• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2007

Unprecedented amount of genetic information being generated from the result of Human Genome Project (HGP) and advances in genetic research is already forcing changes in the paradigm of health and disease. The ultimate goal of genetic medicine is to use genetic information and technology to develop new ways of treatment or even prevention of the disease on an individual level for 'personalized medicine'. Genetics is play ing an increasingly important role in the diagnosis, monitoring and management of common multifactorial diseases in addition to rare single-gene disorders. While wide range of genetic testing have provided benefits to patients and family, uncertainties surrounding test interpretation, the current lack of available medical options for the diseases, and risks for discrimination and social stigmatization may remain to be resolved. However an increasing number of genetic tests are becoming commercially available, including direct to consumer genetic testing, yet public is often unaw are of their clinical and social implications. The personal nature of information generated by a genetic test, its power to affect major life decisions and family members, and its potential misuse raise important ethical considerations. Therefore appropriate genetic counseling is needed for patient to be informed with the benefits, limitations and risks of genetic tests, prior to informed consent for the tests. Physician also should be familiar with the legal and ethical issues involved in genetic testing to tell patients how w ell a particular genetic risk factor relates with likelihood of disease, and be able to provide appropriate genetic counseling. Genetic counseling become a mandatory requirement as global standard for many genetic testing such as prenatal diagnosis, presymtomatic DNA diagnostic tests and cancer susceptibility gene test for familial cancer syndrome. In oder to meet the challenge of genetic medicine of 21 century in korean health care system, professional education program and certification board for medical genetics specialist including non-MD genetic counselors should be addressed by medical society and regulatory policy of national health insurance reimbursement for genetic counseling to be in place to promote the implementation of clinical genetic service including genetic counseling for proper genetic testing.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.77-100
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• 2008

This study explores the implications of increasing cohabitation for the Korean family, by comparing the characteristics of cohabiters with those of married couples and of never-married and divorced people. Data are from the Marriage Registration Files for the years of 1997 through 2005 and Social Statistics Survey conducted in 2006. Results from descriptive statistics and logit analysis generally confirm the predictions of the western literature. First, cohabitation is part of overall changes in the family system. Cohabitation is more prevalent among the previously married than among the never married. Second, the socioeconomic status of cohabiting men is lower than that of married men. Third, according to spouses' employment status, educational levels, and age differences, gender roles are more egalitarian among cohabiting couples than among married couples. The finding that cohabiter characteristics are not similar to those of married couples seems to suggest that cohabitation does not simply represent a trial of marriage out of caution, unlike what most media articles assume. Instead, cohabitation may signify some unconventional circumstances forcing the couple to choose it as an alternative to marriage even temporarily. This and other conjectures discussed in this paper need to be reexamined with more rigorous data, as increasing trend of cohabitation seems to be inevitable in the coming years.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.36 no.3 s.134
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• pp.345-363
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• 2003

From the General Circulation Models(GCMs), it is known that the increases of concentrations of greenhouse gases will have significant implications for climate change in global and regional scales. The GCM has an uncertainty in analyzing the meteorologic processes at individual sites and so the 'downscaling' techniques are used to bridge the spatial and temporal resolution gaps between what, at present, climate modellers can provide and what impact assessors require. This paper describes a method for assessing local climate change impacts using a robust statistical downscaling technique. The method facilitates the rapid development of multiple, low-cost, single-site scenarios of daily surface weather variables under current and future regional climate forcing. The construction of climate change scenarios based on spatial regression(transfer function) downscaling and on the use of a local stochastic weather generator is described. Regression downscaling translates the GCM grid-box predictions with coarse resolution of climate change to site-specific values and the values were then used to perturb the parameters of the stochastic weather generator in order to simulate site-specific daily weather values. In this study, the global climate change scenarios are constructed using the YONU GCM control run and transient experiments.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.71-95
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• 2008

Transaction between industrial suppliers and their buyers in business markets increasingly take place in the form of long-tenn business relationships. These relationships are governed through formal or informal agreements. Dynamic business markets are also forcing B2B marketers to create flexibility in their firms. However, buyers are bound in their rationality and find it impossible to contemplate all possible future contingencies. The more formal and detailed the contracts they conclude, the likelier it becomes that at least one buyer is going to perceive a need to adjust the initial agreement as environmental events unfold. In this case, the actor relies upon industrial supplier's competence. Our study purpose is to examine the consequences of supplier's competence on the industrial customer-supplier long-tenn relationship. Antecedent variables of supplier competence include R&D, flexibility, brand asset, market sensing, and customer support service. We presented a comprehensive constructive model consisting of components of supplier's competence and the antecedent factors. Research hypotheses were developed and data were gathered from respondents who work in the cosmetics industry. The results discussed here represent a first step towards a better understanding of the role of supplier competence in the B-to-B cosmetics industry. Managerial implications and the limitations of this research were also discussed.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.81-101
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• 2012

A franchise system develops competitive products for a franchise store through the system established by the franchise head office. Therefore, it has advantages of expanding the marketing effect since the risk of failure is reduced for a founder and the franchise head office supports the overall sales, advertisement and promotional activities. Also, a franchise store has advantages of fulfilling necessary facilities and tools on advantageous terms, reducing expenses by purchasing in bulk, and getting a supply of products with stable qualities. However, aside from such advantages, franchise head offices are forcing franchise stores to make unnecessary investments in equipments and remodel the interior. Also, franchise business operators are being made to share the cost of marketing and multiple franchise stores are being approved within the same business district, and franchise business operators are suffering damages. Therefore, cases of shutting down a franchise store or not renewing the contract are frequent. From the position of a franchise head office, profits that are generated from franchise fees, interior remodeling fees and supplying facilities and materials will increase as the number of new franchise stores increases. However, franchise stores are faced with difficulties due to excessive competitions between similar types of businesses and the overlapping of business districts that come from increases in the number of stores, and they eventually end up shutting down. Therefore, in order for a franchise business operator and franchise head office to grow and develop continuously, opening new stores is important, but successfully renewing the contract by maintaining a relationship with an existing franchise business operator is desirable. In this aspect, a study that examines the elements that can affect the relationship between a franchise business operator and franchise head office is believed to be important for the development of the franchise industry and creating safe jobs for the public. With an emphasis on the relationship between a franchise head office and franchise store, this study attempted to examine the effect of characteristics of a franchise head office and franchise business operator on the bilateral relationship such as the faith and immersion, and wished to review the effects of such faith and immersion on the satisfaction of a franchise store, including an intention of renewing the contract. In particular, in the current situation of great uncertainties in the market, this study also wished to examine how uncertain market elements will affect the relationship between the characteristics of a franchise head office and franchise business operator, and the faith and immersion. The study revealed that among the characteristics of a franchise head office, the standardization management of a franchise head office hinders a franchise store's faith and immersion in a franchise head office. Also, a franchise head office's support was shown to increase a franchise store's faith and immersion. However, it was revealed that a franchise head office's regulation and incentive policies for a franchise store do not affect a franchise store's faith and immersion. Among characteristics of a franchise business operator, a franchise store's healthy financial status and entrepreneur spirits were shown to enhance the faith and immersion in a franchise head office. However, it was shown that excellent business abilities of a franchise business operator actually reduce the immersion for a franchise head office. Also, the faith and immersion in a franchise head office were shown to enhance the intention of renewing the contract by increasing the satisfaction for a franchise head office. In addition, it was originally believed that the effects of a franchise business operator's characteristics on the faith and immersion in a franchise head office will vary depending on the market uncertainty, but the effect of a franchise business operator's characteristics depending on the recognition of uncertainties was shown to be insignificant. Such findings show that instead of making a franchise store pay for equipment investments and marketing and obtaining profits by force, a franchise head office should actively support a franchise store so that a franchise store's business activities can be conducted well, which will bring profits to a franchise store and ultimately to a franchise head office. This is a more desirable direction for the development of both parties. Implications of such findings are summarized as follows. First, it was shown that a franchise head office's standardization management actually reduces a franchise store's faith and immersion. Therefore, it is believed that instead of conducting standardization managements for regulating and managing franchise stores, measures should be developed so that franchise stores can actually participate voluntarily. For this, a head office should put in efforts to develop and provide standardized manuals, and make sure that a self-review system takes root. Second, a franchise head office's incentives did not have significant effects on the faith and immersion, but the support was shown to be effective. Therefore, it can be seen that instead of taking post-measures for a franchise store, taking pre-measures of actively supporting is more effective in maintaining a franchise store. Third, among characteristics of a franchise head office, it was shown that a franchise store's healthy financial status increased the faith and immersion in a franchise head office. Therefore, when selecting a franchise business operator, instead of thoughtlessly opening up franchise stores for the profit of a head office, it is believed that reviewing a franchise business operator's financial firepower and credit status is necessary. As for academic implications, previous studies examined the relationship by focusing on the characteristics of a franchise head office and franchise store, but this study focused on the characteristics of a franchise business operator. Therefore, this study dealt with the importance of a franchise business operator's competence, and is significant because it revealed the fact that a franchise business operator's excellent commercialization ability can become an element that hinders the immersion in a franchise head office. It was originally believed that a franchise store's characteristics will have different effects on the faith and immersion depending on the market uncertainty, but it was shown that the effect of a franchise store's characteristics depending on the recognition of uncertainties was insignificant, and that is the limitation of this study.