dilatations than responders.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.505-511
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• 2002

Purpose : Mean platelet volume(MPV) and platelet distribution width(PDW) are useful parameters in evaluating disorders of platelets. In cases with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura(ITP), they change as platelet count increases. In this study, we compared the values of MPV and PDW in ITP patients at diagnosis with those of normal children. We also studied whether the early changes in MPV may predict the clinical course. Methods : From December 1995 to May 2001, 71 patients with ITP were admitted to Ajou University Hospital. They were treated with IVIg 400 mg/kg for five days and MPV, PDW, platelet count were analysed. Normal control group(n=38) was compared. The study group was divided into acute and chronic forms, and also divided into group A, good early responders whose platelets increased more than $100,000/{\mu}L$ within 5 days and group B who did not. Results : Mean value of MPV at diagnosis in ITP patients was lower than the normal control group(P<0.05). In group A, MPV was abruptly increased on the first day after IVIg and then started to decrease. But in group B, MPV was steadily increased until the fourth day after IVIg. In the normal control group, there were inverse correlations between platelet count and MPV(r=-0.415, P<0.05), but in ITP patients, there were positive relationships between platelet count and MPV(r=0.646, P<0.05) at diagnosis. Conclusions : MPV at diagnosis of ITP was lower than the normal control. MPV and PDW could not predict the course of ITP patients, but MPV could distinguish good early responders. More research is needed to find out the reasons of decreased MPV at diagnosis of ITP.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.325-333
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• 2020

This study compares the rapidity and subjective convenience of T-AED and SC-AED for health care providers and the general public. Subjects were randomly allocated to T-AED (n=77) and SC-AED (n=79) groups. Each group conducted defibrillation, with subsequent measurement of the rapidity of defibrillation in peri-shock pause, pre-shock pause, hesitation pause, and post-shock pause. Defibrillation and chest compression delay times for both equipment were analyzed by t-test. On conclusion of the experiment, subjects answered a questionnaire on the subjective convenience of defibrillation, as measured for confidence, convenience, and clear decision. Comparisons of subjective convenience analyzed by t-test revealed significantly shortened peri-shock pause (11.22s), pre-shock pause (11.04s), and hesitation pause (2.15s) in the SC-AED group, as compared to the T-AED group (p<0.001). However, no significant differences were observed for post-shock pause values. Comparing subjective convenience, confidence (T-AED: 7.62±1.25VAS vs. SC-AED: 7.80±0.98VAS, p=0.358) was not significant, whereas convenience (T-AED: 7.05±1.36VAS vs. SC-AED: 8.95±0.89VAS, p<0.001) and clear decision (T-AED: 6.58±1.73VAS vs. SC-AED: 9.08±0.98VAS, p=0.001) showed statistically significant differences. Our results indicate that compared to T-AED, SC-AED has significantly shortened pauses. Moreover, it is more convenient for the user, and significantly aids in clear decisions.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.169-185
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• 2018

Customers are not merely responders but rather active value creators. As a result most researches related to customer value creation behavior focus on customer participation behavior and interaction between service provider and customer. This study set the research model to examine the correlation between customer to customer interaction, brand attachment and customer value creation behavior. For this study, the relationship among social support, C-to-C social interaction, similarity, brand attachment, and customer value creation behavior were modelled and used to validate our hypotheses. A path model was verified with structural equation modeling using dataset from survey. Results of this study are summarized as follows. First, this study show the C-to-C social interaction, such as social support, C-to-C social interaction, similarity have effects on brand attachment. Thus, this was statistically significant although dismissed from hypothesis verification. Second, the structural correlation shows brand attachment has positive effect on customer value creation behavior The findings suggest that managers need to identify and pay attention to positive customer to customer interaction in the service encounter so that it influence customer brand attachment and customer value creation behavior which is the competitive advantages of service brand.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.63-75
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• 2000

Stated Preference (SP) data has been regarded as more useful than Revealed Preference (RP) data, because researchers can investigate the respondents\` Preference and attitude for a traffic condition or a new traffic system by using the SP data. However, the SP data has two bias: the first one is the bias inherent in SP data and the latter one is the attrition bias in SP panel data. If the biases do not corrected, the choice model using SP data may predict a erroneous future demand. In this Paper, six route choice models are constructed to deal with the SP biases, and. these six models are classified into cross-sectional models (model I∼IH) and dynamic models (model IV∼VI) From the six models. some remarkable results are obtained. The cross-sectional model that incorporate RP choice results of responders with SP cross-sectional model can correct the biases inherent in SP data, and also the dynamic models can consider the temporal variations of the effectiveness of state dependence in SP responses by assuming a simple exponential function of the state dependence. WESML method that use the estimated attrition probability is also adopted to correct the attrition bias in SP Panel data. The results can be contributed to the dynamic modeling of SP Panel data and also useful to predict more exact demand.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.61-65
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• 2012

Once oil has spilled, oil spill responders use a variety of countermeasures to reduce the adverse effects of spilled oil on the environment. Mechanical methods of containment and recovery are preferred as the first response when the use of other methods fail or are ineffective. In these cases, the application of oil dispersants shall be use only as a last resort. While effectiveness of dispersants in removing oil form the sea surface is proven, the use of dispersants is controlled in almost all countries due to the toxicity of their active agents and the dispersed oil on the marine environment. However, according to reports, after dispersant application, no significant toxicity to fish or shrimp was observed in the field-collected samples. Moreover, the results also indicate that dispersant-oil mixtures are generally no more toxic to the aquatic test species than oil alone. During the Deepwater Horizon Incident, dispersants were applied to floating oil and injected into the oil plume at depth. These decisions were carefully considered by state and federal agencies, as well as BP, to prevent as much oil as possible from reaching sensitive shoreline habitats. Net Environmental Benefit Analysis for dispersant use assumed that dispersants appear to prevent long-term contamination resulting absence of oil in the substrate and will benefit marine wildlife by decreasing the risk of significant contamination to feathers or fur. Further study to use dispersants with scientific baseline is needed for our maritime environment which consistently threaten huge oil spill incidents occurrence.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.102-108
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• 1996

This was an open trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of moclobemide twice daily for treatment of Korean patients with major depressive disorder(DSM-III-R). The duration of the trial was 6 weeks with the initial dose of moclobemide being fixed lor the first two weeks at 300mg/day(150mg twice daily, each token after morning and evening meals). Thereafter, when necessary, the dose was allowed to increase to 600mg/day or decrease to 150mg/day according to the seventy of the depression and/or the tolerability of the drug. Hypnotics and/or sedatives from a benzodiazepine group could be concomitantly administered at usual dosage. Patients were assessed at baseline and at days 14, 28 and 42. Efficacy was primarily judged on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression(HAM-D) and Beck Depression Inventory(BDI). Patients had to score at least 17 respectively an both scales to enter the trial. Secondary efficacy parameters included Clinical Global Impression(CGI) for severity of illness and improvement. Safety and tolerability were judged on reported adverse events, vital signs and laboratory parameters. In addition, there was a series of questions and assessments for the psychiatrists and patients to complete at the end of the trial Twenty nine patients completing trial were included in the analysis of efficacy : of thirty one patients participating in the safety and tolerability analysis, those who withdraw voluntarily without particular reasons or violated the treatment schedule were not included. The efficacies as determined by HAM-D, BDI or CGI were found to be significant compared to baseline. The number of responders defined as patients with a total score of 10 or less or with a total score of 50% or less of the baseline score on HAM-D and BDI were 17(59%) and 18(62%) respectively. Regarding safety and tolerability, nine patients(29%) reported mild adverse events probably related to moclobemide : of these one patient dropped out because of poor tolerability : however, there were no appreciable changes in blood pressure, pulse rate, body weight or laboratory parameters for all patients over the trial period. Furthermore, the physicians' and patients' opinions at final evaluation showed that moclabemide has a good antidepressant effect as well as a favorable tolerability. In conclusion, a twice-daily dosage schedule with maclobemide is recommendable for the treatment of Korean patients with major depressive disorder since its efficacy and safety were demonstrated in this study.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.611-635
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• 2014

Information systems (IS) have become ubiquitous and changed every aspect of how people live their lives. While some IS have been successfully adopted and widely used, others have failed to be adopted and crowded out in spite of remarkable progress in technologies. Both the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the IS Success Model (ISSM), among many others, have contributed to explain the reasons of success as well as failure in IS adoption and usage. While the TAM suggests that intention to use and perceived usefulness lead to actual IS usage, the ISSM indicates that information quality, system quality, and service quality affect IS usage and user satisfaction. Upon literature review, however, we found a significant void in theoretical development and its applications that employ either of the two models, and we raise research questions. First of all, in spite of the causal relationship between intention to use and actual usage, in most previous studies, only intention to use was employed as a dependent variable without overt explaining its relationship with actual usage. Moreover, even in a few studies that employed actual IS usage as a dependent variable, the degree of actual usage was measured based on users' perceptual responses to survey questionnaires. However, the measurement of actual usage based on survey responses might not be 'actual' usage in a strict sense that responders' perception may be distorted due to their selective perceptions or stereotypes. By the same token, the degree of system quality that IS users perceive might not be 'real' quality as well. This study seeks to fill this void by measuring the variables of actual usage and system quality using 'fact' data such as system logs and specifications of users' information and communications technology (ICT) devices. More specifically, we propose an integrated research model that bring together the TAM and the ISSM. The integrated model is composed of both the variables that are to be measured using fact as well as survey data. By employing the integrated model, we expect to reveal the difference between real and perceived degree of system quality, and to investigate the relationship between the perception-based measure of intention to use and the fact-based measure of actual usage. Furthermore, we also aim to add empirical findings on the general research question: what factors influence actual IS usage and how? In order to address the research question and to examine the research model, we selected a mobile campus application (MCA). We collected both fact data and survey data. For fact data, we retrieved them from the system logs such information as menu usage counts, user's device performance, display size, and operating system revision version number. At the same time, we conducted a survey among university students who use an MCA, and collected 180 valid responses. A partial least square (PLS) method was employed to validate our research model. Among nine hypotheses developed, we found five were supported while four were not. In detail, the relationships between (1) perceived system quality and perceived usefulness, (2) perceived system quality and perceived intention to use, (3) perceived usefulness and perceived intention to use, (4) quality of device platform and actual IS usage, and (5) perceived intention to use and actual IS usage were found to be significant. In comparison, the relationships between (1) quality of device platform and perceived system quality, (2) quality of device platform and perceived usefulness, (3) quality of device platform and perceived intention to use, and (4) perceived system quality and actual IS usage were not significant. The results of the study reveal notable differences from those of previous studies. First, although perceived intention to use shows a positive effect on actual IS usage, its explanatory power is very weak ($R^2$=0.064). Second, fact-based system quality (quality of user's device platform) shows a direct impact on actual IS usage without the mediating role of intention to use. Lastly, the relationships between perceived system quality (perception-based system quality) and other constructs show completely different results from those between quality of device platform (fact-based system quality) and other constructs. In the post-hoc analysis, IS users' past behavior was additionally included in the research model to further investigate the cause of such a low explanatory power of actual IS usage. The results show that past IS usage has a strong positive effect on current IS usage while intention to use does not have, implying that IS usage has already become a habitual behavior. This study provides the following several implications. First, we verify that fact-based data (i.e., system logs of real usage records) are more likely to reflect IS users' actual usage than perception-based data. In addition, by identifying the direct impact of quality of device platform on actual IS usage (without any mediating roles of attitude or intention), this study triggers further research on other potential factors that may directly influence actual IS usage. Furthermore, the results of the study provide practical strategic implications that organizations equipped with high-quality systems may directly expect high level of system usage.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.97-115
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to illustrating how the store selection factors affect the customer's satisfaction about the store and the intention of revisit base on the analyzing the store selection factors. At the same time, the difference between the influence on the customer's satisfaction and revisit intention of that in Korea and in China is also compared. Accordingly, through the notional understanding of configuration variables and the investigation of previous research, the Research hypothesis was set and the relevance between the two was inspected. The survey was aimed at the Korean customers who visit the large supermarkets in Korea and Chinese customers who visit the large supermarkets in China. After that, the reliability and validity of the collected data was verified and the research hypothesis was validated by structure equation modeling. The result of this study can by concluded as follows: First, in Korea the customer's satisfaction is showed to be affected by store selection factors, product property, service property and physical environment. Second, in China the customer's satisfaction is showed to be affected by store selection factors, product property, service property and physical environment. Third, in Korea the revisit intention is showed to be affected by customer's satisfaction. Forth, in China the revisit intention is showed to be affected by customer's satisfaction. Fifth, it shows little difference between the store selection factors of the customers visiting large supermarkets in Korea and in China. According to the research results above, the implications can be drawn as the customer's satisfaction of those who visit the large supermarkets may be affected by store selection factors (store property, product property, service property and physical environment). In recent years, more and more overseas large supermarkets are opening in both Korea and China and the competition among each is become more intense day by day. Every larger supermarket is trying their best to refine their store property, product property, service property and physical environment, in order to enhance the customer's satisfaction. The biggest factor that affects the customer's satisfaction and revisit intention in Korea is service property, So that the services requires proper measures and improvement. In China, the factor that affects most on the customer's satisfaction and revisit intention is physical environment. In order to enhance the customer's positive consciousness of stores, the physical environment needs to be well constructed. Lastly, in the compared research between Korea and China, the distribution of survey responders was limited from certain areas. Therefore, the further study can be implemented by more research in various geographical areas and more development in store selection factors.