• Asia pacific journal of information systems
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.1-42
• /
• 2009

In a knowledge-based society, a firm's intellectual capital represents the wealth of ideas and ability to innovate, which are indispensable elements for the future growth. Therefore, the intellectual capital is evidently recognized as the most valuable asset in the organization. Considered as intangible asset, intellectual capital is the basis based on which firms can foster their sustainable competitive advantage. One of the essential components of the intellectual capital is a social capital, indicating the firm's individual members' ability to build a firm's social networks. As such, social capital is a powerful concept necessary for understanding the emergence, growth, and functioning of network linkages. The more social capital a firm is equipped with, the more successfully it can establish new social networks. By providing a shared context for social interactions, social capital facilitates the creation of new linkages in the organizational setting. This concept of "person-environment fit" has long been prevalent in the management literature. The fit is grounded in the interaction theory of behavior. The interaction perspective has a fairly long theoretical tradition, beginning with proposition that behavior is a function of the person and environment. This view asserts that neither personal characteristics nor the situation alone adequately explains the variance in behavioral and attitudinal variables. Instead, the interaction of personal and situational variables accounts for the greatest variance. Accordingly, the person-environment fit is defined as the degree of congruence or match between personal and situational variables in producing significant selected outcomes. In addition, information systems acceptance factors enable organizations to build large electronic communities with huge knowledge resources. For example, the Intranet helps to build knowledge-based communities, which in turn increases employee communication and collaboration. It is vital since through active communication and collaborative efforts can employees build common basis for shared understandings that evolve into stronger relationships embedded with trust. To this aim, the electronic communication network allows the formation of social network to be more viable to rapid mobilization and assimilation of knowledge assets in the organizations. The purpose of this study is to investigate: (1) the impact of person-environment fit(person-job fit, person-person fit, person-group fit, person-organization fit) on social capital(network ties, trust, norm, shared language); (2) the impact of information systems acceptance factors(availability, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use) on social capital; (3) the impact of social capital on personal performance(work performance, work satisfaction); and (4) the mediating role of social capital between person-environment fit and personal performance. In general, social capital is defined as the aggregated actual or collective potential resources which lead to the possession of a durable network. The concept of social capital was originally developed by sociologists for their analysis in social context. Recently, it has become an increasingly popular jargon used in the management literature in describing organizational phenomena outside the realm of transaction costs. Since both environmental factors and information systems acceptance factors affect the network of employee's relationships, this study proposes that these two factors have significant influence on the social capital of employees. The person-environment fit basically refers to the alignment between characteristics of people and their environments, thereby resulting in positive outcomes for both individuals and organizations. In addition, the information systems acceptance factors have rather direct influences on the social network of employees. Based on such theoretical framework, namely person-environment fit and social capital theory, we develop our research model and hypotheses. The results of data analysis, based on 458 employee cases are as follow: Firstly, both person-environment fit(person-job fit, person-person fit, person-group fit, person-organization fit) and information systems acceptance factors(availability perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use) significantly influence social capital(network ties, norm, shared language). In addition, person-environment fit is a stronger factor influencing social capital than information systems acceptance factors. Secondly, social capital is a significant factor in both work satisfaction and work performance. Finally, social capital partly plays a mediating role between person-environment fit and personal performance. Our findings suggest that it is vital for firms to understand the importance of environmental factors affecting social capital of employees and accordingly identify the importance of information systems acceptance factors in building formal and informal relationships of employees. Firms also need to reflect their recognition of the importance of social capital's mediating role in boosting personal performance. Some limitations arisen in the course of the research and suggestions for future research directions are also discussed.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.51 no.8
• /
• pp.879-885
• /
• 2008

Purpose : The human lung fibroblast may act as an immunomodulatory cell by providing pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, which are important in airway remodeling. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induces mucosal edema and angiogenesis. Thymus and activation regulated chemokine (TARC) induces selective migration of T helper 2 cells. We investigated whether human lung fibroblasts produced VEGF and TARC, and the effects were augmented with the co-culture of fibroblasts and human bronchial smooth muscle cells (HBSMC), and whether dexamethasone can inhibit the proliferation and the release of VEGF in lung fibroblasts. Methods : Human lung fibroblasts were cultured with and without HBSMC, growth-arrested in serum-deprived medium, and pretreated with dexamethasone for 16 hours. After 24-hour stimulation with platelet derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) and/or transforming growth factor-${\beta}$ (TGF-${\beta}$), culture supernatant was harvested for assays of VEGF and TARC. Cell proliferation was assayed using BrdU cell proliferation ELISA kit. Results : 1) The release of VEGF was significantly increased after stimulation with TGF-${\beta}$, and its release was augmented when co-stimulated with PDGF and TGF-${\beta}$. 2) VEGF release induced by PDGF or TGF-${\beta}$ was inhibited by dexamethasone. 3) There was no synergistic effect on the release of VEGF when human lung fibroblasts were co-cultured with HBSMC. 4) Dexamethasone did not suppress human lung fibroblasts proliferations. 5) Neither TGF-${\beta}$ nor PDGF induced TARC release from lung fibroblasts. Conclusion : Human lung fibroblasts may modulate airway remodeling by release of VEGF, but they have no synergistic effects when co-cultured with HBSMC. Dexamethasone suppresses VEGF release, not proliferation of lung fibroblast.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.149-156
• /
• 2005

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of betaine intake on blood and yolk cholesterol, abdominal fat, liver fat, tissue triglyceride(TG) and liver HMG-CoA reductase In laying hens. In Expt. 1, a total of 72 ISA-brown laying hens were individually assigned into four treatments from 18 to 21 weeks old. Com-soybean meal based diet were fed with the addition of 0, 300, 600 and 1,200ppm. In Expt. 2, 72 ISA-brown laying hens were housed into individual cage to evaluate the effect of dietary betaine(0, 600ppm) and energy(ME, 2,800, 2,900kca/kg) from 70 to 74 weeks. Serum total cholesterol, LDL and HDL-cholesterol and TG concentration in blood of hens fed betaine tended to increase compared to those of the control, but were not significantly different. However, betaine supplementation showed a statistically significant decrease in yolk cholesterol(P<0.05). There was no significant difference in abdominal fat among the treatments. Liver fats and 7c of birds 130 betaine was decreased compared with control. Serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride concentration were significantly inc.eased by ffeding a diet containing 600ppm betaine in Expt. 2(P<0.05), but were not influenced by the dietary energy levels. Yolk cholesterol, abdominal fat and HMG-CoA reductase activity were affected neither by dietary energy nor betaine level.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.277-290
• /
• 2016

Deep geological cross-sectional data is generally not common nor easy to construct, because it is expensive and requires a great deal of time. As a result, geological interpretations at depth are limited. Many scientists attempt to construct geological cross-sections at depth using geological surface data and geophysical data. In this paper, we suggest a method for constructing cross-sections from limited geological surface data in a target area. The reason for this study is to construct and interpret geological cros-sections at depth to evaluate heat flow anomaly along the Yangsan fault. The Yangsan Fault passes through the south-eastern part of the Korean Peninsula. The cross-section is constructed from Sangbukmyeon to Unchonmyeon passing perpendicularly through the Yangsan Fault System trending NW-SE direction. The geological cross-section is constructed using the following data: (1) Lithologic distributions and main structural elements. (2) Extensity of sedimentary rock and igneous rock, from field mapping. (3) Fault dimension calculated based on geometry of exposed surface rupture, and (4) Seismic and core logging data. The Yangsan Fault System is composed of the Jain fault, Milyang fault, Moryang fault, Yangsan fault, Dongnae fault, and Ingwang fault which strike NNE-SSW. According to field observation, the western section of the Yangsan fault bounded by igneous rocks and in the eastern section sedimentary rocks are dominant. Using surface fault length we infer that the Yangsan Fault System has developed to a depth of kilometers beneath the surface. According to seismic data, sedimentary rocks that are adjacent to the Yangsan fault are thin and getting thicker towards the east of the section. In this study we also suggest a new method to recognize faults using core loggings. This analysis could be used to estimate fault locations at different scales.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.18-32
• /
• 1994

It is important to understand that patients with hemiplegia are under stress during the rehabilitation process. This study was designed to determine what changes occur in the stress perceived by these patients during the rehabilitation process. and what changes occur in the ways they coped with stress. A decriptive study with a longitudinal design was conducted. A total of 57 patients with hemiplegia who were admitted to one general hospital made up the sample for this study. A questionnaire, observations and interviews were used for the data collection which was done in three phases(within one week after admission : within one week before discharge ; within one month after discharge ). Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA repeated measures of ANOVA, and post hoc paired t -test, Bonferroni correction. The results of this study are : 1. Changes in the perception of stress during the rehabilitation process : There was a statistically significant differencs in the perception of stress among these patients during the rehabilitation process. On the post-hoc test. the perception of stress showed a statistically significant decrease from admission to discharge. The perception of psychological stress was high during the rehabilitation process as compared with the perception of physical and social stress. 2. Changes in the way the patients coped during the rehabilitation process : On admission passive coping was used by most of the subjects(91.2％). Passive coping showed an decrease from admission to discharge, but an increase from discharge to follow-up at one month post discharge. There was, however, no statistically significant changes in the way the patients coped during the rehabilitation process. 3. Changes in perception of stress during the rehabilitation process according to variables. Perception of stress among patients classified as So-Um was higher during the rehabilitation process, when compared with patients classified as So- Yang and Tae-Um. There was, however, no statistically significant difference in perception of stress over time. The patients with right sided paralysis perceived higher stress than those with left sided paralysis. There was, however, no statistically significant difference in perception of stress over time. Hence, stress was not influenced by which side was paralyzed th frequency of the relapse of the disease, or the time in the rehabilitation process. 4. Changes in coping during the rehabilitation process according to variables. There was a statistically significant difference in the way the patients coped at follow- up according to the three different kinds of the constitution groups. In other words, coping was not used by patients classified as Tae-Um but was used by those classified as So-Um. On the repeated measures of ANOVA, there was a statstically significant difference in stress over time, and an interaction between constitution and time. But the way of coping during the rehabilitation process was not influenced by which side was paralyzed nor by the frequency of the relapse of the disease. In conclusion, perception of psychological stress was high during the rehabilitation process, as compared to perception of physical and social stress. There was a statistcally significant difference in the perception of stress over time, Perception of stress showed a gradual decrease from over admission to follow-up period. There was. however, no statistically significant difference in the way of coping over time. Passive coping was used by most of patients. In the study, these findings suggest a need for nursing care related to the psychological support for patients with hemiplegia both in the hospital as well as at home, and the need for education and counseling on independent self-care to help the hemiplegic patients adapt to stress using active coping.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.11-24
• /
• 1976

This study was a part of large scale of a prospective study on attitudes of professional students in medicine, nursing and teaching toward population related issues in Korea. The study was first conducted in May 1974 and then in May 1975 for the 1974 class cohot using a questionaire consisted of attitude scales and other items developed by Lee. The purpose of stuay was twohold, namely, to determine the difference in students among specializations on one hand and between the first and second years in the 1974 class cohot regarding tile subject matter. A one-way analysis of variance was used for attitude scale, and absolute and relative frequency were computed for the analysis of non-attitude scale items by employing Fishers' Ratio and Duncan's multiple range test at 5% level and chi square test at 5% level as significance tests. The hypothesis 'students in health profession are more likely to have positive attitudes toward population related issues progressively as class year advances than students in teaching profession' was tested and the following results were obtained: 1) Nursing students were more likely to display favarable attitudes toward family planning than medical or teaching students although the class cohot showed slightly negative improvement in the second year. Medical and teaching students apperaed to have slightly improved attitudes in the second year. 2) Respondents in general perceived national family planning program as a means of population control and this tendency was more true among nursing students as the class year advances than two other professional groups of students. Students in teaching profession appeared to perceive it more as a means to improve individual family welfare while health students were likely to see as to improve maternal and child health. This tendency was progressively improved as the class year advanced. 3) The majority of students regardless of their respective specializations believed that family planning program should be directed toward the improvement of individual family welfare. No progressive changes in the class cohot were observed. 4) About the plan to use contraceptives in future, no singnificant differences were observes among different specializations nor in different class years. However, the majority was confirmed to have a plan to use contracepives in future. An increasing proportion of the undecided category was observed, as class year advanced among health students. 5) Students in health profession were found to be more favorable about 'more leisure opportunities' as motive for limiting number of children whereas education students indicated the reasons as 'facilitate ambitions' and 'economic base' The progressive changes toward positive direction in both groups were observed as the class years advanced. 6) Attitudes toward induced abortions of the health students were observed to be positively related to class years while an inverse relationship was found in teaching students who showed much less favor in the subject matter than health students. This phenomenon may be due to the different exposure to learning environments unique to respective specializations. 7) Health students were found to have more favorable attitudes toward population education in general than the teaching students. The teaching students appeared to have changed more to the negative direction when they became the second year while no such development was observed in health students. The teaching students seemed to hold a very conservative position with regard to sex education in schools. 8) About the equality of sexes, the nursing group was found to be most favorable while the reverse was true in the teaching group. A change in the negative direction as the class year advanced was found in the teaching group. 9) About questions related to fertility values-the 10 percent of respondents regardless of specialization indicated that they would maintain their single status in future, however no change was observed in the second year. The desired number of children was found to be two by the majority of students in nursing, medicine and teaching in order of high proportion. No changes in a different class year were observed. The childless marriage was seen by nursing students as a problem more than other students, but a slight change in positive direction was found when the nursing students became the second year. In summing, as data supported in the above, students in health profession demonstrated more favorable attitudes toward population related issues than the teaching students and this tendency became more apparent in the second year. It was noticed that health students were more conscious about the health aspect of population and family planning program while the teaching students gave more attention to the socioeconomic aspect. The sex variable seemed to have operated in the item related to the equality of sexes. In conclusion, as data presented in the above, the hypothesis of this study was accepted except in the few items. It should be noted that the limitation of this study is the short duration of the observation in measuring the possible attitude changes. It should include curriculum analysis for the respective specializations in order to indentify the area of curriculum impact on students in future study.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.17-40
• /
• 1995

Rheumatoid arthritis is the one of the chronic diseases, one of its major symptoms is a chronic pain. Despite developing medical treatment and surgical techniques, it is suggested that to control the pain is the goal of the treatment. But pain is an inner experience and even those closest to the patient cannot truly observe its progress or share in its suffering. The National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine's report on Pain and Disability concluded that there is no objective measure of pain-(exactly) no pain thermometer-nor can there ever be one, because the experience of pain is inseparable from personal perception and social influence such as culture. To explore chronic pain experience is to understand the process and property of the patient's perception of pain through the response to pain, the coping with pain, and the adaptation to pain. Therefore a qualitative study was conducted in order to gain an understanding of pain experience of patients with RA in korea. I used naturalistic inquiry as a research methodology, which had 5 axioms, the first is that realities are multiple, constructed, and holistic, the second is that knower and known are interactive, inseparable, the third is only time and context bound working hypotheses(idiographic statements) are possible, the forth is all entities are in a state of mutual simultaneous shaping, so that it is impossible to distinguish causes from effects and the last is that inquiry is value-bound. Purposive sampling was conducted as a sampling. 20 subjects who experienced pain over 10 years, lived in middle-sized city and big city in Korea, and 17 women and 3 men. The subject's age was from 32 to 62 (average 48.8), all were married, living with their spouse and children, except two-one divorced and the other widow before they became ill. I collected data using In depth structured interview. I had interviews two or three times with each subject, and the interviews were conducted at each subject's home. Each interview lasted about two hours an average. A recording was taken with the consent of the subject. I used inductive data analysis-such as unitizing and categorizing. unitizing is a process of coding, whereby raw data are systematically transformed and aggregated into units. Categorizing is a process wherby previously unitized data are organized into categories that provide descriptive or inferential information about the context or setting from which the units were derived. This process is used constant comparative method. The pain controlling process is composed of behavior of pain control. The behaviors of pain control are rearranging of ADL, hiddening role conflict, balancing treatment, and changing social relation. Rearranging of ADL includes diet management, sleep management, and the adjustment of daily life activities. The subjects try to rearrange their daily activities by modified style of motions, rearranging time span & range of activities, using auxillary facilities, and getting help in order to keep on the pace of daily life. Hiddening role conflict means to reduce conflicts between sick role and their role as a family member. In this process, the subjects use two modes, one is to control the pain complaints, and the other is to internalize the value which is to stay home is good for caring her children and being a good mother. To control pain complaints is done by 'enduring', 'understanding' the other family members, or making them undersood in order to reduce pain. Balancing treatment is composed of two aspects. One is to keep the pain within the endurable level, the other is to keep in touch with medical personnel in order to get the information of treatment and emotional support. Changing social relation is made by information seeking and sharing, formation of mutual support relation, and finally simplification of social relationships. The subjects simplify their social relationships by refraining from relations with someone who makes them physically and psychologically strained. In particular the subjects are apt to avoid contact with in-laws, and the change of relation to in-laws results in lessening the family boundary. In the course of this process, they confront the crisis of family confict result in family dissolution. This crisis is related to the threat of self-existence. Findings from this study contribute to understanding the chronic pain experience. To advance this study, we should compare this result with other cases in different cultural contexts. I think to interpret these results, korean cultural background should be considered. Especially the different family concept, more broader family members and kinship network, and the traditional medical knowledge influences patients' behavior.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Food Hygiene and Safety Conference
• /
• 2004.11a
• /
• pp.59-70
• /
• 2004

A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study was conducted on 63 subjects to determine the antihypertensive effect of a vegetable drink in which sardine protein hydrolysates containing a dipeptide, Valyl-Tyrosine (VY), were incorporated. The subjects, consisting of people with mild hypertension, high-normal blood pressure and normal blood pressure, were randomly divided into test (male/female=25.6, average age 50.1${\pm}$10.4 years old) and control groups (26/6, 49.0${\pm}$5.0). Each subjects in the test group was given 195g of the vegetable drink containing 0.5g of sardine peptides (sardine protein hydrolysates) with 0.4 mg of VY (test drink) once a day for 13 weeks in a row, and subjects in the control group were given the same amount of the vegetable drink without sardine peptides (control drink) in the same manner. In the test group, 40 subjects with mild hypertension of high-normal blood pressure (130 mmHg${\leq}$systolic blood pressure (SBP)<160 mmHg and/or 80 mmHg${\leq}$diastolic blood the start of the test to 134.4${\pm}$11.1 mmHg during the first week of the test period, after which similar values were seen throughout the test period (13 weeks). Compared to the control group, the difference in SBP from vaseline was statistically significant in the test group throughout the intake period. DBP also decreased significantly from 88.0${\pm}$7.9 mmHg at baseline to 83.5${\pm}$8.6 mmHg after 13 weeks. In the control group, SBP and DBP were 140.8${\pm}$8.4 mmHg and 90.5${\pm}$6.6 mmHg respectively at the start of the test, and neither decreased during the test period. In subjects with normal blood pressure, neither those in the test group nor those in the control group showed a significant change in SBP and DBP during the test period. An excessive ingestion test was performed on 25 subjects with hypertension, mild hypertension, high-normal blood pressure, and normal blood pressure by giving 585g (3 times the recommended amount of intake) of the test drink for 14 days in a row. As a result, a significant decrease of blood pressure was observed in the hypertension, mild hypertension and high-normal blood pressure groups, but no excessive decline in blood pressure or any side-effects were associated with any subjects during the test period. In the groups with normal blood pressure, the excessive ingestion of the test drink did not affect blood pressure. In these two studies, physical check-ups and biochemical analyses of blood and urine were also conducted in all subjects, and no abnormalities were observed. These results suggest that the test drink containing sardine protein hydrolysates exhibited the antihypertensive effect in only the subjects with mild hypertension or high-normal blood pressure. No adverse effects were observed in either hypertensive of normotensive subjects.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.9 no.3
• /
• pp.5-14
• /
• 2011

One of the new roles of modern retail stores is to supply consumers with a memorable experience. In Korea, enhancing a store's environment so that customers remember a unique shopping experience is recognized as a sound strategy for strengthening the store's competitiveness. Motivated by this incentive, awareness of the experience-store concept is starting to increase in various categories of the retail industry. However, many experience stores, except in a few cases, have yet to derive a significant profit, explaining why Korean consumers are somewhat unfamiliar with, yet fascinated by, the experience stores that now exist in the country. Consumer satisfaction directly, and indirectly, affects a company's future profit and potential financial gain; customer satisfaction also affects loyalty. Therefore, knowing the significant factors that increase satisfaction and loyalty is essential for any company, in any field, to be able to effectively differentiate itself from the competition. Intrigued by increased competition opportunities, most Korean companies have adopted experience-store marketing strategies. When establishing the most effective processes for increasing sales and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage of a new concept, companies should consider certain factors that influence consumers' ability to accept new concepts and ideas. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is a theory that models how people accept new concepts. TAM proposes the following two factors that influence a person's decisions about how, and when, he or she will use a new product: "perceived usefulness" and "perceived ease of use." Much of the existing research has suggested that a person's character also affects the process for accepting new ideas. Such personal character attributes as individual preferences, self-confidence, and a person's values, traits, and/or skills affect the process for willingly consenting to try something new. It will be meaningful to establish how the TAM theory's components, as well as personal character, affect individuals accepting the experience-store concept. To that end, as it pertains to an experience store, the first goal of the study is to examine the influence of innovative factors (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) on satisfaction and loyalty. The second objective is to define the moderate effect of consumers' personal characteristics on the model. The proposed model was tested on 149 respondents who were engaged in leisure sports activities and bought sports outdoor garments and equipment. According to the study's findings, the satisfaction and loyalty of an experience store can be explained by perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, with the study's results demonstrating the stronger of the two factors being "perceived ease of use." The study failed to explain the effects of a person's character on the model. In conclusion, when the companies that operate the experience stores execute their marketing and promotion strategies, they should stress the stores' "ease of use" product components. Additionally, it can be extrapolated from the study data that since the experience-store idea is still relatively unfamiliar to Korean consumers, most customers are not yet able to evaluate, nor take a position regarding, their respective attitudes toward experience stores.

• Journal of the Korean Arthroscopy Society
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.103-108
• /
• 2004

Purpose: This study reported the outcomes following the use of bioabsorbable knotless anchor in patients with anterior instability of shoulder. Methods: We studied fifteen cases with traumatic anterior shoulder instability underwent arthroscopic Bankart repair with bioabsorbable knotless suture anchor between January 2003 and June 2003. Among fifteen patients, fourteen were male and one was female, with a mean patient age of 24 years (range 16-42). The mean follow-up was 14 months (range 12-18 months). We compared with operation time of twenty cases of arthroscopic Bankart repair by the suture anchor technique between January 2002 and October 2002. Results: Neither recurrent dislocation nor subluxation was happened in postoperative follow-up. Mean score for functional evaluation by Rowe et al. was 89.4 and that for patient subjective satisfaction was 87,5. At last follow-up period, average shoulder range of motion for flexion and external rotation was 171$^{\circ}$ and 54$^{\circ}$ respectively. All patients were satisfied except three who had an apprehension at the follow up. During Bankart repair, it took an average of 25.5 minutes for one knot with the use of suture anchor technique whereas an average of 16.5 minutes for one knot with the use of bioabsorbable knotless anchor. Significantly, we saved operation time with the use of bioabsorbable knotless anchor (P<0.05).Conclusion: Repairing the Bankart lesion with the use of knotless anchor technique has the advantage of obtaining good capsular tensioning and saving operation time. And it is considered to be very successful in treating shoulder instability without recurrent dislocation or subluxation.