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A Study on Qulity Perceptions and Satisfaction for Medical Service Marketing (의료서비스 마케팅을 위한 품질지각과 만족에 관한 연구)

  • Yoo, Dong-Keun
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.97-114
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    • 1996
  • INSTRODUCTION Service quality is, unlike goods quality, an abstract and elusive constuct. Service quality and its requirements are not easily understood by consumers, and also present some critical research problems. However, quality is very important to marketers and consumers in that it has many strategic benefits in contributing to profitability of marketing activities and consumers' problem-solving activities. Moreover, despite the phenomenal growth of medical service sector, few researchers have attempted to define and model medical service quality. Especially, little research has focused on the evaluation of medical service quality and patient satisfaction from the perspectives of both the provider and the patient. As competition intensifies and patients are demanding higher quality of medical service, medical service quality and patient satisfaction has emerged as a critical research topic. The major purpose of this article is to explore the concept of medical service quality and its evaluation from both nurse and patient perspectives. This article attempts to achieve its purpose by (1)classfying critical service attibutes into threecategories(satisfiers, hygiene factors, and performance factors). (2)measuring the relative importance of need criteria, (3)evaluating SERVPERF model and SERVQUAL model in medical service sector, and (4)identifying the relationship between perceived quality and overall patient satisfaction. METHOD Data were gathered from a sample of 217 patients and 179 nurses in Seoul-area general hospitals. From the review of previous literature, 50 survey items representing various facets of the medical service quality were developed to form a questionnaire. A five-point scale ranging from "Strongly Agree"(5) to "Strongly Disagree"(1) accompanied each statement(expectation statements, perception statements, and importance statements). To measure overall satisfaction, a seven-point scale was used, ranging from "Very Satisfied"(7) to "Very Dissatisfied"(1) with no verbal labels for scale points 2 through 6 RESULTS In explaining the relationship between perceived performance and overall satisfaction, only 31 variables out of original 50 survey items were proven to be statistically significant. Hence, a penalty-reward analysis was performed on theses 31 critical attributes to find out 17 satisfiers, 8 hygiene factors, and 4 performance factors in patient perspective. The role(category) of each service quality attribute in relation to patient satisfaction was com pared across two groups, that is, patients and nurses. They were little overlapped, suggesting that two groups had different sets of 'perceived quality' attributes. Principal components factor analyses of the patients' and nurses' responses were performed to identify the underlying dimensions for the set of performance(experience) statements. 28 variables were analyzed by using a varimax rotation after deleting three obscure variables. The number of factors to be extracted was determined by evaluating the eigenvalue scores. Six factors wereextracted, accounting for 57.1% of the total variance. Reliability analysis was performed to refine the factors further. Using coefficient alpha, scores of .84 to .65 were obtained. Individual-item analysis indicated that all statements in each of the factors should remain. On 26 attributes of 31 critical service quality attributes, there were gaps between actual patient's importance of need criteria and nurse perceptions of them. Those critical attributes could be classified into four categories based on the relative importance of need criteria and perceived performance from the perspective of patient. This analysis is useful in developing strategic plans for performance improvement. (1) top priorities(high importance and low performance) (in this study)- more health-related information -accuracy in billing - quality of food - appointments at my convenience - information about tests and treatments - prompt service of business office -adequacy of accommodations(elevators, etc) (2) current strengths(high importance and high performance) (3)unnecessary strengths(low importance and high performance) (4) low priorities(low importance and low performance) While 26 service quality attributes of SERPERF model were significantly related to patient satisfation, only 13 attributes of SERVQUAL model were significantly related. This result suggested that only experience-based norms(SERVPERF model) were more appropriate than expectations to serve as a benchmark against which service experiences were compared(SERVQUAL model). However, it must be noted that the degree of association to overall satisfaction was not consistent. There were some gaps between nurse percetions and patient perception of medical service performance. From the patient's viewpoint, "personal likability", "technical skill/trust", and "cares about me" were most significant positioning factors that contributed patient satisfaction. DISCUSSION This study shows that there are inconsistencies between nurse perceptions and patient perceptions of medical service attributes. Also, for service quality improvement, it is most important for nurses to understand what satisfiers, hygiene factors, and performance factors are through two-way communications. Patient satisfaction should be measured, and problems identified should be resolved for survival in intense competitive market conditions. Hence, patient satisfaction monitoring is now becoming a standard marketing tool for healthcare providers and its role is expected to increase.

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Ecological Changes of Insect-damaged Pinus densiflora Stands in the Southern Temperature Forest Zone of Korea (II) (솔잎혹파리 피해적송림(被害赤松林)의 생태학적(生態學的) 연구(硏究) (II))

  • Yim, Kyong Bin;Lee, Kyong Jae;Park, In Hyeop
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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    • v.54 no.1
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    • pp.49-59
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    • 1981
  • In order to elucidate the process of plant succession of the Japanese red pine forests caused by pine gall midge, Thecodoplosis japonensis, in the area of Chungbuk and Kyongbuk, 12 study plots, 4 plots from each three districts, were set up. Districts A (Cheongwon)not attacked by this insect, as the check, District B(Gumi) in which the insect outbreak occured 5 years ago, and District C(Yeongdong)in which the insect outbreak occured 10 years ago, were sampled. The surveyed were some environmental factors, the number of woody plants, relative density, relative dominance values, species composition of plots by layer(upper, middle and ground), importance values, species diversity, similarity and dissimilarity index, etc. The results obtained are summarized as follows: The accumulation of litter on the ground was increased with the lengthening the insect damage duration. Through the crown opening and litter accumulation, the light intensity, temperature condition and soil moisture and nutrient content might be altered. According to the changes of species composition were forced. In general, the Genus Quercus, as a compensation species, has sprung up. The relative importance values for Q.aliena, Q.serrata, and Q.variabilis were significantly increased in the insect infested forests. 2. the stand structure and species composition of the insect attacked forest about 5 years later after the outbreak become complex and diverse. However, since this time, the simplicity of these regards become restored up to 10 years after the outbreak. 3. As the synthetic analysis of plant succession process, the relative values calculated from the relative density and the relative dominance values shown the dominant status of Genus Quercus in the heavily damaged forests. In addition, Genus Rhododendron and Genus Lespedeza with higher frequency become the ground vegetation components. They were gradually increased along the time elapsing after the insect out-break. 4. The differences in connection with the soil moisture contents, the organic matter contents which might give some influences to the vegetation change were hardly recognizable statistically among the studied plots by three district groups. We estimated that the annual mean precipitation and the annual mean temperature did not operated any meaningful effects on the vegetation alteration among plots between districts.

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Physicochemical Properties of Colostrum by Milking Time of Gyeonggi Province (경기지역의 착유회수에 따른 초유의 이화학적 특성)

  • Jeong, Seok-Geun;Ham, Jun-Sang;Kim, Dong-Hun;Ahn, Chong-Nam;Chae, Hyun-Seok;You, Young-Mo;Jang, Ae-Ra;Kwon, Il-Kyung;Lee, Seung-Gyu
    • Food Science of Animal Resources
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    • v.29 no.4
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    • pp.445-456
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    • 2009
  • Colostrum samples were collected from 36 dairy farms in Gyeonggi-do and one dairy farm in the National Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) for testing. Colostrum samples were analyzed for phisycochemicals (specific gravity, pH, titratable acidity), general components (fat, protein, lactose, total solid, solid non-fat (SNF)), fatty acids, amino acids, minerals, microflora, somatic cells, and Ig (Immunoglobulin). The first colostrum revealed the following data: fat contents were $6.16{\pm}2.39%$, proteins were $14.78{\pm}4.30%$, lactose $2.57{\pm}0.77%$, total solid $24.28{\pm}4.36%$, and SNF $18.12{\pm}4.08%$, whereas the 2nd (or $12^{th}$) colostrum revealed $5.56{\pm}1.76%$ fat, $3.46{\pm}0.41%$ proteins, $4.19{\pm}0.43%$ lactose, $13.90{\pm}1.76%$ total solid, and $8.34{\pm}0.81%$ SNF. Also, the first colostrum revealed the contents of major amino acids as 0.89% aspartic acid, 0.71% threonine, 0.86% serine, 1.75% glutamic acid, 0.64% valine, 0.95% leucine, 0.83% lysine, and 0.95% proline, and those in the 10th colostrum were 0.25% aspartic acid, 0.15% threonine, 0.19% serine, 0.59% glutamic acid, 0.19% valine, 0.35% leucine, 0.31% lysine, and 0.34% proine. Major amino acid contents rapidly decreased as milking times increased. In the first colostrum, the following mineral contents were observed: there were 2,168 ppm in Ca, 1,959 ppm in P, 914 ppm in K, 761 ppm in Na, 287 ppm in Mg, 1.7 ppm in Fe, 14.3 ppm in Zn, and 1.0 ppm in Cu; while in the 10th colostrum, the following ppm contents were 1,389 in Ca, 1,323 in P, 838 in K, 427 in Na, 131 in Mg, 1.0 in Fe, 4.7 in Zn, and 1.3 in Cu. The mineral contents in a colostrum rapidly decreased as milking times increased.

Development of Fresh Cheeses and Whey Drinks Using Milk Components (우유 성분을 이용한 생치즈와 유청 음료의 개발)

  • Park, In-Duck;Hong, Youn-Ho
    • Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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    • v.24 no.3
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    • pp.209-214
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    • 1992
  • In order to save foreign currency and to domesticize the dairy products, various fresh cheeses and whey drinks were developed and some physicochemical, microbiological and sensory evaluation were performed. The yield of fresh cheese was 22.3%, while that of whey 77.7%. The pH-values of fresh cheeses were $5.90{\sim}6.49$, while those of whey drinks $6.07{\sim}6.49$, and fermented whey drinks $3.97{\sim}4.91$. The acidities of fresh cheeses were $0.09{\sim}0.26%$, while those of whey drinks $0.09{\sim}0.36%$. The contents of solid substances, protein and lactose in fresh cheeses were $25.67{\sim}34.18%$, $7.45{\sim}9.11%$ and $3.61{\sim}4.14%$, while those of whey drinks $7.39{\sim}7.70%$, $0.88{\sim}0.94%$ and $4.93(\sim}6.17%$, respectively. The lactic acid contents of whey drinks varied from $0.01{\sim}0.38%$, where the content in the fermented sample was the highest. The general colony counts of fresh cheeses were $0{\sim}30/g$, while those of whey drinks $0{\sim}80/ml$. The psychrotrophs counts of fresh cheeses were $0{\sim}20/g$, while those of whey drinks $0{\sim}60/ml$. Lactic acid bacterial counts in both products were not detected except for $97{\sim}401{\times}10^8/ml$ in fermented whey drinks. E. coli and fungi were not detected in both products. In sensory evaluation of both products, the strawberry added fresh cheese was the best of fresh cheeses, while the garlic added fresh cheese was the worst. Pure whey drink was the best of whey drinks, while the ginseng added whey drink was the worst.

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Progress of Composite Fabrication Technologies with the Use of Machinery

  • Choi, Byung-Keun;Kim, Yun-Hae;Ha, Jin-Cheol;Lee, Jin-Woo;Park, Jun-Mu;Park, Soo-Jeong;Moon, Kyung-Man;Chung, Won-Jee;Kim, Man-Soo
    • International Journal of Ocean System Engineering
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    • v.2 no.3
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    • pp.185-194
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    • 2012
  • A Macroscopic combination of two or more distinct materials is commonly referred to as a "Composite Material", having been designed mechanically and chemically superior in function and characteristic than its individual constituent materials. Composite materials are used not only for aerospace and military, but also heavily used in boat/ship building and general composite industries which we are seeing increasingly more. Regardless of the various applications for composite materials, the industry is still limited and requires better fabrication technology and methodology in order to expand and grow. An example of this is that the majority of fabrication facilities nearby still use an antiquated wet lay-up process where fabrication still requires manual hand labor in a 3D environment impeding productivity of composite product design advancement. As an expert in the advanced composites field, I have developed fabrication skills with the use of machinery based on my past composite experience. In autumn 2011, the Korea government confirmed to fund my project. It is the development of a composite sanding machine. I began development of this semi-robotic prototype beginning in 2009. It has possibilities of replacing or augmenting the exhaustive and difficult jobs performed by human hands, such as sanding, grinding, blasting, and polishing in most often, very awkward conditions, and is also will boost productivity, improve surface quality, cut abrasive costs, eliminate vibration injuries, and protect workers from exposure to dust and airborne contamination. Ease of control and operation of the equipment in or outside of the sanding room is a key benefit to end-users. It will prove to be much more economical than normal robotics and minimize errors that commonly occur in factories. The key components and their technologies are a 360 degree rotational shoulder and a wrist that is controlled under PLC controller and joystick manual mode. Development on both of the key modules is complete and are now operational. The Korean government fund boosted my development and I expect to complete full scale development no later than 3rd quarter 2012. Even with the advantages of composite materials, there is still the need to repair or to maintain composite products with a higher level of technology. I have learned many composite repair skills on composite airframe since many composite fabrication skills including repair, requires training for non aerospace applications. The wind energy market is now requiring much larger blades in order to generate more electrical energy for wind farms. One single blade is commonly 50 meters or longer now. When a wind blade becomes damaged from external forces, on-site repair is required on the columns even under strong wind and freezing temperature conditions. In order to correctly obtain polymerization, the repair must be performed on the damaged area within a very limited time. The use of pre-impregnated glass fabric and heating silicone pad and a hot bonder acting precise heating control are surely required.

Availability of Heavy Metals in Soils with Different Characteristics and Controversial Points for Analytical Methods of Soil Contamination in Korea (토양특성별 중금속 유효도와 토양오염 평가방법의 개선점)

  • Jung, Goo-Bok;Kim, Won-Il;Lee, Jong-Sik;Shin, Joung-Du;Kim, Jin-Ho;Yun, Sun-Gang
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.106-116
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    • 2005
  • This experiment was conducted to investigate available extraction capacity and potential mobility of heavy metal according to the distribution property and contamination level of heavy metals in soils and to suggest a reform measure of soil environment assessment methodology applied with soil quality and the official soil heavy metal test methods in domestic and foreign countries. The soils were collected from the natural forest paddy with long-term application of same type fertilizer, and paddies near metal mine and industrial complex. The post-treatment methods of soil were partial extraction, acid digestion and sequential extraction methods. For the heavy metal contents with different soil properties, it was shown that their natural forest and paddy soil were slightly low and similar to the general paddy soil, while their paddies near metal mine and industrial complex were higher than the standard level of Soil Environment Protection Act. Heavy metal concentrations in the soils with different soil properties had difference between $HNO_3\;and\;HNO_3+HCl$ extractant by US-EPA 3051a method. There were highly significant positive relationships in both two methods. It was appeared that the higher extractable concentration ratio with 0.1N-HCl to total heavy metal content with $HNO_3+HCl$ extractant the greater total heavy metal content. There were highly significant positive correlationship between total heavy metal content and extractable content with 0.1N-HCl. For extractable capacity of soil extractable solution compared to the total heavy metal content it was appeared that it extractable method with 0.1N-HCl was higher than those with EDTA and DTPA. In extractable ratio with 0.1N-HCl in the contaminated paddy soils near mine and industrial complex, it was shown that the lower soil pH, the higher total heavy metal content. The order of a potential mobility coefficient by distribution of heavy metal content with ie different typies in the soil was Cd>Ni>Zn>Cu>Pb. It could be known that contamination characteristics of heavy metals with different types of soils were affected by different heavy metal components, contamination degree and soil chemical properties, and heavy metal concentration with different extractable methods had great variations with adjacent environment. To be compared with assessment methodology of soil environment impact at domestic and foreign countries with our results, it might be considered that there was necessary to make a single analysis method based on total heavy metal content with environmental overloading concept because of various analysis methods for total heavy metal content and present analysis method with great variation according to soil environment. In spite of showing higher concentration of heavy metal with acidic digestion than the extractable method, it might be considered that there is need to be adjusted the national standard of soil heavy metal contamination.

Dispute of Part-Whole Representation in Conceptual Modeling (부분-전체 관계에 관한 개념적 모델링의 논의에 관하여)

  • Kim, Taekyung;Park, Jinsoo;Rho, Sangkyu
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.97-116
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    • 2012
  • Conceptual modeling is an important step for successful system development. It helps system designers and business practitioners share the same view on domain knowledge. If the work is successful, a result of conceptual modeling can be beneficial in increasing productivity and reducing failures. However, the value of conceptual modeling is unlikely to be evaluated uniformly because we are lack of agreement on how to elicit concepts and how to represent those with conceptual modeling constructs. Especially, designing relationships between components, also known as part-whole relationships, have been regarded as complicated work. The recent study, "Representing Part-Whole Relations in Conceptual Modeling : An Empirical Evaluation" (Shanks et al., 2008), published in MIS Quarterly, can be regarded as one of positive efforts. Not only the study is one of few attempts of trying to clarify how to select modeling alternatives in part-whole design, but also it shows results based on an empirical experiment. Shanks et al. argue that there are two modeling alternatives to represent part-whole relationships : an implicit representation and an explicit one. By conducting an experiment, they insist that the explicit representation increases the value of a conceptual model. Moreover, Shanks et al. justify their findings by citing the BWW ontology. Recently, the study from Shanks et al. faces criticism. Allen and March (2012) argue that Shanks et al.'s experiment is lack of validity and reliability since the experimental setting suffers from error-prone and self-defensive design. They point out that the experiment is intentionally fabricated to support the idea, as such that using concrete UML concepts results in positive results in understanding models. Additionally, Allen and March add that the experiment failed to consider boundary conditions; thus reducing credibility. Shanks and Weber (2012) contradict flatly the argument suggested by Allen and March (2012). To defend, they posit the BWW ontology is righteously applied in supporting the research. Moreover, the experiment, they insist, can be fairly acceptable. Therefore, Shanks and Weber argue that Allen and March distort the true value of Shanks et al. by pointing out minor limitations. In this study, we try to investigate the dispute around Shanks et al. in order to answer to the following question : "What is the proper value of the study conducted by Shanks et al.?" More profoundly, we question whether or not using the BWW ontology can be the only viable option of exploring better conceptual modeling methods and procedures. To understand key issues around the dispute, first we reviewed previous studies relating to the BWW ontology. We critically reviewed both of Shanks and Weber and Allen and March. With those findings, we further discuss theories on part-whole (or part-of) relationships that are rarely treated in the dispute. As a result, we found three additional evidences that are not sufficiently covered by the dispute. The main focus of the dispute is on the errors of experimental methods: Shanks et al. did not use Bunge's Ontology properly; the refutation of a paradigm shift is lack of concrete, logical rationale; the conceptualization on part-whole relations should be reformed. Conclusively, Allen and March indicate properly issues that weaken the value of Shanks et al. In general, their criticism is reasonable; however, they do not provide sufficient answers how to anchor future studies on part-whole relationships. We argue that the use of the BWW ontology should be rigorously evaluated by its original philosophical rationales surrounding part-whole existence. Moreover, conceptual modeling on the part-whole phenomena should be investigated with more plentiful lens of alternative theories. The criticism on Shanks et al. should not be regarded as a contradiction on evaluating modeling methods of alternative part-whole representations. To the contrary, it should be viewed as a call for research on usable and useful approaches to increase value of conceptual modeling.

Physiochemical property of edible tissues (sprout and root) of steam-treated reed (증자처리에 의한 갈대 식용가능 부위(어린순과 뿌리)의 이화학적 특성)

  • Kim, Sung-Tae;Huh, Chang-Ki;Kim, Su-Hwan;Kim, Yong-Doo
    • Food Science and Preservation
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.482-489
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    • 2015
  • This study was performed for the comparison of the general components, minerals, amino acids, organic acids, free sugars, ascorbic acid, polyphenol content and DPPH free radical scavenging activity of steamed-treated reed (sprout and root) to those of raw reed. Moisture content of sprout and root of reed after steaming treatment decreased from 81.28% and 81.64% to 70.18% and 65.50%, respectively. Crude ash content was the highest in raw sprout and steam-treated root. Crude lipid content of raw sprout and root were almost similar. In addition, crude lipid content of steam-treated sprout was greater than that of root. Nitrogen free extract content of root was 2 times as high as that of sprout. Total free sugar contents of raw sprout and root increased from 1,311.39 mg% and 4,130.98 mg% to 1,157.79 mg% and 3,750.90 mg%, respectively, after steam treatment. Furthermore, the organic acid contents of sprout and root of reed after steam treatment were less than those of raw sprout and root. Calcium and potassium contents were the highest among others in both steam-treated and raw reed. Amino acid content of sprout was higher than that of root in both before and after steam treatment. Among the amino acids, serine content was the best presented in both before and after steam treated reed. Vitamin C content of steam-treated sprout and root of reed decreased from 61.74 mg% and 6.57 mg% to 4.54 mg% and 80.79 mg%, respectively. Total polyphenol content of sprout was greater than that of root in raw and steam-treated reed. DPPH free radical scavenging activity of ethanol extraction of root was greater than those of other extracts of root.

Effects of Organic Matter Applications on General Components and Essential Oils in Codonopsis lanceolata $T_{RAUTV}$ (유기물(有機物) 종류(種類)에 따른 더덕 근(根)의 일반성분(一般成分)과 정유성분(精油成分) 변화(變化))

  • Lee, Seong-Phil;Kim, Sang-Kuk;Choi, Boo-Sull;Lee, Sang-Chul;Yeo, Soo-Kab
    • Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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    • v.6 no.1
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    • pp.21-27
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    • 1998
  • This experiment was conducted to increase aromatics in roots of Condonopsis lanceolata by applications of organic matters. Fresh root wt. was increased by conifer/moss application to 79.1g per plant. Crude protein content was also higher at rice straw application than native soil application and crude saponin content was increased by conifer/moss application, but contents of crude fat, fiber and ash were not different in all treatments. Although contents of K, Ca, and Mg were increased by rice straw application, Fe, Mn, Zn, Na and Cu were not significantly different in all treatments, The highest free amino acid was arginine, it was increased by the application of fallen leaves and the highest yield (0,008%) of essential oils was obtained by conifer/moss application. As a result, to produce C. lanceolata plant showing higher quality and aromatic essential oils, it was considered that the most effective organic matter showing high yield and higher aromatic constituents was conifer/moss application of over 3M/T per 10a.

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Development of Digital Games Based on Historical Material and its Design Components - With History Based Games of 5 Countries (역사소재 기반 디지털게임의 발전과정 및 기획요소 연구 - 동.서양 5개국의 역사소재 게임을 중심으로)

  • Moon, Man-Ki;Kim, Tae-Yong
    • Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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    • v.12 no.5
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    • pp.460-479
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    • 2007
  • When culture took large part in industrial area, every country has tried to utilize own cultural contents for educational or commercial purpose and the various cultures and histories are recognized as a main concept or subject so that a number of scholars who study history increase. In video game field, special characteristics of interface that audiences participate in the game to complete story-telling is considered as efficient material for learning process. As observed above, it is important to analyze the games that every country makes and export to the world in which the video games is understood as a play of human in general. This Paper has firstly analyzed the most favorite historical games developed in Korea, the USA, Japan, Taiwan and Germany from 1980 to 2005 and secondly, compared that wars and historical origin appears in game scenario, a world view and background story and finally after point out the preferable era and genre of the countries then propose the promising way of design for historical video games. In the process of analysis of a view and heroes in historical games, we compared the real persons, the real historical events and novel in which 11.8% only employed the real persons in 8 out of 68 games. Also the real history and background story are appeared in 37 games which is 54.4% of them. We discovered that the main material that is popular for each country is the historical backing rather than real persons where the favorite historical background is chosen at which they are proud of; 3-Throne era with strong ancient Gogurye for Korea, the 1st and 2nd World Wars and the Independence War for the USA, the tide of war around Middle age for Japan, ancient history of Europe for Germany. The favorite age for video games is Ancient times with 37 games for 54.4%, Middle Age with 7 games fer 10.3%, the prehistoric age with 5 games for 7.35%, remote age with 1 for 1.47%, while current historical games favor Ancient or Modern Age.