• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.29-36
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• 2012

Research on subjective well-being (SWB) has flourished in recent years. As SWB determines cognitive and motivational processes, including social comparison and cognitive dissonance, it determines how consumers make decisions, including the comparison and evaluation of alternatives. Considering that the comparison and evaluation of alternatives is related to social comparison and cognitive dissonance, the influence of SWB on the comparison and evaluation of alternatives needs to be investigated. This research aims to examine the effect of SWB on the comparison and evaluation of alternatives, especially when people acquire additional information about their chosen or non-chosen alternatives, leading to a change of absolute/relative value of alternatives. The reasonable price of an alternative as evaluated by individuals is used as a measure reflecting the perceived value of an alternative. Putting all of this together, the current study intended to investigate the influence of absolute and relative value on the reasonable price of an alternative depending on SWB. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two experiment groups (deterioration of non-chosen alternative vs. improvement of non-chosen alternative). After reading consumer report ratings of alternatives shown on monitor screens, participants chose one of the alternatives, followed by the change of the consumer report ratings (deterioration of non-chosen alternative vs. improvement of non-chosen alternative). Participants evaluated the reasonable price of their chosen alternative based on the provided price of the non-chosen alternative. Two weeks after the experiment, they were asked to answer survey questionnaire on SWB measures. A regression was performed on the reasonable price with experiment groups, mean-centered SWB, and their interaction. There was a significant simple effect of groups and SWB. More importantly, these effects were qualified by the predicted interaction of groups and SWB. To interpret this interaction further, simple slope tests were performed on the price when SWB was centered at one standard deviation above (i.e., happy people) and below (i.e., unhappy people) the mean. As predicted, happy people rated the reasonable price of the chosen alternative higher in the improvement of non-chosen alternative group than in the deterioration of non-chosen alternative group. Conversely, unhappy people showed no price difference between groups. These results show that happy people pay attention to the absolute value of the alternative, whereas unhappy people give more weight to the relative value as well as to the absolute value of a chosen alternative, indicating that unhappy people are more sensitive to the negative information of a non-chosen alternative compared to happy people. The present research expanded the existing research stream on SWB by showing the influence of SWB on the consumers' evaluation of alternatives. Furthermore, this study adds to previous research on SWB and social comparison by suggesting that unhappy people tend to be more sensitive to negative social comparison information of alternatives even when a target of social comparison is not explicitly present. Moreover, these results yield some managerial implications on how to provide product information based on SWB in order to make products more attractive among the alternatives available to consumers.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.55-79
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• 2013

In this paper, we propose a hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) approach to effectively solve the reverse logistics network with centralized centers (RLNCC). For the proposed HGA approach, genetic algorithm (GA) is used as a main algorithm. For implementing GA, a new bit-string representation scheme using 0 and 1 values is suggested, which can easily make initial population of GA. As genetic operators, the elitist strategy in enlarged sampling space developed by Gen and Chang (1997), a new two-point crossover operator, and a new random mutation operator are used for selection, crossover and mutation, respectively. For hybrid concept of GA, an iterative hill climbing method (IHCM) developed by Michalewicz (1994) is inserted into HGA search loop. The IHCM is one of local search techniques and precisely explores the space converged by GA search. The RLNCC is composed of collection centers, remanufacturing centers, redistribution centers, and secondary markets in reverse logistics networks. Of the centers and secondary markets, only one collection center, remanufacturing center, redistribution center, and secondary market should be opened in reverse logistics networks. Some assumptions are considered for effectively implementing the RLNCC The RLNCC is represented by a mixed integer programming (MIP) model using indexes, parameters and decision variables. The objective function of the MIP model is to minimize the total cost which is consisted of transportation cost, fixed cost, and handling cost. The transportation cost is obtained by transporting the returned products between each centers and secondary markets. The fixed cost is calculated by opening or closing decision at each center and secondary markets. That is, if there are three collection centers (the opening costs of collection center 1 2, and 3 are 10.5, 12.1, 8.9, respectively), and the collection center 1 is opened and the remainders are all closed, then the fixed cost is 10.5. The handling cost means the cost of treating the products returned from customers at each center and secondary markets which are opened at each RLNCC stage. The RLNCC is solved by the proposed HGA approach. In numerical experiment, the proposed HGA and a conventional competing approach is compared with each other using various measures of performance. For the conventional competing approach, the GA approach by Yun (2013) is used. The GA approach has not any local search technique such as the IHCM proposed the HGA approach. As measures of performance, CPU time, optimal solution, and optimal setting are used. Two types of the RLNCC with different numbers of customers, collection centers, remanufacturing centers, redistribution centers and secondary markets are presented for comparing the performances of the HGA and GA approaches. The MIP models using the two types of the RLNCC are programmed by Visual Basic Version 6.0, and the computer implementing environment is the IBM compatible PC with 3.06Ghz CPU speed and 1GB RAM on Windows XP. The parameters used in the HGA and GA approaches are that the total number of generations is 10,000, population size 20, crossover rate 0.5, mutation rate 0.1, and the search range for the IHCM is 2.0. Total 20 iterations are made for eliminating the randomness of the searches of the HGA and GA approaches. With performance comparisons, network representations by opening/closing decision, and convergence processes using two types of the RLNCCs, the experimental result shows that the HGA has significantly better performance in terms of the optimal solution than the GA, though the GA is slightly quicker than the HGA in terms of the CPU time. Finally, it has been proved that the proposed HGA approach is more efficient than conventional GA approach in two types of the RLNCC since the former has a GA search process as well as a local search process for additional search scheme, while the latter has a GA search process alone. For a future study, much more large-sized RLNCCs will be tested for robustness of our approach.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.205-213
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• 2002

Objective : Whether exposure to chronic noise induces an increase in blood pressure, or the development of hypertension, has not been established. A cohort study was performed to identify the effects of chronic noise exposure on blood pressure. Methods : 530 males working at a metal manufacturing factory in Busan, Korea were enrolled for the study. They were monitored for 9 consecutive years, from 1991 to 1999, with an annual health check-up. The subjects were divided into 4 groups, which were determines by noise level categories(NLC) according to noise intensity ; NLC-I: office workers, exposed to noise a level below 60dB(A) ; NLC-II: field technical supporters or supervisors, frequently exposed to workplace noise, wearing no hearing protection device; NLC-III: workers, exposed to workplace noise below 85dB(A), wearing ear plugs or muffs; NLC-IV: workers, exposed to workplace noise over 85 dB(A), wearing both ear plugs and muffs. Results : After controlling possible confoundens, such as baseline age, smoking, alcohol intake, exercise, family history of hypertension, systolic(SBP) of diastolic blood pressure(DBP) and changes in BMI (body mass index), the pooled mean for the systolic blood pressures, over the duration of the study period, were 3.8mmHg, 2.0mmHg and 1.7mmHg higher in NLC-IV, NLC-III NLC-II groups, respectively, than in the NLC-I group. There were no significant differences in the diastolic blood pressures between the groups. Conclusion : This study suggests that chronic noise exposure increases systolic blood pressure independently, among male workers.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.35-52
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• 2023

Recently, as the non-face-to-face environment has developed due to COVID-19 and environmental pollution, the importance of online digital healthcare is increasing, and venture start-ups and activities such as health care, telemedicine, and digital treatments are also actively underway. This study conducted the impact on the acceptability of digital healthcare smartwatches with an integrated approach of the expanded integrated technology acceptance model (UTAUT2) and the behavioral inference model (BRT). The most advanced integrated technology acceptance model for innovative technology acceptance research was used to identify major factors such as utility expectations, social effects, convenience, price barriers, lack of alternatives, and behavioral intentions. For the study, about 410 responses from ordinary people in their teens to 60s across the country were collected, and based on this, the hypothesis was verified using structural equations after testing reliability and validity of the data. SPSS 23 and AMOS 23 were used for research analysis. Studies have shown that personal innovation has a significant impact on the reasons for acceptance (use value, social impact, convenience of use), attitude, and non-use (price barriers, lack of alternatives, and barriers to use). These results are the same as the results of previous studies that confirmed the influence of the main value of innovative ICT on user acceptance intention. In addition, the reason for acceptance had a significant effect on attitude, but the effect of the reason for non-acceptance was not significant. It can be analyzed that consumers are interested in new ICT products and new services, but purchase them more carefully and selectively. This study has evolved from the acceptance analysis of general-purpose consumer innovation technology to the acceptance analysis of consumer value in smartwatch digital healthcare, which is a new and important area in the future. Industrially, it can contribute to the product's purchase and marketing. It is hoped that this study will contribute to increasing research in the digital healthcare sector, which will play an important role in our lives in the future, and that it will develop into in-depth factors that are more suitable for consumer value through integrated approach models and integrated analysis of consumer acceptance and non-acceptance.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea TC
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.41-49
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• 2011

In this paper, we propose an open protocol to be employed between a smart meter concentrator and a metering data collection server, and also evaluate its performance. Legacy concentrators performs the connection establishment and data gathering operations with DLMS/COSEM protocol standards. However, we note that there are no standardized protocols between the concentrator and the collection server, which inevitably conduces each commercial smart metering system to have its own proprietary protocol. In order to solve this problem, we propose an open protocol - Smart Meter Concentrator Control Protocol(SMCCP) by extending the existing standard protocol(DLMS/COSEM). The SMCCP can provide the proxy mode to enable efficient transmission between the concentrator and the data collection server. It also can support the relay mode to enable a direct communication between the data collection server and each far end smart meter. We also implement an emulator system and a protocol analyzer to provide its operation. In addition, we evaluate the session holding time and the link usage ratio in both relay and proxy modes with OMNET++ simulator.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.48
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• pp.1-22
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• 2017

Independent short animation was the expression method for young animation creators through creative and progressive representation. Since the birth of animation, independent short animation has become a driving force for qualitative development and diversification of animation. This has brought many works to the world that emphasize experimentation and challenges in the history of animation and in countries that have the rich animation resources such as France, Japan, and Canada, they recognize its importance and supports young creators in order to maintain the value of it. However, Korean animations are evaluated the quality of works by the popularity of the children, moreover, companies that focus on developing and selling products, including toys, rather than animation works themselves and public awareness that accepts them are formed throughout the Korean animation industry. Because of these points, Korean animation creators can not express the creative vision for the future and philosophical awareness of the problem and they are trapped in commercial animation markets. In order to re-leap and expand the Korean animation industry, which has reached the saturation level with infant animation, it is necessary to reestablish the value of independent short animations with challenging and experimental characteristics and requires the creative environment and support system for the diversity of Korean animation industries, including the achieving commercial goals through good planning, story development and technological innovation. For this purpose, this paper analyzes the current state of production, screening, distribution, and government support of independent short animation in Korea, and explores the structural problems and solutions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.1394-1400
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• 2003

In this study a natural composition containing oriental herbs, KSH28, for reducing obesity and metabolic syndrome was constructed and its efficacy was evaluated in animal and human. To investigate the anti-obesity effect of KSH28, animal study was conducted using high fat diet-induced obese mice. KSH28 significantly decreased body weight and adipose tissue in high fat diet-fed obese mice. The mean size of fat cells in adipose tissue was significantly reduced. Glucose and triglyceride levels were also significantly decreased. To elucidate its efficacy in human, a natural food containing KSH28 with grains, vegetables, vitamins, minerals and dietary fibers was constructed and 40 subjects (8 male and 32 female) were tested for the change of body composition, blood pressure and blood lipid profile. All subjects had 2 pack (309 each) of natural food per day for 4 weeks. Compared to the baseline value, body fat was significantly reduced, however, water, protein and mineral contents in the body were not changed, suggesting selective reduction of fat tissue. Blood pressure and serum lipid profile were significantly decreased to reduce risk for metabolic syndrome. Serum GPT, a liver function indicator, was not changed and no significant side effects were detected. Therefore, it was shown that the KSH28 is a safe and effective composition for reducing obesity and metabolic syndrome.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.1-7
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• 2019

As the cloud environment has become more prevalent among large companies, small and medium-sized companies are also trying to utilize various technologies (IoT, blockchain, etc.) that use cloud services as a way to coexist with large companies. In this paper, a blockchain-based IoT information collection model is proposed to efficiently handle large volumes of IoT data produced by small businesses in order to improve information efficiency of SMEs. The proposed model allowe d small businesses to improve their production efficiency by independently creating groups of the same information so that data that could be generated at the endpoints of small businesses can be block-chained and forwarded to the data center for analysis. In addition, the proposed model's performance assessment was assumed to handle the production throughput of data processed in IoT for small and medium businesses, not large enterprises, so the link between large volumes of data processed in the proposed model could be maintained evenly. One of the biggest features of the proposed model is the ability to expand processes to efficiently control the information of prod ucts produced, as well as the productivity of small and medium enterprises.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.161-170
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• 2019

Multi-product mass production small and medium enterprise factories have a wide variety of products and a large number of products, wasting manpower and expenses for inventory management. In addition, there is no way to check the status of inventory in real time, and it is suffering economic damage due to excess inventory and shortage of stock. There are many ways to build a real-time data collection environment, but most of them are difficult to afford for small and medium-sized companies. Therefore, smart factories of small and medium enterprises are faced with difficult reality and it is hard to find appropriate countermeasures. In this paper, we implemented the contents of extension of existing inventory management method through character extraction on label with barcode and QR code, which are widely adopted as current product management technology, and evaluated the effect. Technically, through preprocessing using OpenCV for automatic recognition and classification of stock labels and barcodes, which is a method for managing input and output of existing products through computer image processing, and OCR (Optical Character Recognition) function of Google vision API. And it is designed to recognize the barcode through Zbar. We propose a method to manage inventory by real-time image recognition through Raspberry Pi without using expensive equipment.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2023

Chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) is widely used for post-harvest sterilization treatment. However, there are limitations in the retail application of ClO₂ due to difficulties in handling, expensive facilities, and safety concerns. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a ClO₂ technology that can be easily applied and continuously released for a long period. In this study, a series of ClO₂ self-releasing sachets were developed. First, poly(ether-block-amide) (PEBAX) and polyethylene-glycol (PEG) composite films containing different ratios of citric acid (CA) were prepared using the solution casting method. The as-prepared PEBAX/PEG-CA composite films were evaluated using FT-IR, DSC, and TGA to confirm chemical structure and thermal properties. Subsequently, PEBAX/PEG-CA composite films were designed in the form of a sachet and NaClO₂ powder was transferred into the sachet to achieve a ClO₂ self-releasing system. The ClO₂-releasing behavior of the sachet was investigated by measuring the release amount of the gas using UV-vis. The release amount of ClO₂ increased with increasing CA contents owing to the existence of higher protons (trigger) in the polymer matrix. Further, ClO₂ gas was released for a longer time. Therefore, the as-prepared smart sachet can be tuned according to applications and packaging sizes to serve an optimal sterilization effect.