• Title/Summary/Keyword: Measurement tool

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Quantitative Evaluation of the Corticospinal Tract Segmented by Using Co-registered Functional MRI and Diffusion Tensor Tractography (정상인에서 기능적 뇌 자기공명영상과 확산텐서영상 합성기법을 이용한 피질척수로의 위치에 따른 정량적 분석)

  • Jang, Sung-Ho;Hong, Ji-Heon;Byun, Woo-Mok;Hwang, Chang-Ho;Yang, Dong-Seok
    • Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.40-46
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    • 2009
  • Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigate the quantitative evaluation of the corticospinal tract (CST) at the multiple levels by using functional MRI (fMRI) co-registered to diffusion tensor tractography (DTT). Materials and Methods : Ten normal subjects without any history of neurological disorder participated in this study. fMRI was performed at 1.5 T MR scanner using hand grasp-release movement paradigm. DTT was performed by using DtiStudio on the basis of fiber assignment continuous tracking algorithm (FACT). The seed region of interest (ROI) was drawn in the area of maximum fMRI activation during the motor task of hand grasp-release movement on a 2-D fractional anisotropy (FA) color map, and the target ROI was drawn in the cortiocospinal portion of anterior lower pons. We have drawn five ROIs for the measurement of FA and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) along the corona radiata (CR) down to the medulla. Results : The contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex (SM1) was mainly found to be activated in all subjects. DTT showed that tracts originated from SM1 and ran to the medulla along the known pathway of the CST. In all subjects, FA values of the CST were higher at the level of the midbrain and posterior limb of internal capsule (PLIC) than the level of others. Conclusion : Our study showed that co-registered fMRI and DTT has elucidated the state of CST on 3-D and analyzed the quantitative values of FA and ADC at the multiple levels. We conclude that co-registered fMRI and DTT may be applied as a useful tool for clarifying and investigating the state of CST in the patients with brain injury.

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Diagnostic Value of Adenosine Deaminase(ADA) and its Isoenzyme in Pleural Effusion (흉수의 감별진단에서 Adenosine Deaminase (ADA) 및 동종효소의 유용성)

  • Kim, Keun-Youl;Kweon, Suk-Hoe;Park, Jae-Seuk;Jee, Young-Koo;Lee, Kye-Young;Kim, Youn-Seup;Chun, Yong
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.45 no.2
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    • pp.388-396
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    • 1998
  • Background: Etiologic diagnosis of pleural effusion is usually made by clinical characteristics, pleural fluid analysis and pleural biopsy. But, despite careful diagnostic study, the cause of pleural effusion cannot be found in about 20 percent of patients, especially in loculated pleural effusions. Tuberculous pleurisy is one of the most common cause of pleural effusion in Korea. But, pleural fluid culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis are positive in only 20 to 30 percent of patients and typical pleural biopsy finding in less than 50 percent of patients with this disease. In recent studies, adenosine deaminse(ADA) and its isoenzymes were proposed to be a useful diagnostic tool for differential diagnosis of pleural effusion. We investigated the pattern of ADA and its iscenzyme activities in various cause of pleural effusions to evaluate the diagnostic value of measuring ADA and its isoenzymes. Method: We measured total ADA and its isoenzyme activities in pleural fluid and serum from 54 patients with pleural effusion(25 tuberculous pleural effusion, 10 parapneumonic effusion, 14 malignant pleural effusion, 5 transudative pleural effusion), including 5 loculated tuberculous pleural effusions and 6 loculated parapneumonic effusions. Total ADA activity was measured by the spectrophotometric method and ADA2 isoenzyme activity was measured with same method using EHNA, potent inhibitor of ADA1 isoenzyme activity. Result: Total ADA activity of tuberculous pleural effusion was higher than malignant pleural effusion(p<0.01), but no significant difference was found between tuberculous pleural effusion and parapneumonic effusion(tuberculous pleural effusion: $148.9{\pm}89.9IU/L$, parapneumonic effusion: $129.0{\pm}119.4IU/L$, malignant pleural effusion: $48.7 {\pm}39.7IU/L$). Percentage of ADA2 activity to total ADA activity(ADA2%) of pleural effusion of tuberculous pleurisy was higher than parapneumonic effusion(p<0.05). but no significant difference was found between tuberculous pleural effusion and malignant pleural effusion(tuberculous pleural effusion: $57.2{\pm}10.7%$, parapneumonic effusion: $35.9{\pm}17.8%$, malignant pleural effusion: $60.7{\pm}4.1%$). In loculated pleural effusion, ADA2% of tuberculous pleural effusion was higher than parapneumonic effusion(tuberculous pleural effusion: $53.3{\pm}3.9%$, parapneumonic effusion: $27.8{\pm}7.9%$). Conclusion: Measurement of ADA isoenzyme activity is useful for differentiating tuberculous pleural effusion from parapneumonic effusion, especially in loculated pleural effusion.

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Application Strategies of Eye-tracking Method in Nightscape Evaluation (야간경관 평가에서의 아이트래킹 분석 적용 연구)

  • Kang, Youngeun;Kim, Mintai
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.43 no.4
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    • pp.87-97
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    • 2015
  • There's a trend towards vitalization of nightscape planning businesses nationally and locally as well for city image making and activation of regional economy, but there is still no systematic nightscape planning going on for lack of relevant researches and objective evaluations. This study aims to suggest the guideline for nightscape planning by conducting an eye tracking experiment and survey for recognizing the characteristics of a nightscape. Furthermore, the authors intended to verify the eye-tracking method as a tool for landscape evaluation. The research site was restricted in the campus of Virginia Tech, VA, and those were selected by experts' survey among various types of nightscape images. The variables for analyzing the characteristics of nightscape images selected were 'preference', 'safety(fear)' and 'clearness'. 'Fixation duration', 'saccade duration', 'scan path length', and 'pupil size' were selected as the eye movement measurements. The results of this study are as follows: The first outcome found was that there were significant differences among the characteristics(preference, safety and clearness) of a nightscape by MANOVA, and these variables were correlated positively by Pearson's correlation. Secondly, there were differences on fixation duration, saccade duration and scan path depending on the nightscape setting statistically. Also, the eye tracking measurement in an open setting was recorded lower than enclosed settings. In the result of a heat map, we found the meaning of the fixated areas on both viewing without intention and viewing intentionally. It turned out that the fixated areas were consistent with the areas the subjects felt preferred and clarity in all of the nightscape images, which means people usually focus on what they prefer and see clearly in a certain nightscape. Based on this result and previous studies, the authors could make a conclusion that eye tracking method can apply to evaluate nightscape settings in terms of analyzing the whole characteristics and finding specific points for the detailed analysis as well. Therefore, these results can contribute by suggesting nightscape planning, implication of the landscape evaluation, and implication of the eye tracking study.

A Comparison of coincidence between the Light field & the Radiation field using film and BIS (필름과 BIS 영상장치를 이용한 광/방사선조사야 일치성 비교평가)

  • Bang, Dong-Wan;Seok, Jin-Yong;Jeong, Yun-Ju;Choi, Byeong-Don;Park, Jin-Hong
    • The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.33-41
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    • 2004
  • Purpose : Film has been the primary tool in coincidence testing between the light field and the radiation field, which constitutes the quality assurance list of a linear accelerator. But there is a great chance of errors being different among the observer when using film. Thus this study set out to use the BIS(Beam Image System) in addition to film in comparing and evaluating coincidence results between the two fields and in searching for the improvement measures. Materials & Methods : Photon beam of 6 and 15MV was exposed to film and the BIS using a linear accelerator. The light and radiation fields were each $50{\times}50,\;100{\times}100,\;and\;200{\times}200mm^2$. The gantry angle was $0^{\circ}$ when using film and $0^{\circ}\;and\;270^{\circ}$ when using the BIS. The devices adopted to test coincidence between the two fields were a ruler and film scanner when using film. With the BIS, the width of the scanned light and radiation fields was measured for errors with setting the X and Y axis. Results : The visual measurements of the observer with film resulted that the radiation field was bigger than the light field and that their maximum error was 1.9mm. The results were the same with the measurements using the film scanner except for the average error, which was less than 1.9mm. On the contrary, the measurements using the BIS showed that the light field was bigger than the radiation field at the gantry angle of $0^{\circ}\;and\;270^{\circ}$. The maximum error was 0.96mm, and the error range was $<{\pm}2mm$ both in the X and Y axis. The average error of ${\Delta}X$, Y was the smallest in the order of the visual film measurements, film scanner measurements, and BIS measurements Conclusion . This requires a careful measurement for accurate quality assurance since errors are much different according to each observer that tests coincidence between visual fields with film. And an observer needs to use another image device or develop a measuring device of his own if it seems necessary for accurate measurements.

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Usefulness of Rotation for Toric Soft Lenses Using Objective Refraction (타각적 굴절검사를 이용한 토릭 소프트 렌즈 회전 평가의 유용성)

  • Yu, Dong-Sik;Moon, Byeong-Yeon;Son, Jeong-Sik
    • Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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    • v.16 no.3
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    • pp.265-272
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    • 2011
  • Purpose: The clinical usefulness of rotation evaluation using objective refraction in toric soft lenses fitting was investigated. Methods: Toric soft lenses were fitted for 32 subjects (64 eyes; mean age of 24.69 ${\pm}$ 1.65 years) with astigmatism and both eyes of each subject were fitted with toric soft lenses. Objective refraction-based lenses rotation was evaluated from refraction and over-refraction data by indirect calculating technique. These calculated data were compared with the measured data from slit lamp with direct measuring technique. Results: Orientation of toric soft lenses around zero position (within ${\pm}$ 5$^{\circ}$ vertical line) was investigated. The orientations to the direction of nose of measured and calculated values were 69.78% and 63.64%, respectively, which showed similar values between two techniques. Agreement frequency between measured and calculated values in the magnitude of lenses rotation 54.69% and 82.82% for 10$^{\circ}$ and 20$^{\circ}$ of vertical line, respectively. The 95% limits of agreement between calculation and measurement were from -10.08$^{\circ}$ to 12.65$^{\circ}$, and mean difference was 1.29$^{\circ}$ within ${\pm}$ 10$^{\circ}$. The result showed there was no significant difference (p = 0.1984) and high correlation (r = 0.56, p = 0.0004) between two techniques. But the 95% limits of agreement was widen in ${\pm}$ 20$^{\circ}$ of vertical line. The magnitude of lens rotation between two methods was 9.66 ${\pm}$ 6.16$^{\circ}$, 16.17 ${\pm}$ 12.38$^{\circ}$ and 10.58 ${\pm}$ 12.02$^{\circ}$ for normal, loose and tight fitted conditions. Conclusions: From the results with smaller difference between two techniques, it was found that higher availability of subjective over-refraction data can be used as a supplementary tool for subjective refraction. An application using objective refraction with direct measuring could be provide high success in prescription on toric soft lenses.

Determination of plasma C16-C24 globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) isoforms by tandem mass spectrometry for diagnosis of Fabry disease (패브리병(Fabry) 진단을 위한 혈장 중 Globotriaosylceramide (Gb3)의 탠덤매스 분석법 개발과 임상 응용)

  • Yoon, Hye-Ran;Cho, Kyung-Hee;Yoo, Han-Wook;Choi, Jin-Ho;Lee, Dong-Hwan;Zhang, Kate;Keutzer, Joan
    • Journal of Genetic Medicine
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    • v.4 no.1
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    • pp.45-52
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    • 2007
  • Purpose : A simple, rapid, and highly sensitive analytical method for Gb3 in plasma was developed without labor-ex tensive pre-treatment by electrospray ionization MS/ MS (ESI-MS/MS). Measurement of globotriaosy lceramide (Gb3, ceramide trihex oside) in plasma has clinical importance for monitoring after enzyme replacement therapy in Fabry disease patients. The disease is an X-linked lipid storage disorder that results from a deficiency of the enzyme ${\alpha}$-galactosidase A (${\alpha}$-Gal A). The lack of ${\alpha}$-Gal A causes an intracellular accumulation of glycosphingolipids, mainly Gb3. Methods : Only simple 50-fold dilution of plasma is necessary for the extraction and isolation of Gb3 in plasma. Gb3 in diluted plasma was dissolved in dioxane containing C17:0 Gb3 as an internal standard. After centrifugation it was directly injected and analyzed through guard column by in combination with multiple reaction monitoring mode of ESI-MS/MS. Results : Eight isoforms of Gb3 were completely resolved from plasma matrix. C16:0 Gb3 occupied 50% of total Gb3 as a major component in plasma. Linear relationship for Gb3 isoforms w as found in the range of 0.001-1.0 ${\mu}g$/mL. The limit of detection (S/N=3) was 0.001 ${\mu}g$/mL and limit of quantification was 0.01 ${\mu}g$/mL for C16:0 Gb3 with acceptable precision and accuracy. Correlation coefficient of calibration curves for 8 Gb3 isoforms ranged from 0.9678 to 0.9982. Conclusion : This quantitative method developed could be useful for rapid and sensitive 1st line Fabry disease screening, monitoring and/or diagnostic tool for Fabry disease.

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Effects of Positive Psychological Capital, Social Support, and Social Existence on Quality of Life for Vietnamese Students (베트남 유학생의 긍정심리자본, 사회적지지, 사회적 현존감이 삶의 질에 미치는 영향)

  • Yoon, Ji-Won;Je, Nam-Ju;Hwa, Jeong-Seok;Park, Mee-Ra
    • The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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    • v.8 no.5
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    • pp.271-278
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    • 2022
  • This study attempted to prepare basic data for international students with Vietnamese nationality in Korea to identify positive psychological capital, social support, social presence, and quality of life and to prepare support measures to improve their quality of life. Data collection is from May 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021, and was conducted through an online survey for anonymity and convenience. For data analysis, the IBM SPSS/25 statistical program was used, and the significance level for the results was measured as .05, and the reliability of each measurement tool was calculated. The results of this study are summarized as follows. First, the age of the subjects was '24 years old-27 years old', and women accounted for the majority. In the fourth grade, the fourth grade was the most, with "outgoing" personality, "sometimes" experiences of interpersonal conflict, "more than four years and less than five years" in the period of residence in Korea, and the level of Korean proficiency was "grade three." Second, the average quality of life of Vietnamese international students was 3.52 points (out of 5 points), positive psychological capital was 3.98 points (out of 6 points), social support was 2.96 points (out of 4 points), and social presence was 3.59 points (out of 5 points). Third, in the case of the quality of life of Vietnamese international students, there was a significant difference according to their personality, and as a result of post-verification, the quality of life of the 'extroverted' group was higher than the 'mixed' group. There was a significant difference according to interpersonal conflict), and as a result of post-examination, the "no conflict" group had a higher quality of life than the "conflict frequent" group. Fourth, the factors that most affected the subject's quality of life were social support, positive psychological capital, and personality (extroverted). The explanatory power of the model was 33.2%.

The relationship between team cohesion and team performance of the transformative leadership of Taekwondo leaders at Chinese universities (중국 대학교 태권도 지도자의 변혁적 리더십이 팀응집력과 팀성과의 영향 관계)

  • Wu, Han;Kwak, Han-pyong;Son, Hanbin;Lee, Jaewoo
    • The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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    • v.8 no.4
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    • pp.253-261
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    • 2022
  • The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between transformative leadership, team cohesion, and team performance of Chinese university taekwondo leaders. Specifically, it is to investigate the effect of transformative leadership on team cohesion and team performance and to verify the mediating effect of team cohesion in the relationship between transformative leadership and team performance. In order to achieve the research purpose, a total of 350 people were sampled after setting taekwondo leaders at Chinese universities as a population. The measurement tool used in this study was a questionnaire consisting of 5 items on demographic characteristics, a total of 19 questions on transformational leadership, 10 questions on team cohesion, and 4 questions on team performance. The validity of the questionnaire was verified through exploratory factor analysis, and the reliability was verified through reliability analysis. The reliability Cronbach's α of the questionnaire was found to be α=0.755-0.799 for transformative leadership, α=0.848, and α=0.740 for team performance. As the data processing method, exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis, one-way analysis (one-way ANOVA), and multiple regression analysis were used using SPSS WIN. The conclusions derived through the above research methods and procedures are as follows. First, the transformative leadership of Taekwondo leaders at Chinese universities influenced team cohesion. Second, the transformative leadership of Taekwondo leaders at Chinese universities influenced team performance. Third, the team cohesiveness of Taekwondo leaders at Chinese universities influenced team performance. Fourth, the transformative leadership of Taekwondo leaders at Chinese universities not only directly affects team performance, but also indirectly affects team cohesion. Therefore, it is believed that Chinese Taekwondo players will help improve their performance by affecting team cohesion and team performance for the best games through the leader's variable leadership.

Effects of Leaders' Creativity on Employees' Job Satisfaction and Innovation Behavior: Focusing on the Mediating Effect of Positive Psychological Capital and Creative Self-efficacy and the Moderated Mediating Effect of Team Cohesiveness (리더의 창의성이 종업원의 직무만족과 혁신행동에 미치는 영향: 긍정심리자본과 창의적 자기효능감의 매개효과와 팀응집성의 조절된 매개효과를 중심으로)

  • Kim, Ji Woong;Kang, Min Jung
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.165-182
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    • 2022
  • This study focused on whether employees' perceived leader's creativity has a significant effect on employees' job satisfaction and innovative behavior. In addition, this study analyzed the mediating effect of positive psychological capital and creative self-efficacy in the relationship between perceived leader creativity and employee satisfaction with the job or innovation behavior, and analyzed the moderated mediating effect of team cohesion. This study conducted confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis for each factor using the measurement tool verification method using the SmartPLS 3.0 structural equation model, and empirically analyzed the research model. As a result, it was found that the creativity of employees' perceived leaders did not directly significantly affect employees' job satisfaction and innovation behavior. However, it was found that positive psychological capital significantly mediated the relationship between perceived leader creativity and job satisfaction or innovative behavior. In addition, positive psychological capital and creative self-efficacy have a complete double-mediation relationship between the employees' perceived leader's creativity and employees' innovative behavior. However, positive psychological capital and creative self-efficacy don't have a double-mediation relationship between the employee's perceived leader's creativity and employees' job satisfaction. Finally, Team cohesion was found to moderate the relationship between perceived leader creativity, positive psychological capital (or creative self-efficacy). However, the research model that the moderated mediating effect of team cohesion on the relationship between leader's creativity, the mediating variables(positive psychological capital and creative self-efficacy), and job satisfaction (or innovative behavior) was significant only for groups with high team cohesiveness. This study examined the needs of the times for the importance of creativity of perceived leaders and analyzed the relationship between factors influencing job satisfaction and innovation behavior of organizational members. The study is meaningful in that it suggested a plan to establish a specific organizational strategy to enhance positive psychological capital and creative self-efficacy.

A Structural Relationship among Job Requirements, Job Resources and Job Burnout, and Organizational Effectiveness of Private Security Guards (민간경비원의 직무요구 직무자원과 소진, 조직유효성의 구조적 관계)

  • Kim, Sung-Cheol;Kim, Young-Hyun
    • Korean Security Journal
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    • no.48
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    • pp.9-33
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    • 2016
  • The purpose of the present study was to find out cause-and-effect relationship between job requirements and job resources, with job burnout as a mediator variable, and the effects of these variables on organizational effectiveness. The population in the present study was private security guards employed by 13 private security companies in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do areas, and a survey was conducted on 500 security guards selected using purposive sampling technique. Out of 460 questionnaires distributed, 429 responses, excluding 31 outliers or insincere responses, were used for data analysis. For analysis, data were coded and entered into SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 18.0, which were used to analyze the data. Descriptive analyses were performed to find out sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to test the validity of the measurement tool, and the Cronbach's Alpha coefficients were calculated to test the reliability. To find out the significance of relationships among variables, Pearson's correlation analysis was performed. Covariance Structure Analysis (CSA) was performed to test the relationship among latent factors of a model for job requirements, job resources, job burnout, and organizational effectiveness of the private security guards, and the fitness of the model analyzed with CSA was determined by the goodness-of-fit index ($x^2$, df, p, RMR, GFI, CFI, TLI, RMSEA). The level of significance was set at .05, and the following results were obtained. First, even though the effect of job requirements on job burnout was not statistically significant, it had a positive influence overall, and this result can be considered such that the higher the perception of job requirements by the member of the organization, the higher the perception of job burnout. Second, the influence of job resources on job burnout was negative, which can be considered that the higher the perception of job resources, the lower the perception of job burnout. Third, even though the influence of job requirements on organizational effectiveness was statistically nonsignificant, it had a negative influence overall, and this result can be considered that the higher the perception of job requirements, the lower the perception of organizational effectiveness. Fourth, job resources had a positive influence on organizational effectiveness, and it can be considered that the higher the perception of job resources, the higher the perception of organizational effectiveness. Fifth, the results of the analysis between job burnout and organizational effectiveness revealed that, even though the influence of job burnout on organizational effectiveness was statistically nonsignificant, it had partial negative influences on sublevels of organizational effectiveness, and this may suggest that the higher the perception of job burnout by the organization members, the lower the organizational effectiveness. Sixth, the analysis of mediating role in the relationship between job requirements and organizational effectiveness, job burnout was taking partial mediating role between job requirements and organizational effectiveness. These results suggest that reducing job burnout by managing job requirements, organizational effectiveness that leads to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention can be maximized. Seventh, the analysis of mediating role in the relationship among job requirements, job resources, and organizational effectiveness, job burnout was assuming a partial mediating role in the relationships among job requirements, job resources, and organizational effectiveness. These results suggest that organizational effectiveness can be maximized by either lowering job requirements or burnout management through reorganizing job resources.

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