• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.57-81
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• 2008

Knowledge is an essential strategic weapon for sustaining competitive advantage and is the key determinant for organizational growth. When knowledge is shared and disseminated throughout the organization, it increases an organization's value by providing the ability to respond to new and unusual situations. The growing importance of knowledge as a critical resource has forced executives to pay attention to their organizational knowledge. Organizations are increasingly undertaking knowledge management initiatives and making significant investments. Knowledge sourcing is considered as the first important step in effective knowledge management. Most firms continue to make an effort to realize the benefits of knowledge management by using various knowledge sources effectively. Appropriate knowledge sourcing strategies enable organizations to create, acquire, and access knowledge in a timely manner by reducing search and transfer costs, which result in better firm performance. In response, the knowledge management literature has devoted substantial attention to the analysis of knowledge sourcing strategies. Many studies have categorized knowledge sourcing strategies into intemal- and external-oriented. Internal-oriented sourcing strategy attempts to increase firm performance by integrating knowledge within the boundary of the firm. On the contrary, external-oriented strategy attempts to bring knowledge in from outside sources via either acquisition or imitation, and then to transfer that knowledge across to the organization. However, the extant literature on knowledge sourcing strategies focuses primarily on large organizations. Although many studies have clearly highlighted major differences between large and small firms and the need to adopt different strategies for different firm sizes, scant attention has been given to analyzing how knowledge sourcing strategies affect firm performance in small firms and what are the differences between small and large firms in the patterns of knowledge sourcing strategies adoption. This study attempts to advance the current literature by examining the impact of knowledge sourcing strategies on small firm performance from a holistic perspective. By drawing on knowledge based theory from organization science and complementarity theory from the economics literature, this paper is motivated by the following questions: (1) what are the adoption patterns of different knowledge sourcing strategies in small firms (i,e., what sourcing strategies should be adopted and which sourcing strategies work well together in small firms)?; and (2) what are the performance implications of these adoption patterns? In order to answer the questions, this study developed three hypotheses. First hypothesis based on knowledge based theory is that internal-oriented knowledge sourcing is positively associated with small firm performance. Second hypothesis developed on the basis of knowledge based theory is that external-oriented knowledge sourcing is positively associated with small firm performance. The third one based on complementarity theory is that pursuing both internal- and external-oriented knowledge sourcing simultaneously is negatively or less positively associated with small firm performance. As a sampling frame, 700 firms were identified from the Annual Corporation Report in Korea. Survey questionnaires were mailed to owners or executives who were most erudite about the firm s knowledge sourcing strategies and performance. A total of 188 companies replied, yielding a response rate of 26.8%. Due to incomplete data, 12 responses were eliminated, leaving 176 responses for the final analysis. Since all independent variables were measured using continuous variables, supermodularity function was used to test the hypotheses based on the cross partial derivative of payoff function. The results indicated no significant impact of internal-oriented sourcing strategies while positive impact of external-oriented sourcing strategy on small firm performance. This intriguing result could be explained on the basis of various resource and capital constraints of small firms. Small firms typically have restricted financial and human resources. They do not have enough assets to always develop knowledge internally. Another possible explanation is competency traps or core rigidities. Building up a knowledge base based on internal knowledge creates core competences, but at the same time, excessive internal focused knowledge exploration leads to behaviors blind to other knowledge. Interestingly, this study found that Internal- and external-oriented knowledge sourcing strategies had a substitutive relationship, which was inconsistent with previous studies that suggested complementary relationship between them. This result might be explained using organizational identification theory. Internal organizational members may perceive external knowledge as a threat, and tend to ignore knowledge from external sources because they prefer to maintain their own knowledge, legitimacy, and homogeneous attitudes. Therefore, integrating knowledge from internal and external sources might not be effective, resulting in failure of improvements of firm performance. Another possible explanation is small firms resource and capital constraints and lack of management expertise and absorptive capacity. Although the integration of different knowledge sources is critical, high levels of knowledge sourcing in many areas are quite expensive and so are often unrealistic for small enterprises. This study provides several implications for research as well as practice. First this study extends the existing knowledge by examining the substitutability (and complementarity) of knowledge sourcing strategies. Most prior studies have tended to investigate the independent effects of these strategies on performance without considering their combined impacts. Furthermore, this study tests complementarity based on the productivity approach that has been considered as a definitive test method for complementarity. Second, this study sheds new light on knowledge management research by identifying the relationship between knowledge sourcing strategies and small firm performance. Most current literature has insisted complementary relationship between knowledge sourcing strategies on the basis of data from large firms. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, this study identifies substitutive relationship between knowledge sourcing strategies using data from small firms. Third, implications for practice highlight that managers of small firms should focus on knowledge sourcing from external-oriented strategies. Moreover, adoption of both sourcing strategies simultaneousiy impedes small firm performance.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.209-215
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• 2002

This study investigated the crystal growth, crystalline structure and the basic optical properties of $SnSe/BaF_2$ epilayers. The SnSe epilayer was grown on $BaF_2$(111) insulating substrates using a hot wall epitaxy(HWE) technique. It was found from the analysis of X-ray diffraction patterns that $SnSe/BaF_2$ epilayer was growing to single crystal with orthorhombic structure oriented [111] along the growth direction. Using Rutherford back scattering(RBS), the atomic ratios of the SnSe was found to be stoichiometric, almost 50 : 50. The best values for the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the DCXRD was 163 arcsec for SnSe epilarer. The epilayer-thickness dependence of the FWHM of the DCXRD shows that the quality of the $SnSe/BaF_2$ is as expected. The dielectric function ${\varepsilon}$(E) of a semiconductor is closely related to its electronic energy band structure and such relation can be drawn from features around the critical points in the optical spectra. The real and imaginary parts(${\varepsilon}_1$ and ${\varepsilon}_2$) of the dielectric function ${\varepsilon}$ of SnSe were measured. These data are analyzed using a theoretical model known as the model dielectric function(MDF). The optical constants related to dielectric function such as the complex refractive index(n*-n+ik), absorption coefficient (${\alpha}$) and normal- incidence reflectivity (R) are also presented for $SnSe/BaF_2$.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.43-64
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to provide the nutritional education data of the fruit and vegetable eating habits and dietary fiber intake of male and female high school students in the Daegu area. Methods: A survey was conducted on 300 male/female students from four general high schools in the City of Daegu, and the survey included questions ongeneral characteristics, dietary habits, eating behavior patterns and dietary intake. A 24-hour recall method was used for the dietary intake, and the surveyed dietary intake information was analyzed using the Computer Aided Nutritional analysis program (CAN 3.0)--dietary fiber intake, in particular. The data was analyzed using the SPSS window 12.0 program. Results: The average ages of boys and girls were 16.8- and 15.6-years old, respectively. A classification based on BMI showed the following: the low-weight student group was comprised of 10.3% boys and 31.6% girls; the normal-weight group 68.4% boys and 67.5% girls; and the overweight group 21.3% boys and 0.9% girls, whereby showing a significant difference between boys and girls. Vegetable intake showed the following: the ratio of the response of 'taking it once a day' was more than 70%, which showed the low frequency of fruit intake; the ratio of 'taking it more than five times a week' was 53.0% for boys and 68.4% for girls, which showed a higher intake frequency for girls over boys; and the daily dietary fiber per 1,000kcal was 7.1g for boys and 8.2g for girls, whereby showing a significant difference between boys and girls. The meals that contributed most to dietary fiber intake were the school meals, whereas the dietary fiber intake rate through breakfast was the lowest among the three daily meals. The food groups that contributed to dietary fiber intake were vegetable, grains and flavoring matters for boys and vegetable, grains and fruits for girls. Conclusions: In order to increase the daily dietary intake for growing adolescents, who are in an important stage for building the foundation of health, it's recommended that, in addition to the supplement for insufficient dietary fiber through a regular breakfast consisting of high dietary fiber content foods, nutrition-related education about the effects of dietary fiber on the human body be conducted.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.299-315
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• 1993

Koreans are one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in America. Stress responses and stressors among this large cultural minority has been rarely been studied by nursing researchers. Adjusting to life in foreign country produces a great deal of stress. Differences in culture, language, expectations and social behavior can lead to misunderstandings between health care providers and clients. These misunderstandings are not well accounted for in health assessment. This study investigated the relationship between life events or / and daily activities as a stressor and the symptoms of stress among a sample of Korean immigrants in America. The symptoms of stress scale (SOS) was used to identify stress responses and open-ended questions were used to identify life events and daily activities considered by the respondents to be stressful. A simple random sample of 283 subjects was selected from the Directory of the Korean Society of Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Seattle. Demographically, the subjects ranged in age from 20 to 69 years, and the percentage of women and men was approximately 50% each. Almost ninety percent of the subjects were highly educated, 17% owners of business, 19% white collar professionals, 14% employed in sales or as skilled /unskilled labor, 27% as housewives and students and 3％ had no occupation. The total group SOS mean was 0.8042 ; the SOS men for man was 0.7371, and for women was 0.8713. The stress response of this subject group was high, -the stress response of women higher than that for men. In an earlier study(June, 1992) with another sample, the total mean SOS score was similar to this one. The main stressful life events or / and daily activities were, in order, economic problems (N=97), interpersonal problems (N=68), children care problems (N=258), health problems (N=49), communication problems (N=42), family problems (N=38), worry about future career (N=36), and religious problems (N=25). There was a significant difference in the SOS means between the group that expressed life events or / and daily activities to be stressful and the group that did not. Interpersonal relationships and economic and family problems were stressors for those who complained about peripheral manifestations. cardiopulmonary symptoms, central-neurological symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, muscle ten-sion, habitual patterns, depression, anxiety, emotional irritability and cognitive disorganization. In summary, interpersonal relationships and economic and family problems influenced stress response manifestations. Income, the number of people in the family, the year of immigration. the level of education, and marital status were related to physiological and psychosocial stress responses.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.55-66
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• 1997

This study was conducted to analyze arthropod community patterns in small rice fields associated with different planting methods (water seeding, drill seeding, and hansplanting) in Suwon and Icheon in 1994. Total 15 orders and 45 families of arthropods were collected. The arthropod community was analyzed using guild categories. The arthropods were found in the order of 'natural enemy>pest(phytophage)>non-pest' in their densities in all sites. The pest (phytophage) species were mainly Homoptera and dominated by Delphacidae (Nilaparvata lugens Stsl, Sogatella fircifera Horvath and Laodelphax striatellus Fallen) and Cicadelidae (Nephotettir cincticeps Uhler). They constituted >80% of pest abundance. Differences in pest abundance were not found among rice fields associated with different planting methods. Spiders were the most dominant group in the natural enemy and constituted >90% of natural enemy abundance. Hunting spiders constituted >SO% of spider abundance and were dominated by Pirata subpiraticus Bos. et Str. (Lycosidae). Pacliygnatha clerki Sundevall (Tetragnathidae) was a dominant species in webbing spiders. No differences were found in species richness and diversity in spider community among rice fields associated with different planting methods. The nonpest species were mainly Diptera and occurred abundantly in early growing season and decreased drastically as rice development proceeded. The non-pest abundance was higher in direct seeding sites than in transplanting site, and especially abundant in a drill seeding site.

• The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.37-53
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• 2010

As mobile communications service is growing every single year in Korea, it has pulled the interest of many researchers as wells as the executives. This research is aimed to find out factors of the mobile market that affect the utilization of mobile communication. We adopted a survey method with a pinpointed focus on how users' profile and individual experience relates with the utilization of mobile communication. For this objective, first, we primarily analyzed the mobile users' characteristics and service usage patterns. Then, we developed a conceptual model and hypotheses that are empirically examined using a covariance structure analysis, which will contribute to investigating critical success factors in mobile business. Some suggestions constitute the remaining part of this research. First, user characteristic is an important factor that affects the amount expended for mobile service. Second, user experience is another critical aspect that is highly linked with mobile payment. In alignment with our research, we propose user characteristics such as age and income, and user experience about mobile internet usage and mobile contents usage are of great significance in devising both near- and long-term mobile business strategy.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.136-146
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• 2012

As information technology used for simulation and virtual reality developed, there is a growing interest in animation technologies which will effectively deliver simulation results to users. Various efforts have been made to improve animation performance, like playback quality and speed, input-output speed and storage space reduction. However, earlier studies generally focused on image compression frame by frame. To significantly improve storage space and playback speed, animation data should be vectorized. Also, spatial and temporal duplication have to be removed. In this study, animation data structure was improved fundamentally through establishment of hierarchy and vectorization. Also Spatial and temporal duplication of animation data was removed through vectorization based on train route. As a result, storage space was reduced, input-output speed and playback speed were considerably improved. According to the test, additional Patternization which followed vectorization brought reduction of over 80% in storage space and input-output speed was quadrupled. Patternization technology can be used as a proper storage method of animation data, and can provide user-specific animation by small data transmission.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.85 no.3
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• pp.462-471
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• 1996

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of meteorological changes on tree growth due to the reservoir construction. First, climatic normals were estimated before and after the reservoir construction at the area of Imha, through the topoclimatological relationships. Secondly, the amount of meteorological changes was quantified based on the difference analysis of the climatic normals. Thirdly, the diameter increments of Pinus densiflora around Imha area were measured with increment borer. Sample trees were taken on the 6 points of 30m, 100m, 500m, 1km, 3km, and 5km from the reservoir, respectively. Finally, effects of meteorological changes on tree growth were investigated based on the analysis of tree ring increment patterns. Results showed that the growth of trees within the range of 1km from the reservoir had been increased, but the growth of ones out of 1km range had no relationship with meteorological changes after the reservoir construction. It seems that the diameter increment of trees grown near reservoir has been increased mainly due to the increased solar radiation in spring and the increased total amount of precipitation during growing season, compared with those before the reservoir construction. It is supposed, however, that the changes of monthly mean temperature has little effect on the tree growth because of its small amount of changes.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.199-210
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• 2004

Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization on seasonal changes of nutrient content in tree components, and retranslocation N and P in foliage and twig were determined in adjacent 41-year-old plantations of Pinus rigida Miller and Larix kaempferi Gordon on a similar soil in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province. In general, foliage N and P concentrations of L kaempferi were significantly higher than current and 1-year-old foliages of P. rigida. N and P concentrations were higher in foliage than in twigs for both tree species. However, there were no significant differences in foliage and twig N and P concentrations with ages. Significant seasonal differences in foliage and twig N and P concentrations were observed for both tree species because of nutrient retranslocation. Foliage nutrient concentrations were highest in the mid-growing season and lowest in autumn, whereas twig nutrient concnetrations have gradually increased since July. These seasonal trends indicated nutrient retranslocation from foliage into twigs before foliage senescence. However, there were no significant changes in foliage and twig nutrient retranslocation, and no consistent patterns in foliage and twig nutrient retranslocation following N and P fertilizer additions. No significant changes in nutrient retranslocation between different foliage and twig ages were observed following fertilization.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.226-245
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• 2019

To understand the dynamics of radial growth of trees and micro-climate at a site of Korean fir (Abies koreana Wilson) forest on high-altitude area of Mt. Hallasan National Park, Jeju Island, Korea, high precision dendrometers were installed on the stems of Korean fir trees, and the sensors for measuring micro-climate of the forest at 10 minutes interval were also installed at the forest. Data from the sensors were sent to nodes, collected to a gateway wireless, and transmitted to a data server using mobile phone communication system. By analyzing the radial growth data for the trees during the growing season in 2016, we can estimate that the radial growth of Korean fir trees initiated in late April to early May and ceased in late August to early September, which indicates that period for the radial growth was about 4 months in 2016. It is interesting to observe that the daily ambient temperature and the daily soil temperature at the depth of 20 cm coincided with the values of about 10 ℃ when the radial growth of the trees initiated in 2016. When the radial growth ceased, the values of the ambient temperature went down below about 15 ℃ and 16 ℃, respectively. While the ambient temperature and the soil temperature are evaluated to be the good indicators for the initiation and the cessation of radial growth, it becomes clear that radii of tree stems showed diurnal growth patterns affected by diurnal change of ambient temperature. In addition, the wetting and drying of the surface of the tree stems affected by precipitation became the additional factors that affect the expansion and shrinkage of the tree stems at the forest site. While it is interesting to note that the interrelationships among the micro-climatic factors at the forest site were well explained through this study, it should be recognized that the precision monitoring made possible with the application of high resolution sensors in the measurement of the radial increment combined with the observation of 10 minutes interval with aids of information and communication technology in the ecosystem observation.