• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.125-147
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• 2020

On the World Refugee Day in 2017, Yao Chen, a Chinese actress, philanthropist, and social media influencer, posted messages in her Weibo in support of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Yet, social media users quickly interpreted this supportive message of the refugee program as encouraging people to "accept and receive refugees" (jieshou nanmin) into China. Particularly, the category of Middle Eastern refugees elicited most criticism in China's cyberspace. As the inclusion of refugees is an integral part of immigrant multiculturalism, this article examines the limits of multicultural imagination of refugees―particularly those from the Middle Eastern and North Africa―in contemporary China. I argue that the limits of multicultural imagination in contemporary China is profoundly shaped by an intricate interweaving of domestic policies and global imaginaries toward refugees. By deploying a mixed methodology, such limits are examined from legal-institutional, ideological, and sociocultural perspectives. More specifically, three interrelated aspects will be highlighted in the article: (1) the global circulation of right-wing populism imaginaries, and their entanglements with the anti-Muslim sentiments in contemporary China; (2) the current insufficiency of the legal-institutional framework regarding refugees and asylum-seekers, which needs to be contextualized in China's modern history of dealing with refugee issues; (3) population politics, the rise of Han-centric nationalism, and their constraining impact on the interpretation of historical events related to cultural diversity. In conclusion, this article also offers potential implications for further examining the different yet potentially intersected genealogies of multicultural imaginaries beyond the Middle Eastern and North African refugees in Asia.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.38-45
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• 2022

Object detection models have become the current tool of choice for plant disease detection in precision agriculture. Most existing research improves the performance by ameliorating networks and optimizing the loss function. However, the data-centric part of a whole project also needs more investigation. In this paper, we proposed a systematic strategy with three different annotation methods for plant disease detection: local, semi-global, and global label. Experimental results on our paprika disease dataset show that a single class annotation with semi-global boxes may improve accuracy. In addition, we also studied the noise factor during the labeling process. An ablation study shows that annotation noise within 10% is acceptable for keeping good performance. Overall, this data-centric numerical analysis helps us to understand the significance of annotation methods, which provides practitioners a way to obtain higher performance and reduce annotation costs on plant disease detection tasks. Our work encourages researchers to pay more attention to label quality and the essential issues of labeling methods.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.225-238
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• 2022

The ultimate goal of human assisted reproductive technology is to achieve a healthy pregnancy and birth, ideally from the selection and transfer of a single competent embryo. Recently, techniques for efficiently evaluating the state and quality of preimplantation embryos using time-lapse imaging systems have been applied. Artificial intelligence programs based on deep learning technology and big data analysis of time-lapse monitoring system during in vitro culture of preimplantation embryos have also been rapidly developed. In addition, several molecular markers of the secretome have been successfully analyzed in spent embryo culture media, which could easily be obtained during in vitro embryo culture. It is also possible to analyze small amounts of cell-free nucleic acids, mitochondrial nucleic acids, miRNA, and long non-coding RNA derived from embryos using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or digital PCR, as well as next-generation sequencing. Various efforts are being made to use non-invasive evaluation of embryo quality (NiEEQ) to select the embryo with the best developmental competence. However, each NiEEQ method has some limitations that should be evaluated case by case. Therefore, an integrated analysis strategy fusing several NiEEQ methods should be urgently developed and confirmed by proper clinical trials.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.507-518
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• 2022

This study aimed to measure the monetary and non-monetary effects on brand awareness at hypermarkets in Riyadh. The independent variable consists of three sub-variables: price reductions, free samples, and purchasing vouchers. The research population has all Saudi and non-Saudi buyers in Riyadh. The figures show that the population size reached 3.87 million in 2019. The proportional stratification sampling technique and the recommended sample size were 387 buyers. The five-point Likert scale with the fully structured questionnaire was used. The study concldes the effect of free samples on brand awareness while there was no effect of monetary instruments. The results show that the three sales promotion incentives (price reduction, free samples, and purchasing vouchers) moderately affected brand awareness and a key role in explaining consumer behavior, so the significant impact was proved. In summary, this study showed that price reductions have the power of creating the perception of buyers at hypermarkets in Riyadh. Non-cash instruments were more effective than cash instruments in enhancing brand awareness at the hypermarkets in the Saudi market. So, the price reductions and purchasing vouchers have less power in conducting communication-based awareness. Building awareness and improving brand image through free samples were most visible in communication strategy.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.1-18
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• 2024

This study analyzed the impact of YouTube creator characteristics and channel access factors on the intention to continue watching content, noting that the development of the digital media environment has diversified media audiences' content preferences and access routes. Specifically, we analyzed the effects of YouTube creator trustworthiness, attractiveness, familiarity, and social influence, as well as the effects of recommendation services on perceived usefulness, perceived ease, and perceived enjoyment. The study found that creator credibility and recommendation service had a positive impact on the perceived usefulness of content, while intimacy and charm were important factors in increasing the easy of use and playfulness of content. These perceived usefulness, ease, and playfulness also had a strong positive impact on users' intention to continue watching the channel. This suggests that trust and intimate relationships with creators and appropriate content recommendations play an important role in increasing user satisfaction and channel persistence. The significance of this study's analysis of creator and channel access factors based on the extended technology acceptance model is that it shows the potential for extending and applying the existing technology acceptance model to the digital content environment.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.351-361
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• 2019

The objective of this article is to identify an alternative strategy for brand marketing through a case study of the Korean boy band BTS, which has recently seen a huge success in the global music scene. BTS has actively used transmedia storytelling as a tool to survive in the competitive music market. Transmedia storytelling refers to stories that are expanded across different media platforms, engaging audiences to explore from one medium to another to undergo multiple experiences. It gives audiences various ways of enjoying cultural content and participating in cultural content production through numerous media outlets. BTS has established and spread its fictional universe through albums, music videos, short films and webtoons, and has launched diverse projects where fans actively share, create, and play with their content. By inviting fans to actively participate in and interact with the BTS universe spreading through multiple media platforms, BTS can keep its fans engaged and energized. These activities have generated an emotional bond between BTS and their fans, which further leads to a worldwide fandom, based not on a producer-customer relationship but on mutual trust. The BTS case demonstrates the potential of transmedia storytelling as a useful benchmark to provide a positive brand experience for customers, which eventually enhances brand attachment and brand loyalty.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.577-586
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• 2014

As SNS has increased its influence on the society as a whole, companies also have started to consider how to take advantage of the new service paying specific attention to its characteristics of immediacy, sharability and interactivity. This study aims to circumstantiate the relationship between a task support tool of SNS and task-media fit, user characteristics and performance by focusing on its usage in work field. To address this issue, a Task-Technology Fit model is used to propose a research model considering the characteristics of SNS as a social element, information technology as well as its user characteristics. The outcome shows that job characteristics, virtual competence and media characteristics have a significant influence on task-media fit, whereas virtual competence and SNS characteristics variables have a significant influence on SNS usage. Besides, task-media fit has a significant influence on SNS usage and work performance while SNS usage has a significant influence on work performance. The study suggests that strategic use of SNS helps improve work performance and these individual characteristics should be considered in planning of SNS utilizing strategy.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.102-115
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• 2018

The world's major countries carry forward strategies for enhancing industrial competitiveness, resulting in the fourth industrial revolution while a new growth engine is required to deal with the slow growth of global economy and declining productivity. Artificial intelligence (AI) is regarded as a core technology of the fourth industrial revolution. AI is expected to be implemented rapidly in advertising and media industries. However, it is hard to find an effective way to implement AI in these industries, especially because of how quickly the AI market changes and develops. Therefore, this study seeks the possible industrial influence of AI in advertising and media industries and invigoration plan for AI, by an in-depth interview with 10 professionals who lead the AI market. First, it was analyzed to explore the macroscopic side of the AI market through P (Politics), E (Economy), S (Society), and T (Technology). Also, the applicability of AI in advertising and media industries was explored by analyzing its S (Strength), W (Weakness), O (Opportunity), and T (Threat).The result indicates that it is necessary to build up a nation-wide construction of infrastructure for the fourth industrial revolution to invigorate AI in advertising and media industries. Moreover, a social environment capable of overcoming a hyper-connected society and social risks should be fostered. Lastly, it is urgent for both the industrial and academic world to diagnose the influence of AI in advertising and media industries, to anticipate the future in accordance with technological advance, set a proper direction, to invest actively for technical development of AI, and to formulate innovative policies.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.134-144
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• 2011

Crossmedia Storytelling is receiving attention as a new style of description in the age of limitless competition and infinite fusion among media. Crossmedia Storytelling specifies a form of storytelling carried out through mixed usage of plural media, such as televisions, movies, and web services. It is different from OSMU strategy in that plays one source of contents according to the characteristics of various media while Crossmedia Storytelling demands users' active participation. Moreover, it is also slightly different from Transmedia Storytelling in the point that narratives of each media are not complete themselves and only through effectively combining plural media can the whole story fully enjoyed. This research aims to analyze how users move among media in terms of Crossmedia contents by examining cases of Swedish interactive drama series , from Australia, and from the United States. To do so, first, the paper looks into the principles of Crossmedia communication and examines that it is based on online word-of-mouth communication, such as viral marketing. As a result, the following was found in the cases of Crossmedia Storytelling: negative stories that arouse users' emotional reactions & users' participation are effective, and the set-up of Sneezer, which causes the knowledge gap, is very important. It was also found that users' participation was actively taking place through online WOM communication in Crossmedia Storytelling.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.335-351
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• 2014

This study proposes a customized SNS operational strategy for special libraries based on a case study on the Ocean Science Library (OSL) of South Korea. The study conducted an in-depth analysis on an organizational structure, manpower, contents, and promotion. The outcome of SNS operational strategy deducted from this study can be categorized into several items, including: (1) a selection of an appropriate SNS channel, which meets the objective of the operation; (2) a formal division of works for SNS operation; (3) a designation of full-time managers and an establishment of a task force team; (4) a specialization of contents according to specific subjects; (5) on/off-line promotions focused on events, which encourage participations; (6) an improvement of contents through regular log analyses; and (7) a promotion of library website access through SNS, and so on. This research also suggested the strategies for the development of SNS operation: strengthening of communication and cooperation among librarians; distribution of academic and research outcomes of the umbrella organization; enhancement of a role as a communication channel between librarians and users, and carry out a role as a 'social curator.'