• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.27-57
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• 2008

Many consumers enjoy the challenge of purchasing a brand that matches well with their own values and personalities (for example, Ko et al., 2008; Ko et al., 2006). Therefore, the personalities of consumers can impact on the final selection of a brand and its brand personality in two ways: first, the consumers may incline to purchase a brand or a product that reflects their own personalities; second, consumers tend to choose a company that has similar brand personalities to those brands that are being promoted. Therefore, the objectives of this study are following: 1. Is there any empirical relationship between a consumer's personality and the personality of a brand that he or she chooses? 2. Can a corporate brand be differentiated by the brand personality? In short, consumers are more likely to hold favorable attitudes towards those brands that match their own personality and will most probably purchase those brands matching well with their personality. For example, Matzler et al. (2006) found that extraversion and openness were positively related to hedonic product value; and that the personality traits directly (openness) and indirectly (extraversion, via hedonic value) influenced brand effects, which in turn droved attitudinal and purchase loyalty. Based on the above discussion, the following hypotheses are proposed: Hypothesis 1: the personality of a consumer is related to the brand personality of a product/corporate that he/she purchases. Kuksov (2007) and Wernerfelt (1990) argued that brands as a symbolic language allowed consumers to communicate their types to each other and postulated that consumers had a certain value of communicating their types to each other. Therefore, how brand meanings are established, and how a firm communicate with consumers about the meanings of the brand are interesting topics for research (for example, Escalas and Bettman, 2005; McCracken, 1989; Moon, 2007). Hence, the following hypothesis is proposed: Hypothesis 2: A corporate brand identity is differentiated by the brand personality. And there are significant differences among companies. A questionnaire was developed for collecting empirical measures of the Big-Five personality traits and brand personality variables. A survey was conducted to the online access panel members through the Internet during December 2007 in Korea. In total, 500 respondents completed the questionnaire, and considered as useable. Personality constructs were measured using the Five-factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) scale and a total of 30 items were actually utilized. Brand personality was measured using the five-dimension scale developed by Aaker (1997). A total of 17 items were actually utilized. The seven-point Likert-type scale was the format of responses, for example, from 1 indicating strongly disagreed to 7 for strongly agreed. The Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) was used for an empirical testing of the model, and the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) was applied to estimate numerical values for the components in the model. To diagnose the presence of distribution problems in the data and to gauge their effects on the parameter estimates, bootstapping method was used. The results of the hypothesis-1 test empirically show that there exit certain causality relationship between a consumer's personality and the brand personality of the consumer's choice. Thus, the consumer's personality has an impact on consumer's final selection of a brand that has a brand personality matches well with their own personalities. In other words, the consumers are inclined to purchase a brand that reflects their own personalities and tend to choose a company that has similar brand personalities to those of the brand being promoted. The results of this study further suggest that certain dimensions of the brand personality cause consumers to have preference to certain (corporate) brands. For example, the conscientiousness, neuroticism, and extraversion of the consumer personality have positively related to a selection of "ruggedness" characteristics of the brand personality. Consumers who possess that personality dimension seek for matching with certain brand personality dimensions. Results of the hypothesis-2 test show that the average "ruggedness" attributes of the brand personality differ significantly among Korean automobile manufacturers. However, the result of ANOVA also indicates that there are no significant differences in the mean values among manufacturers for the "sophistication," "excitement," "competence" and "sincerity" attributes of the corporate brand personality. The tight link between what a firm is and its corporate brand means that there is far less room for marketing communications than there is with products and brands. Consequently, successful corporate brand strategies must position the organization within the boundaries of what is acceptable, while at the same time differentiating the organization from its competitors.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.127-133
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• 2014

North Korea's uranium enrichment facility is a matter of international concern. It is of particular alarming to South Korea with regard to the security and safety of the country. This situation requires continuous monitoring of the DPRK and emergency preparedness on the part of the ROK. To assess the detectability of an undeclared uranium enrichment plant in North Korea, uranium concentrations in the air at both a short and a long distance from the enrichment facility were estimated. $UF_6$ source terms were determined by using existing information on North Korean facility and data from the operation experience of enrichment plants from other countries. Using the calculated source terms, two atmospheric dispersion models (Gaussian Plume Model and HYSPLIT models) and meteorological data were used to estimate the uranium particle concentrations from the Yongbyon enrichment facility. A maximum uranium concentration and its location are dependent upon the meteorological conditions and the height of the UF6 release point. This study showed that the maximum uranium concentration around the enrichment facility was about $1.0{\times}10^{-7}g{\cdot}m^{-3}$. The location of the maximum concentration was within about 0.4 km of the facility. It has been assumed that the uranium sample of about a few micrograms (${\mu}g$) could be obtained; and that few micrograms of uranium can be easily measured with current measurement instruments. On the contrary, a uranium concentration at a distance of more than 100 kilometers from the enrichment facility was estimated to be about $1.0{\times}10^{-13}{\sim}1.0{\times}10^{-15}g{\cdot}m^{-3}$, which is less than back-ground level. Therefore, based on the results of our paper, an air sample taken within the vicinity of the Yongbyon enrichment facility could be used to determine as to whether or not North Korea is carrying out an undeclared nuclear program. However, the air samples taken at a longer distance of a few hundred kilometers would prove difficult in detecting a clandestine nuclear activities.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.36 no.2 s.115
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• pp.145-152
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to evaluate electroless plating as a method of increasing the diameter of an orthodontic wire in comparison with eletroplating. After pretreatment plating of the 0.016 inch stainless steel orthodontic wire, electroless plating was performed at $90^{\circ}C$ until the diameter of the wire was increased to 0.018 inch. During the process of electroless plating, the diameter of the wire was measured every 5 minutes to examine the increasing ratio of the wire's diameter per time unit. And to examine the uniformity, the diameter at 3 points on the electroless-plated orthodontic wire was measured. An X-ray diffraction test for analyzing the nature of the plated metal and a 3-point bending test for analyzing the physical property were performed. The electroless-plated wire group showed a increased tendency for stiffness, yield strength, and ultimate strength than the electroplated wire group. And there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups for stiffness and ultimate strength. In the electroless-plated wire group, the increasing ratio of the diameter was $0.00461{\pm}0.00003mm/5min$ (0.00092 mm/min). In the electroplated wire group, it was $0.00821{\pm}0.00015mm/min$. The results of the uniformity test showed a tendency for uniformity in both the plating methods. The results of this study suggest that electroless plating of the wire is closer to the ready-made wire than electroplating wire in terms of the physical property. However, the length of plating time needs further consideration for the clinical application of electroless plating.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.541-551
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• 2012

In our previous work, we reported consumers' perceptions of body shape and weight control. In an ongoing effort, we analyzed the purchasing behavior, intake patterns, future purchasing decisions, and degree of satisfaction in individuals consuming dietary formula for weight control (DF) or heath/functional foods (HFFs) by using the same survey questions. Portfolio analysis for marketing strategy was also investigated. Subjects were divided into two groups according to consumption of DF or HFF during the previous year : DF group (n = 89) and HFF group (n = 110). Average intake frequency was $1.7{\pm}0.7$ per day for HFFs and $1.5{\pm}0.9$ per day for the DF, and the most prevalent form was pill (58.2%) for HFFs and bar (42.7%) for DF. Duration of intake was $3.1{\pm}2.3$ months for HFFs versus $3.9{\pm}3.5$ months for DF. The average degree of satisfaction was $3.6{\pm}0.6$ on a 5-point scale, meaning 'relatively satisfied'. For the weight control method to be used in the future, 44.5% of the HFF group selected 'HFFs' while 47.2% of the DF group selected 'DF', showing a tendency to use the current product type in the future. The average planned period for the intake was $3.8{\pm}3.7$ months for HFFs and $3.0{\pm}2.4$ months for DF (p < 0.05). The HFF group emphasized efficacy, functional ingredients of the products, reliable products, and higher satisfaction, whereas the DF group emphasized the added materials in addition to weight control effects.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.459-466
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• 2003

Purpose : AOM is the most common bacterial URI in children. The bacteriology and antibiotic Tx of AOM in children has been studied in many countries. But, there is few study of causative pathogens and antibiotic Tx of AOM in our country. In this aspect, we performed prospective clinical study to confirm the causative pathogens and assess the clinical responses of cefprozil in AOM patients. Methods : Thirty three AOM patients enrolled in this study. Tympanocentesis for isolation of causative pathogens were performed before Tx of cefprozil. The study patients received cefprozil with dose of 15 mg/kg/bid.po/day for 10-12 days, and initially assessed the clinical response at 4-5 days after receiving cefprozil and finally at the end visit. In vitro susceptibility tests of cefprozil to isolated pathogens were done by disc diffusion method, and in vitro susceptibility tests of cefaclor and cefixime to isolated pathogens were simultaneously performed. Results : Bacterial pathogens[S. pneumoniae(10), H. influenzae(5), S. aureus(2), M. catarrhalis(1) and Group A stretococcus(1)] were isolated from 19 patients. Clinically, all patients had history of abrupt high fever except one. Tympanic perforation was dominant in pathogens isolated cases, and otalgia was significantly developed in non-pathogens isolated cases. The ages of pathogens isolated cases were usually below 2 years. Eighty four point nine percent of the patients including two cases with isolation of intermediate resistant S. pneumoniae were clinically improved. Antimicrobial in vitro activity to S. pneumoniae of cefprozil were superior than that of cefacor and cefixime. Conclusion : We confirm that bacteria has the causative role in about 60% cases, and S. pneumoniae is the most common pathogen. Clinically, there were some differences in symptoms, signs and ages between pathogens isolated and non-pathogens isolated cases. The clinical responses of cefprozil in our patients revealed similar outcomes to other countries. And we reconfirm that cefprozil may be clinically effective in cases of AOM due to intermediate resistant S. pneumoniae.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-25
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• 1996

The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis can not be summarized as a single process. Lipid infiltration hypothesis and endothelial injury hypothesis have been proposed and investigated. Recent developments show that there are many points of potential interactions between them and that they can actually be regarded as two phases of a single, unifying hypothesis. Among the many risk factors of atherosclerosis, plasma homocysteine and lipoprotein(a) draw a considerable interest because they are independent indicators of atherogenicity. Triglyceride (TG)-rich lipoproteins (chylomicron and VLDL) are not considered to be atherogenic but they are related to the metabolism of HDL cholesterol and indirectly related to coronary heart disease (CHD). LDL can of itself be atherogenic but the oxidative products of this lipoprotein are more detrimental. HDL cholesterol has been considered to be a favorable cholesterol. The so-called 'causalist view' claims that HDL traps excess cholesterol from cellular membranes and transfers it to TG-rich lipoproteins that are subsequently removed by hepatic receptors. In the so-called 'noncausalist view', HDL does not interfere directly with cholesterol deposition in the arterial wall but instead reflects he metabolism of TG-rich lipoproteins and their conversion to atherogenic remnants. Approximately 70-80% of the human population shows an effective feedback control mechanism in cholesterol homeostasis. Type of dietary fat has a significant effect on the lipoprotein cholesterol metabolism and atherosclerosis. Generally, saturated fatty acids elevate and PUFA lower serum cholesterol, whereas MUFA have no specific effect. EPA and DHA inhibit the synthesis of TG, VLDL and LDL, and may have favourable effects on some of the risk factors. Phospholipids, particularly lecithin, have an antiatherosclerotic effect. Essential phospholipids (EPL) may enhance the formation of polyunsaturated cholesteryl ester (CE) which is less sclerotic and more easily dispersed via enhanced hydrolysis of CE in the arterial wall. Also, neutral fecal steroid elimination may be enhanced and cholesterol absorption reduced following EPL treatment. Antioxidants protect lipoproteins from oxidation, and cells from the injury of toxic, oxidized LDL. The rationale for lowering of serum cholesterol is the strong association between elevation of plasma or serum cholesterol and CHD. Cholesterol-lowing, especially LDL cholesterol, to the target level could be achieved using diet and combination of drug therapy. Information on the link between cholesterol and CHD has decreased egg consumption by 16-25%. Some clinical studies have indicated that dietary cholesterol and egg have a significant hypercholesterolemic effect, while others have indicated no effect. These studies differed in the use of purified cholesterol or cholesterol in eggs, in the range of baseline and challenge cholesterol levels, in the quality and quantity of concomitant dietary fat, in the study population demographics and initial serum cholesterol levels, and clinical settings. Cholesterol content of eggs varies to a certain extent depending on the age, breed and diet of hens. However, egg yolk cholesterol level is very resistant to change because of the particular mechanism involved in yolk formation. Egg yolk contains a factor of factors responsible for accelerated cholesterol metabolism and excretion compared with crystalline cholesterol. One of these factors could be egg lecithin. Egg lecithin may not be as effective as soybean lecithin in lowering serum cholesterol level due probably to the differences of fatty acid composition. However, egg lecithin may have positive effects in hypercholesterolemia by increasing serum HDL level and excretion of fecal cholesterol. The association of serum cholesterol with egg consumption has been widely studied. When the basal or control diet contained little or no cholesterol, consumption of 1 or 2 eggs daily increased the concentration of plasma cholesterol, whereas that of the normolipemic persons on a normal diet was not significantly influenced by consuming 2 to 3 eggs daily. At higher levels of egg consumption, the concentration of HDL tends to increase as well as LDL. There exist hyper-and hypo-responders to dietary (egg) cholesterol. Identifying individuals in both categories would be useful from the point of view of nutrition guidelines. Dietary modification of fatty acid composition has been pursued as a viable method of modifying fat composition of eggs and adding value to eggs. In many cases beneficial effects of PUFA enriched eggs have been demonstrated. Generally, consumption of n-3 fatty acids enriched eggs lowered the concentration of plasma TG and total cholesterol compared to the consumption of regular eggs. Due to the highly oxidative nature of PUFA, stability of this fat is essential. The implication of hepatic lipid accumulation which was observed in hens fed on fish oils should be explored. Nutritional manipulations, such as supplementation with iodine, inhibitors of cholesterol biosynthesis, garlic products, amino acids and high fibre ingredients, have met a limited success in lowering egg cholesterol.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.107-113
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• 1994

Among the currently recognized pathogenic vibrios, V. vulnificus and V. cholerae non O1 are the most serious bacteria from the point of view of sea food hygiene in Korea. In this paper, the authors compared the hemolytic activities of the crude hemolysin produced by V. vulnificus and V. cholerae non O1 isolated from shellfish collected in Chungmoo, Korea. The authors also attempted to improve the purification method of V. vulnificus hemolysin(VVH) and tried to make antiserum with the purified hemolysin. VVH was produced in abundance in heart infusion broth containing $2\%$ NaCl in a shaking cultivation process(140rpm) at $37^{\circ}C$ for 15 hours. While hemolysin production patterns of V. cholerae non O1 were quite different by the strain during the culture times compared with the V. vulnificus. Hemolytic activity of the VVH on sheep erythrocytes was stronger than those of rabbit, but hemolytic activities of the hemolysin produced by V. cholerae non O1 on rabbit erythrocytes were as much as twice as strong as on those of sheep and horse. VVH was purified by two steps of hydrophobic column chromatography on Phenyl-Sepharose HP with Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography(FPLC). Purification fold and yield of VVH was much improved by changing the elution buffer's pH from 6.0 to 9.8 and adding $1\%$ CHAPS(a zwitter ionic detergent) and $50\%$ ethylene glycol to the 10mM glycine buffer during the repeated hydrophobic column chromatography. Homogeneity of the purified hemolysin was shown by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. According to the five times repeated purification results, the specific activity was increased 27500 times and the yield was improved by $23.4\%$ on average. About $250{\mu}g$ of purified hemolysin was harvested from the 2400ml of culture supernatant of V. vulnificus. Molecular weight of VVH was estimated to be 50KDa by the SDS-PAGE and the neutralization scores of the obtained antiserum acting against VVH were $2000{\sim}8500$.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.127-153
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• 2009

There is a growing concern about potential harmful effect of second-hand or environmental tobacco smoking. As a result, smoking bans in workplace become more prevalent worldwide. In Korea, workplace smoking ban policy become more restrictive in 2003 when National health enhancing law was amended. The new law requires all office buildings larger than 3,000 square meters (multi-purpose buildings larger than 2,000 square meters) should be smoke free. Therefore, a lot of indoor office became non smoking area. Previous studies in other counties often found contradicting answers for the effects of workplace smoking ban on smoking behavior. In addition, there was no study in Korea yet that examines the causal impacts of smoking ban on smoking behavior. The situation in Korea might be different from other countries. Using 2001 and 2005 Korea National Health and Nutrition surveys which are representative for population in Korea we try to examine the impacts of law change on current smoker and cigarettes smoked per day. The amended law impacted the whole country at the same time and there was a declining trend in smoking rate even before the legislation update. So, the challenge here is to tease out the true impact only. We compare indoor working occupations which are constrained by the law change with outdoor working occupations which are less impacted. Since the data has been collected before (2001) and after (2005) the law change for treated (indoor working occupations) and control (outdoor working occupations) groups we will use difference in difference method. We restrict our sample to working age (between 20 and 65) since these are the relevant population by the workplace smoking ban policy. We also restrict the sample to indoor occupations (executive or administrative and administrative support) and outdoor occupations (sales and low skilled worker) after dropping unemployed and someone working for military since it is not clear whether these occupations are treated group or control group. This classification was supported when we examined the answers for workplace smoking ban policy existing only in 2005 survey. Sixty eight percent of indoor occupations reported having an office smoking ban policy compared to forty percent of outdoor occupation answering workplace smoking ban policy. The estimated impacts on current smoker are 4.1 percentage point decline and cigarettes per day show statistically significant decline of 2.5 cigarettes per day. Taking into account consumption of average sixteen cigarettes per day among smokers it is sixteen percent decline in smoking rate which is substantial. We tested robustness using the same sample across two surveys and also using tobit model. Our results are robust against both concerns. It is possible that our measure of treated and control group have measurement error which will lead to attenuation bias. However, we are finding statistically significant impacts which might be a lower bound of the true estimates. The magnitude of our finding is not much different from previous finding of significant impacts. For cigarettes per day previous estimates varied from 1.37 to 3.9 and for current smoker it showed between 1%p and 7.8%p.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.9
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• pp.971-976
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• 2008

Purpose : Surveillance for detecting and managing latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is a key component of tuberculosis control. The classic surveillance tool, the tuberculin skin test (TST), may have some limitations when used in the Bacillus Calmette-$Gu{\acute{e}}rin$ (BCG)-vaccinated population. The object was to perform a blood test $QuantiFERON^{(R)}$-TB Gold In Tube (QFT-G IT) based on the detection of interferon-$\gamma$ ($IFN-{\gamma}$) released by T cells in response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigens, and to compare the efficacy of this new diagnostic tool for LTBI with that of TST. Methods : For six months, between October 1, 2006 and April 30, 2007, data were collected from 111 patients under 15 years of age at Severance Children's Hospital. TST and QFT-G IT tests were performed with children with or without contact histories of tuberculosis. In addition to these tests, we examined comparative data from 29 adults who had tuberculosis, to detect false negative rates in the QFT-G IT method. Results : Thirty-three children had household contact histories. In this group, 15% and 42% of cases were found to be positive using the QFT-G IT assay and TST, respectively. Agreement was low between these two tests (${\kappa}=0.39$). In the adult active tuberculosis group, the QFT-G IT false negative rate defined as a positive culture and a negative QFT-G IT result was 12.5%. Conclusion : In diagnosing LTBI in children, the usefulness of a whole-blood $IFN-{\gamma}$ assay employing TB-specific antigens will be revealed only by examining additional longitudinal clinical data; this study serves as a starting point in that process.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.223-228
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• 2008

The most critical point in the medical use of radiation is to minimize the patient's entrance dose while maintaining the diagnostic function. Low-energy photons (long wave X-ray) among diagnostic X-rays are unnecessary because they are mostly absorbed and contribute the increase of patient's entrance dose. The most effective method to eliminate the low-energy photons is to use the filtering plate. The experiments were performed by observing the image quality. The skin entrance dose was 0.3 mmCu (copper) filter. A total of 80 images were prepared as two sets of 40 cuts. In the first set (of 40 cuts), 20 cuts were prepared for the non-filter set and another 20 cuts for the Cu filter of signal + noise image set. In the second set of 40 cuts, 20 cuts were prepared for the non-filter set and another 20 cuts for the Cu filter of non-signal image (noisy image) with random location of diameter 4 mm and 3 mm thickness of acryl disc for ROC signal at the chest phantom. P(S/s) and P(S/n) were calculated and the ROC curve was described in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Accuracy were evaluated after reading by five radiologists. The number of optically observable lesions was counted through ANSI chest phantom and contrast-detail phantom by recommendation of AAPM when non-filter or Cu filter was used, and the skin entrance dose was also measured for both conditions. As the result of the study, when the Cu filter was applied, favorable outcomes were observed on, the ROC Curve was located on the upper left area, sensitivity, accuracy and the number of CD phantom lesions were reasonable. Furthermore, if skin entrance dose was reduced, the use of additional filtration may be required to be considered in many other cases.