• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.10
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• pp.37-45
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• 2013

Purpose - Appropriate response to the fast changing economic environment determines SMEs' competiveness in the era of globalization and open market and, therefore, government policies to strengthen SME's competitiveness will be very important in the future. It is time to investigate the element of strategic orientation that is necessary for strengthening the competitiveness of SMEs, and its effect on the success of a business start-up. This study analyzes the network orientation in addition to existing strategic orientation, and focuses on price and quality management capability as mediators for strategic orientation and outcomes of business start-ups. Research design/data/methodology - The orientations of technology-based business founders were classified into market, technology, network, and entrepreneurial orientation. We then investigated the effect of these orientations on product price and quality management capability, as well as the influence of price and quality management capability on the outcome of a business start-up. This study is based on the nation-wide survey of the founders and members of technology-based business establishments. The survey was administered to 300 selected companies via email for a period of one month, at the end of which 175 companies replied with valid answers. Further, for effective and objective research, we used SPSS 14.0 and Amos 7.0 for structural equation modeling assumptions and hypothesis verification. Results - Except for entrepreneurial orientation, the other three orientations, namely, technology, market, and network orientations, affect the price management capability according to our results. The price management capability relates significantly with the sales and customer satisfaction. Especially, technology orientation is the core competency of start-ups that affects price and quality management capabilities. However, technology and entrepreneurial orientation do not influence the outcome of business start-ups, but affect their quality management capabilities. Conclusions - This study confirms that the strategic orientation affects product price as well as quality management capabilities, to introduce new products and achieve successful outcomes. In conclusion, new business founders face the dilemma of trade-off between price and quality in the planning stage of new product development. In particular, price management capability directly affects the outcome. Therefore, price management is more important for a successful start-up than quality management. Especially, during the initial stages of starting up a new business, price management capability entails following the market-leading company, or price penetration strategy. In this stage, price management is dependent on the information from outside rather than on the founder's decision, and it directly affects sales performance and customer satisfaction. In contrast, quality management capability is directly related to the technology capability and market experience of founders. In this case, subjective and proactive decision making is required for differentiation and development of demand in the niche market, which does not directly influence the sales performance and customer satisfaction.

• Korean Security Journal
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• no.51
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• pp.223-249
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to analyze the actual situation of crime victimization by North Korean defectors and to examine whether any of the protection and support systems for defectors has a statistically significant effect on the perceived effectiveness for preventing the criminal victimization of North Korean Defectors. The subjects of this study were 107 police officers from the 17 provincial police departments. Independent variables were (1) social adaptation education in Hanawon, (2) protection officer system, (3) legal support system, (4) private participation system, (5) support for family life, (6) community participation activity. And the dependent variable is the crime prevention effectiveness for the defectors. As a result of multiple regression analysis, it was found that the independent variables that have a significant effect on the effectiveness of prevention of crime victimization were protection officer system and support for family life. First, in order to prevent the crime victimization of North Korean defectors in advance, three kinds of protection officer system that will be received after the transfer of the residence should play the role successfully. Second, the efforts of the government and municipalities alone are insufficient for the early settlement of North Korean defectors. Therefore, it is necessary to diversify the support and protection programs for North Korean refugees through cooperation with civic organizations. Third, it is necessary to expand the legal education time so that North Korean defectors do not suffer crime because of lack of legal knowledge. Fourth, in order to prevent North Korean defectors from being victimized by various kinds of crime, it is necessary to actively support them so that family life can be stabilized.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.287-295
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• 2017

Mitochondrial dysfunction is found in oocytes and transmitted to offspring due to maternal obesity. Treatment of obese mothers with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress inhibitors such as salubrinal (SAL) can reverse the mitochondrial dysfunction and result in normal embryonic development. Pig oocytes have also shown ER stress mostly in metaphase II stage. ER stress in oocytes may hinder the in vitro production of pig embryos. This study investigated the effect of ER stress inhibition by SAL treatment during in vitro maturation (IVM) of porcine oocytes at 1, 10, 50 and 100 nM concentrations. Firstly, we tested various concentrations of SAL. SAL at 10 nM showed higher (P < 0.05) developmental competence to the blastocyst stage (55.6%) after parthenogenesis (PA) than control (44.2%) while not different from other concentrations (49.2, 51.6, and 50.8% for 1, 50, and 100 nM, respectively). Secondly, we performed time-dependent treatment at 10 nM of SAL for IVM of oocytes. It revealed that treatment with SAL during 22 to 44 h of IVM significantly improved PA embryonic development to the blastocyst stage compared to control (40.5, 46.3, 51.7 and 60.2% for control, 0 to 22 h, 22 to 44 h and 0 to 44 h of IVM, respectively, P < 0.05). Glutathione (GSH) content is an indicator of cytoplasmic maturation of oocytes. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have a harmful effect on developmental competence of oocytes. For this, we determined the intraoocyte levels of GSH and ROS after 44 h of IVM. It was found that SAL increased intraoocyte GSH level and also decreased ROS level (P < 0.05). Finally, we performed somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) after treating oocytes with 10 nM SAL during IVM. SAL treatment significantly improved blastocyst formation of SCNT embryos compared to control (39.6% vs. 24.7%, P < 0.05). Our results indicate that treatment of pig oocytes with ER stress inhibitor SAL during IVM improves preimplantation development PA and cloned pig embryos by influencing cytoplasmic maturation in terms of increased GSH content and decreased ROS level in IVM pig oocytes.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.538-543
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• 2012

The Maillard Reaction Products (MRPs) are chemical compounds which have been known to be effective in chemoprevention. Death receptors (DR) play a central role in directing apoptosis in several cancer cells. In our previous study, we demonstrated that (E)-2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal, a MRP product, inhibited human colon cancer cell growth by inducing apoptosis via nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$ (NF-${\kappa}B$) inactivation and $G_2$/M phase cell cycle arrest. In this study, (E)-2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal diacetate, a new (E)-2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal derivative, was synthesized to improve their solubility and stability in water and then evaluated against NCI-H460 and A549 human lung cancer cells. (E)-2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal diacetate reduced the viability in both cell lines in a time and dose-dependent manner. We also found that (E)-2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal diacetate increased apoptotic cell death through the upregulation of the expression of death receptor (DR)-3 and DR6 in both lung cancer cell lines. In addition to this, the transfection of DR3 siRNA diminished the growth inhibitory and apoptosis inducing effect of (E)-2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal diacetate on lung cancer cells, however these effects of (E)-2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal diacetate was not changed by DR6 siRNA. These results indicated that (E)-2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal diacetate inhibits human lung cancer cell growth via increasing apoptotic cell death by upregulation of the expression of DR3.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.265-271
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• 2001

In order to elucidate the influence of intestinal and hepatic first-pass effect on the pharmacokinetics of triflusal, the biotransformation of triflusal in the gastrointestinal tract and liver was designed. Moreover, we tried to establish an HPLC method applicable for bioassay and available to pharmacokinetics, not only with the simultaneous determination of triflusal and its active metabolite, 2-hydroxy-4-trifluoromethyl benzoic acid (HTB), but also with improving sensitivity. After the administration of triflusal (10 mg/kg) and HTB (10 mg/kg) into femoral vein, portal vein (only triflusal) and oral route (only triflusal), pharmacokinetic parameters were investigated from the plasma concentration-time profiles of triflusal and HTB in rats. An HPLC method was developed for the simultaneous determination of triflusal and HTB in rat plasma, urine and bile. The HPLC analysis was carried out using a C18 column and acetonitrile-methanol-water (25:10:65, v/v/v) as the mobile phase and UV detection at 234 nm. Furosemide was used as the internal standard. The calibration curves were linear over the concentration range $0.05-5.0\;{\mu}g/ml$ for triflusal and $0.2-200.0\;{\mu}g/ml$ for HTB with correlation coefficients greater than 0.999 and with intra-day or inter-day coefficients of variation not exceeding 10.0%. This assay procedure was applied to the study of metabolite pharmacokinetics of triflusal and HTB in rats. It was supposed that triflusal was almost metabolized in vivo because urinary and biliary excreted amounts of triflusal could be ignored as it was lower than 1.2% of the administered dose. According to the gastrointestinal and hepatic biotransformation pathways of triflusal, it was found that triflusal was hydrolyzed by about 5% in intestine and metabolized by about 53% in liver, and that the bioavailability of triflusal after oral administration of triflusal was 0.44, and also that the fraction of total elimination rate of triflusal which formed HTB in liver $(F_{mi},\;%)$ was about 98%. These results showed that triflusal was almost metabolized in liver, and the total elimination of triflusal in the body was dependent to the formation rate of HTB from triflusal in liver.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.557-564
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• 2007

The effect of wave and current interactions on regular wave transformation over a submerged elliptic shoal is investigated based on numerical simulations of the Vincent and Briggs experiment [Vincent, C.L., Briggs, M.J., 1989. Refraction-diffraction of irregular waves over a mound. Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering, 115(2), pp. 269-284]. The numerical simulations are conducted by constituting two numerical model systems: a combination of SWAN(a wave model) plus SHORECIRC(a current model) and a combination of REF/DIF 1(a wave model) plus SHORECIRC. A time dependent phase-resolving wave-current model, FUNWAVE, is also utilized to simulate the experiment. In the simulations, the breaking-induced currents defocus waves behind the shoal and bring on a wave shadow zone that shows relatively low wave height distributions. The computed results of the two model systems agree better with the measurements than the computed results obtained by neglecting wave-current interaction do. However, it is found that the radiation stresses for standing waves are misevaluated in the wave models. In addition, the results of FUNWAVE show very good agreement with the measurements. The agreement indicates that it is necessary to take into account the effect of breaking-induced current on wave refraction when wave-breaking occurs over a submerged shoal.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.363-367
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• 2014

In this study, the dietary fiber contents of Mozuku (Cladosiphon novae-caledoniae kylin) residue and the extraction condition (HCl, $H_2SO_4$, NaOH, $Na_2CO_3$, $Na_2EDTA$) of the dietary fiber was investigated. We examined that the contents of the total polyphenols and flavonoids in the dietary fiber from Mozuku residue, and the potent anti-cancer effect was also tested through the growth inhibition in human colon cancer cells (HT-29) in vitro. It was effective to extract soluble dietary fiber with 1.5% $Na_2EDTA$ and 0.05 N HCl in Mozuku residue. The extraction time and temperature affected the yields of soluble dietary fiber. The contents of the total polyphenols and flavonoids in the dietary fiber from Mozuku residue were the highest in 1% NaOH extract (Total polyphenols $34.4{\pm}0.055$ mg gallic acid/g dry basis, total flavonoids $34.7{\pm}0.023$ mg naringin/g extract dry basis). In DPPH radical scavenging activity, 1% NaOH extract showed the most potent antioxidant activity. In the result of viability in human colon cancer cells, growth inhibition was observed in D.W., 0.05 N HCl, and 0.5% $Na_2CO_3$ extracts in a dose-dependent manner. These results demonstrated that soluble dietary fiber from Mozuku residue significant antioxidant activity and anticancer in human colon cancer.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.163-171
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• 2009

Subcritical crack growth is one of the main causes of time-dependent fracturing in rock. In the present study, we investigated subcritical crack growth in rock in distilled water (pH = 5.7) and in an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOHaq, pH = 12), comparing the results to those in air. We also investigated the effect of the pH in an aqueous environment. We used andesite and granite for all our tests. We determined the relationship between the crack velocity and the stress intensity factor using the double-torsion test under conditions of controlled temperature. We showed that crack velocities in water were higher than those in air, in agreement with other research results indicating that crack velocity increases in water. When we compared our results for NaOHaq with those for water, however, we found that the crack velocity at the same stress intensity factor did not change even though the pH of the surrounding environment was different. This result does not agree with the accepted understanding that hydroxide ions accelerate subcritical crack growth in rocks. We concluded that the pH at the crack tip influences subcritical crack growth, and not the bulk pH, which has little effect.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.41-54
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• 2019

The increasing use of mobile applications is a phenomenon that has recently come to be beneficial to people in their private life due to increased income and changes in life style. In particular, analyzing customers' consumer sentiment can be seen as a pursuit form of convenience that enables efficient use of time and effort. In this study, based on previous studies, we examine the causal relation model that influences reuse intention, which is a dependent variable through perceived value as a parameter by measuring the service convenience for cafe mobile application. In order to accomplish purpose of this study, references related to service convenience, perceived value, and reuse intention were reviewed as literature research methods. For the empirical study, the research was carried out through Macro Mill Embrain Co., Ltd. Online research was conducted for one week from October 26 to November 8, 2018. There are 13 items of the collected data were excluded and 324 items suitable for irradiation were used. Study results show that service convenience of cafe mobile application has a positive effect on perceived value and reuse intention. In addition, in the relationship that cafe mobile app's service convenience has a significant (+) influence on reuse intention, perceived value proved to have meaningful results as intermediary roles. Implications of this study are as follows. First of all, this study will be helpful for cafe companies and consumers if utilize the service convenience of cafe mobile application in perceived value and reuse intention in marketing applications. Therefore, theoretically, we propose the development direction of cafe mobile application and present academic data for marketing strategy innovation and competitive advantage in the food service industry that conforms to the fourth industrial revolution era.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.219-226
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• 2014

The immune system protects the body from bacterial infection and disease, as well as cancer that develops following the mutation of cells. Aging exerts adverse effects on the immune system, such as chronic inflammation, resulting in rheumatoid arthritis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effectiveness of Scutellaria baicalensis, which contains baicalin. HPLC analysis showed that S. baicalensis hot water extracts (SBWE) contained 42.2 mg/g of baicalin. To evaluate the cytotoxicity of SBWE, an MTT assay was carried out in Raw264.7 cells. No cytotoxicity was observed below 160 ${\mu}g/ml$ of SBWE. SBWE at 40 ${\mu}g/ml$ reduced the amount of nitric oxide produced by macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide by 40%. In addition, SBWE inhibited phagocytosis stimulated with zymosan. Furthermore, the content of tumor necrosis factor-alpha ($TNF-{\alpha}$) produced by the macrophages was decreased in the presence of SBWE in a dose-dependent manner. SBWE also inhibited the production of interleukin-1 beta ($IL-1{\beta}$) in a time course experiment. Moreover, treatment with 20 ${\mu}g/ml$ of SBWE remarkably decreased the expression level of cyclooxynase-2. The results provide evidence that SBWE may exert an anti-inflammatory effect through modulation of the immune system.