• Title/Summary/Keyword: Performance improvement factors

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Improvement of Validity and Efficiency for Detection of Cryptosporidium Ocysts and Giardia Cysts in Environmental Water Samples (환경수 중 크립토스포리디움 오시스트 및 지아디아 시스트 검출의 정확도 및 회수율 향상을 위한 연구)

  • 이목영;조은주;김도연;변승헌;이의광;오세종;안승구
    • Korean Journal of Microbiology
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    • v.39 no.1
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    • pp.27-35
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    • 2003
  • No currently available methods to monitor pathogenic protozoa, Cryptosporidium and Giardia in environmental water come close to acceptable sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility, and so it has to be accompanied by thorough quality control and performance evaluation to credibly predict the distribution of them. We collected surface water samples from the Han River and spiked our prepared (oo)cysts, determined Matrix Spike recoveries using USEPA Method 1623 and considered what factors influence MS recovery and validity. As a result, average 46% of spiked oocysts and 60% of spike cysts were recovered, but repetitive sampling and statistical approach seemed to be necessary to determine the environmental pollution level of two protozoa as their variation coefficients was so much as 35oio and 26%. And MS recoveries with two acid dissociations during immunomagnetic separation were improved more 10% than that with one dissociations and the use of spiked suspension enumerated by flow cytometry instead of manual preparation enhanced the validity and reliability in spiking tests. Because fluorescence characteristics of (oo)cysts stained on well slides with FITC-labeled monoclonal antibodies and DAPI was not always same, well Elides from spiked field samples were helpful to evaluate the performance of staining. We found many (oo)cyst-like objects with typical fluorescence, not (co)cysts, from the Han River water samples, and then it was concluded that nuclei staining by DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) and examination by Differential Interference Contrast Microscope should be critical for valid identification.

A Study of Improvement of Urban Pavement Maintenance Technique based on Pavement Condition Evaluation and FWD Data (도로포장 표면조사와 FWD정보에 기반한 도심지 도로포장 유지보수 기법 개선방안 연구)

  • Lee, Sangyum
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.17 no.12
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    • pp.532-541
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    • 2016
  • The objective of this paper is to support accurate pavement condition assessment and decision of proper maintenance method and time by conducting visual inspection and calculating the remaining life of pavement from falling weight deflectometer(FWD) data. Each was implemented in the same long-term performance pavement(LTPP) sections. Visual inspection was executed to measure pavement condition indices such as crack, rutting and international roughness index(IRI) and the Seoul Pavement Index(SPI) was calculated based on these results. The dynamic modulus was back-calculated from the FWD data. The remaining pavement lives were determined from equivalent single axle loading(ESAL) and FWD data. Correlation of maintenance priority by each result value was examined. Consequently, the correlation between remaining life to Crack and Rutting was higher than the other factors or indicesbecause IRI is not related to FWD value and SPI value consists with IRI value and other indices. The R-square value of correlation of FWD with Crack and Rutting was 0.65, which indicated an insufficient correlation. Consequently, when decision of maintenance of method, time, etc. is determined, FWD data have to be considered with Crack and Rutting because of those relations.

Checklist for the application of concurrent engineering in bridge construction (교랑 공사에 동시공학 적용을 위한 체크리스트 도출)

  • Park, Seaman;Park, Taeil;Kim, Hyoungkwan
    • Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.3-11
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    • 2013
  • As construction projects became larger and longer, the need for the construction technologies and innovative construction processes has been continuously increased in construction field. In response to this trend, construction industries tried to adopt the concurrent engineering which had been normally applied for manufacturing industries to develop the products with improved quality in a reduced time. However, the application of the concurrent engineering to construction field was limited due to the lack of advanced management system and incomplete theoretical backgrounds. In this regard, this study attempted to develop a checklist for the successful application of concurrent engineering to bridge projects. To this end, this study presents the checklist for the application of concurrent engineering to construction projects. Further, the checklist was modified and updated to reflect the specific feature of the bridge construction using expert interviews. With the help of additional 188 experts, a questionnaire-based survey was also conducted to validate the checklist. In addition, using importance-performance analysis(IPA), the study identified the factors needed for intensive improvement. Consequently, the proposed checklist is expected to be useful, because it improves the applicability of the concurrent engineering in that it enables managers to monitor construction progress and further to protect the project from potential risks.

Estimation of Genetic Parameters and Annual Trends for Racing Times of Thoroughbred Racehorses (더러브렛 경주마의 주파기록에 대한 유전모수 추정과 연도별 개량량 분석)

  • Oh, Seung-Yoon;Park, Jong-Eun;Lee, Jeong-Ran;Lee, Jin-Woo;Oh, Hee-Seok;Kim, Hee-Bal
    • Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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    • v.51 no.2
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    • pp.129-134
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    • 2009
  • The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters and annual trends on the racing performance of Thoroughbred horses by a statistical analysis of the resulting records. We used the racing results of 245,979 observations for 13,458 horses recorded in 19 years of race held at Seoul and Busan racing tracks, provided by Korea Racing Authority. After a careful adjustment of some variables such as racing times, jockey and trainer numbers and the average prize a horse won, we selected significant factors that explain the result of racing records of a horse by stepwise AIC and BIC methods. The estimated heritability and repeatability were 0.322 and 0.332, respectively. The average of annual phenotypic and genetic improvement was -0.166 seconds and -0.161 seconds, respectively. Based on the statistical approach, we established reasonable animal model of well-set variables, which is important in the study on estimating performance of racing horses.

Fast Scene Change Detection Using Macro Block Information and Spatio-temporal Histogram (매크로 블록 정보와 시공간 히스토그램을 이용한 빠른 장면전환검출)

  • Jin, Ju-Kyong;Cho, Ju-Hee;Jeong, Jae-Hyup;Jeong, Dong-Suk
    • Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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    • v.48 no.1
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    • pp.141-148
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    • 2011
  • Most of the previous works on scene change detection algorithm focus on the detection of abrupt rather than gradual changes. In general, gradual scene change detection algorithms require heavy computation. Some of those approaches don't consider the error factors such as flashlights, camera or object movements, and special effects. Many scenes change detection algorithms based on the histogram show better performances than other approaches, but they have computation load problem. In this paper, we proposed a scene change detection algorithm with fast and accurate performance using the vertical and horizontal blocked slice images and their macro block informations. We apply graph cut partitioning algorithm for clustering and partitioning of video sequence using generated spatio-temporal histogram. When making spatio-temporal histogram, we only use the central block on vertical and horizontal direction for performance improvement. To detect camera and object movement as well as various special effects accurately, we utilize the motion vector and type information of the macro block.

Improvement of Cross-section Estimation Method for Flood Stage Analysis in Unmeasured Streams (미계측 하천의 홍수위 해석을 위한 단면 추정 기법 개선)

  • Jun, Sang Min;Hwang, Soon Ho;Song, Jung-Hun;Kim, Si Nae;Choi, Soon-Kun;Kang, Moon Seong
    • Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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    • v.61 no.4
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    • pp.11-22
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    • 2019
  • The objective of this study was to improve the cross-sectional area and height estimation method using stream width. Stream water levels should be calculated together to simulate inundation of agricultural land. However, cross-sectional survey data of small rural rivers are insufficient. The previous study has developed regression equations between the width and the cross-sectional area and between the width and the height of stream cross-section, but can not be applied to a wide range of stream widths. In this study, cross-sectional survey data of 6 streams (Doowol, Chungmi, Jiseok, Gam, Wonpyeong, and Bokha stream) were collected and divided into upstream, midstream and downstream considering the locations of cross-sections. The regression equations were estimated using the complete data. $R^2$ between the stream width and cross-sectional area was 0.96, and $R^2$ between width and height was 0.81. The regression equations were also estimated using divided data for upstream, midstream and downstream considering the locations of cross-sections. The range of $R^2$ between the stream width and cross-sectional area was 0.86 - 0.91, and the range of $R^2$ between width and height was 0.79 ? 0.92. As a result of estimating the cross-sections of 6 rivers using the regression equations, the regression equations considering the locations of cross-sections showed better performance both in the cross-sectional area and height estimation than the regression equations estimated using the complete data. Hydrologic Engineering Center - River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) was used to simulate the flood stage analysis of the estimated and the measured cross-sections for 50-year, 100-year, and 200-year frequency floods. As a result of flood stage analysis, the regression equations considering the locations of cross-sections also showed better performance than the regression equations estimated using the complete data. Future research would be needed to consider the factors affecting the cross-sectional shape such as river slope and average flow velocity. This study can be useful for inundation simulation of agricultural land adjacent to an unmeasured stream.

Current Status and Improvement Measures for the Port State Control of Foreign Vessels in Domestic Port Calls (국내 기항 외국적 외항선 항만국통제 현황 및 개선방안)

  • Jeong, Kyu-Min;Hwang, Je-Ho;Kim, Si-Hyun
    • Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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    • v.46 no.4
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    • pp.338-343
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    • 2022
  • As the revitalization of the global maritime industry continues, the number of foreign ships navigating the maritime territories of maritime neighboring countries has rapidly increased. However, large-scale marine accidents have occurred, caused by the insufficient establishment of a system for management and operation relative to vessels' safety-condition. To address that, the IMO has granted the right to exercise port state control, especially for foreign vessels, to countries with jurisdiction over maritime territories with strengthening regulations and guidelines. In particular, the Republic of Korea, as a member of the TOKYO MOU, is conducting PSC, but as of 2020, the proportion of foreign ships was three times higher than that of national ships that called in domestic ports. However, the inspection rate was low at 9% which has not met the recommended level by the TOKYO MOU. Thus, this study conducted an IPA analysis as well as content analysis, by collecting the practical opinions and views of PSCO through objective questionnaires and written expert interviews, for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of domestic PSC. As a result, it was derived that the importance and performance related to human factors such as life on board, working environment, and response to safety accidents should be improved in to raise the quality of PSC inspection. Additionally, the work environment and performance of PSC in domestic ports for foreign vessels could be improved, if multifaceted support bases are established, for administrative unification of related tests for PSC, recruitment of PSCO, activation of the defection-reporting system, reorganization of the PSC execution group, etc.

A study on verification of exercise intensity and efficiency in Nurida-ball exercise equipment (누리다 볼 운동기구의 운동 강도와 운동 효율성 검증연구)

  • Koo, Jung-Hoon;Cho, We-Hyun;Cho, Joon-Yong
    • Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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    • v.36 no.2
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    • pp.371-382
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    • 2019
  • The aim of this study was to evaluate the physiological responses following acute and chronic Nurida-ball exercise to measure the relative exercise intensity and health-related fitness in middle-aged men. In study 1, eight middle-aged men carried out acute Nurida-ball exercise for 30 min. The physiological responses were normalized and compared with a graded treadmill exercise test (GXT) to evaluate the relative exercise intensity. In study 2, twelve middle-aged men were divided into two groups: Nurida-ball exercise group (NB, n=6) and control group (CON, n=6). NB group performed the Nurida-ball exercise for 8 weeks (30min/day, 3 days/week). And then, we measured the body composition, cardiovascular factors, blood lipid factors, and muscle damage markers to confirm the exercise efficiency. In study 1, the related exercise intensity of acute Nurida-ball is the range of GXT-HRpeak (55~85%) and $GXT-VO_2peak$(23~61%). The change in body fat-related factors was significantly lower in the NB compared to the CON group. Moreover, TC and LDL were decreased whereas BMC was increased in the NB group after Nurida-ball exercise. The change in VEpeak and performance time of GXT were significantly greater in the NB compared to the CON group. The performance time of GXT was increased in the NB group after Nurida-ball exercise. Our results indicated that Nurida-ball exercise would be effective equipment for the improvement of health-related fitness. Especially, Nurida-ball exercise can affect body composition and cardiovascular function, which might alleviate metabolic syndrome-related diseases in middle-aged men.

The Impact of Utilizing Online Outsourcing in Startups on Member Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction (스타트업의 온라인 아웃소싱 활용이 구성원 조직몰입과 직무만족에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Joonhak;Park, Jae-Whan
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.139-153
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    • 2024
  • The importance of sustainable growth and cost reduction has increased globally, leading to the expansion of outsourcing by companies. Additionally, the spread of the platform economy has brought changes in the way we work, and the online outsourcing market, where tasks are mediated through platforms, is growing. Academically, while research on general outsourcing is actively conducted, studies on online outsourcing are relatively insufficient compared to its actual utilization. This study aims to analyze the factors and performance factors of online outsourcing utilization by startups, to identify the effects and concerns of using online outsourcing from multiple perspectives, and to suggest the roles of various stakeholders for effective utilization and industry development. For the research, a survey was conducted with 281 employees of startups who have experience in using online outsourcing, and the main findings are as follows. First, the enhancement of efficiency, profitability, and innovation through the use of online outsourcing positively affects organizational commitment and job satisfaction of startup members. Especially, the improvement of efficiency due to the use of online outsourcing has a significant effect on enhancing job satisfaction. Second, concerns about the burden of online outsourcing fees or uncertain outcomes negatively affect organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Third, there are perceptual differences in the motivations and performance regarding the utilization of online outsourcing depending on the job position. Practitioners perceive that the use of online outsourcing increases organizational commitment, whereas managers have relatively higher concerns about the uncertainty of outsourced task outcomes and information security. Through this study, the possibility that human resource shortages and employee management issues in startups can be improved through online outsourcing was confirmed. By verifying the influence of various factors of online outsourcing utilization, this study also provides meaningful implications for establishing business strategies for online outsourcing intermediary platform companies and for formulating startup support policies by government and other startup support organizations.

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Effect of Service Convenience on the Relationship Performance in B2B Markets: Mediating Effect of Relationship Factors (B2B 시장에서의 서비스 편의성이 관계성과에 미치는 영향 : 관계적 요인의 매개효과 분석)

  • Han, Sang-Lin;Lee, Seong-Ho
    • Journal of Distribution Research
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    • v.16 no.4
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    • pp.65-93
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    • 2011
  • As relationship between buyer and seller has been brought closer and long-term relationship has been more important in B2B markets, the importance of service and service convenience increases as well as product. In homogeneous markets, where service offerings are similar and therefore not key competitive differentiator, providing greater convenience may enable a competitive advantage. Service convenience, as conceptualized by Berry et al. (2002), is defined as the consumers' time and effort perceptions related to buying or using a service. For this reason, B2B customers are interested in how fast the service is provided and how much save non-monetary cost like time or effort by the service convenience along with service quality. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the impact of service convenience on relationship factors such as relationship satisfaction, relationship commitment, and relationship performance. The purpose of this study is to find out whether service convenience can be a new antecedent of relationship quality and relationship performance. In addition, this study tries to examine how five-dimensional service convenience constructs (decision convenience, access convenience, transaction convenience, benefit convenience, post-benefit convenience) affect customers' relationship satisfaction, relationship commitment, and relationship performance. The service convenience comprises five fundamental components - decision convenience (the perceived time and effort costs associated with service purchase or use decisions), access convenience(the perceived time and effort costs associated with initiating service delivery), transaction convenience(the perceived time and effort costs associated with finalizing the transaction), benefit convenience(the perceived time and effort costs associated with experiencing the core benefits of the offering) and post-benefit convenience (the perceived time and effort costs associated with reestablishing subsequent contact with the firm). Earlier studies of perceived service convenience in the industrial market are none. The conventional studies that have dealt with service convenience have usually been made in the consumer market, or they have dealt with convenience aspects in the service process. This service convenience measure for consumer market can be useful tool to estimate service quality in B2B market. The conceptualization developed by Berry et al. (2002) reflects a multistage, experiential consumption process in which evaluations of convenience vary at each stage. For this reason, the service convenience measure is good for B2B service environment which has complex processes and various types. Especially when categorizing B2B service as sequential stage of service delivery like Kumar and Kumar (2004), the Berry's service convenience measure which reflect sequential flow of service deliveries suitable to establish B2B service convenience. For this study, data were gathered from respondents who often buy business service and analyzed by structural equation modeling. The sample size in the present study is 119. Composite reliability values and average variance extracted values were examined for each variable to have reliability. We determine whether the measurement model supports the convergent validity by CFA, and discriminant validity was assessed by examining the correlation matrix of the constructs. For each pair of constructs, the square root of the average variance extracted exceeded their correlations, thus supporting the discriminant validity of the constructs. Hypotheses were tested using the Smart PLS 2.0 and we calculated the PLS path values and followed with a bootstrap re-sampling method to test the hypotheses. Among the five dimensional service convenience constructs, four constructs (decision convenience, transaction convenience, benefit convenience, post-benefit convenience) affected customers' positive relationship satisfaction, relationship commitment, and relationship performance. This result means that service convenience is important cue to improve relationship between buyer and seller. One of the five service convenience dimensions, access convenience, does not affect relationship quality and performance, which implies that the dimension of service convenience is not important factor of cumulative satisfaction. The Cumulative satisfaction can be distinguished from transaction-specific customer satisfaction, which is an immediate post-purchase evaluative judgment or an affective reaction to the most recent transactional experience with the firm. Because access convenience minimizes the physical effort associated with initiating an exchange, the effect on relationship satisfaction similar to cumulative satisfaction may be relatively low in terms of importance than transaction-specific customer satisfaction. Also, B2B firms focus on service quality, price, benefit, follow-up service and so on than convenience of time or place in service because it is relatively difficult to change existing transaction partners in B2B market compared to consumer market. In addition, this study using partial least squares methods reveals that customers' satisfaction and commitment toward relationship has mediating role between the service convenience and relationship performance. The result shows that management and investment to improve service convenience make customers' positive relationship satisfaction, and then the positive relationship satisfaction can enhance the relationship commitment and relationship performance. And to conclude, service convenience management is an important part of successful relationship performance management, and the service convenience is an important antecedent of relationship between buyer and seller such as the relationship commitment and relationship performance. Therefore, it has more important to improve relationship performance that service providers enhance service convenience although competitive service development or service quality improvement is important. Given the pressure to provide increased convenience, it is not surprising that organizations have made significant investments in enhancing the convenience aspect of their product and service offering.

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