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The Effect of Retailer-Self Image Congruence on Retailer Equity and Repatronage Intention (자아이미지 일치성이 소매점자산과 고객의 재이용의도에 미치는 영향)

  • Han, Sang-Lin;Hong, Sung-Tai;Lee, Seong-Ho
    • Journal of Distribution Research
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.29-62
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    • 2012
  • As distribution environment is changing rapidly and competition is more intensive in the channel of distribution, the importance of retailer image and retailer equity is increasing as a different competitive advantages. Also, consumers are not functionally oriented and that their behavior is significantly affected by the symbols such as retailer image which identify retailer in the market place. That is, consumers do not choose products or retailers for their material utilities but consume the symbolic meaning of those products or retailers as expressed in their self images. The concept of self-image congruence has been utilized by marketers and researchers as an aid in better understanding how consumers identify themselves with the brands they buy and the retailer they patronize. Although self-image congruity theory has been tested across many product categories, the theory has not been tested extensively in the retailing. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the impact of self image congruence between retailer image and self image of consumer on retailer equity such as retailer awareness, retailer association, perceived retailer quality, and retailer loyalty. The purpose of this study is to find out whether retailer-self image congruence can be a new antecedent of retailer equity. In addition, this study tries to examine how four-dimensional retailer equity constructs (retailer awareness, retailer association, perceived retailer quality, and retailer loyalty) affect customers' repatronage intention. For this study, data were gathered by survey and analyzed by structural equation modeling. The sample size in the present study was 254. The reliability of the all seven dimensions was estimated with Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability values and average variance extracted values. We determined whether the measurement model supports the convergent validity and discriminant validity by Exploratory factor analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. For each pair of constructs, the square root of the average variance extracted values exceeded their correlations, thus supporting the discriminant validity of the constructs. Hypotheses were tested using the AMOS 18.0. As expected, the image congruence hypotheses were supported. The greater the degree of congruence between retailer image and self-image, the more favorable were consumers' retailer evaluations. The all two retailer-self image congruence (actual self-image congruence and ideal self-image congruence) affected customer based retailer equity. This result means that retailer-self image congruence is important cue for customers to estimate retailer equity. In other words, consumers are often more likely to prefer products and retail stores that have images similar to their own self-image. Especially, it appeared that effect for the ideal self-image congruence was consistently larger than the actual self-image congruence on the retailer equity. The results mean that consumers prefer or search for stores that have images compatible with consumer's perception of ideal-self. In addition, this study revealed that customers' estimations toward customer based retailer equity affected the repatronage intention. The results showed that all four dimensions (retailer awareness, retailer association, perceived retailer quality, and retailer loyalty) had positive effect on the repatronage intention. That is, management and investment to improve image congruence between retailer and consumers' self make customers' positive evaluation of retailer equity, and then the positive customer based retailer equity can enhance the repatonage intention. And to conclude, retailer's image management is an important part of successful retailer performance management, and the retailer-self image congruence is an important antecedent of retailer equity. Therefore, it is more important to develop and improve retailer's image similar to consumers' image. Given the pressure to provide increased image congruence, it is not surprising that retailers have made significant investments in enhancing the fit between retailer image and self image of consumer. The enhancing such self-image congruence may allow marketers to target customers who may be influenced by image appeals in advertising.

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A Sasang Theoretical1) Study about the Morph & Image of Sasang Constitutional Medicine (사상의학(四象醫學) 형상관(形象觀)에 대한 사심신물적(事心身物的) 고찰(考察))

  • Kim, Jeong-ho;Song, Jeong-mo
    • Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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    • v.11 no.1
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    • pp.295-310
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    • 1999
  • Nowadays there are a lot of attempts and approaches in the Study of Oriental Medicine. The Morph&Image is one of them, and its importance is more and more increasing. Likewise, in the Sasang Consitutional Medicine, the Morph&Image is one of the important part too. And it is presented in the ${\ll}$Dorgyi SooseBowon(東醫壽世保元)${\gg}$. But that Discourse shows us only the concept and conclusion of Morph&Image, based on classification of Sasang Constitution, without explaining how it is derived. So the author studied the basic theory parts of ${\ll}$Dorgyi Soose Bowon${\gg}$-those are the , , , and - and wanted to find out the mechanism of Morph&Image concept in the Sasang Constitutional Medicine. The results were as follows. 1. Every portion of human body, can be considered as Morph&Image, in ${\ll}$Dorgyi Soose Bowon${\gg}$ could be explained in the line with the Sasang theory. Morph&Image in ${\ll}$Dorgyi Soose Bowon${\gg}$ contents not only the shape itself but also image, operation, mind condition, nature, emotion and so on. 2. The traditional Oriental Medicine has the Morph&Image categorized by Five elements(五行). And it is used for Oriental medical Diagnosis. But in the Sasang Constitution, Morph&Image is used for Sasang Constitutional classification. 3. The Morph&Image in Sasang could be classified into four groups. Affairs(事)- group(ears, eyes, nose, mouth(耳目鼻口) and so on), object(物)-group(lung, spleen, liver, kidney(肺脾肝腎)and soon), Mind(心)-group(jaw, chest navel, abdomen and so on) and Body(身)-group(head, shoulders, waist hips(頭肩腰臀) and so on) are those. Event and Object groups reflect the congenital conditions of Sasang-Classified human body, and Mind and Body groups reflect mind state, nature, emotion etc..

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Assessing the Damage: An Exploratory Examination of Electronic Word of Mouth (손해평고(损害评估): 대전자구비행소적탐색성고찰(对电子口碑行销的探索性考察))

  • Funches, Venessa Martin;Foxx, William;Park, Eun-Joo;Kim, Eun-Young
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.20 no.2
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    • pp.188-198
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    • 2010
  • This study attempts to examine the influence that negative WOM (NWOM) has in an online context. It specifically focuses on the impact of the service failure description and the perceived intention of the communication provider on consumer evaluations of firm competence, attitude toward the firm, positive word of mouth and behavioral intentions. Studies of communication persuasiveness focus on "who says what; to whom; in which channel; with what effect (Chiu 2007)." In this research study, we examine electronic web posting, particularly focusing on two aspects of "what": the level of service failure communicated and perceived intention of the individual posting. It stands to reason electronic NWOM that appears to be trying to damage a product’s or firm's reputation will be viewed as more biased and will thus be considered as less credible. According to attribution theory, people search for the causes of events especially those that are negative and unexpected (Weiner 2006). Hennig-Thurau and Walsh (2003) state "since the reader has only limited knowledge and trust of the author of an online articulation the quality of the contribution could be expected to serve as a potent moderator of the articulation-behavior relationship. We therefore posit the following hypotheses: H1. Subjects exposed to electronic NWOM describing a high level of service failure will provide lower scores on measures of (a) firm competence, (b) attitude toward the firm, (c) positive word of mouth, and (d) behavioral intention than will subjects exposed to electronic NWOM describing a low level of service failure. H2. Subjects exposed to electronic NWOM with a warning intent will provide lower scores on measures of (a) firm competence, (b) attitude toward the firm, (c) positive word of mouth, and (d) behavioral intention than will subjects exposed to electronic NWOM with a vengeful intent. H3. Level of service failure in electronic NWOM will interact with the perceived intention of the electronic NWOM, such that there will be a decrease in mean response on measures of (a) firm competence, (b) attitude toward the firm, (c) positive word of mouth, and (d) behavioral intention from electronic NWOM with a warning intent to a vengeful intent. The main study involved a2 (service failure severity) x2 (NWOM with warning versus vengeful intent) factorial experiment. Stimuli were presented to subjects online using a mock online web posting. The scenario described a service failure associated with non-acceptance of a gift card in a brick-and-mortar retail establishment. A national sample was recruited through an online research firm. A total of 113 subjects participated in the study. A total of 104 surveys were analyzed. The scenario was perceived to be realistic with 92.3% giving the scenario a greater than average response. Manipulations were satisfactory. Measures were pre-tested and validated. Items were analyzed and found reliable and valid. MANOVA results found the multivariate interaction was not significant, allowing our interpretation to proceed to the main effects. Significant main effects were found for post intent and service failure severity. The post intent main effect was attributable to attitude toward the firm, positive word of mouth and behavioral intention. The service failure severity main effect was attributable to all four dependent variables: firm competence, attitude toward the firm, positive word of mouth and behavioral intention. Specifically, firm competence for electronic NWOM describing high severity of service failure was lower than electronic NWOM describing low severity of service failure. Attitude toward the firm for electronic NWOM describing high severity of service failure was lower than electronic NWOM describing low severity of service failure. Positive word of mouth for electronic NWOM describing high severity of service failure was lower than electronic NWOM describing low severity of service failure. Behavioral intention for electronic NWOM describing high severity of service failure was lower for electronic NWOM describing low severity of service failure. Therefore, H1a, H1b, H1c and H1d were all supported. In addition, attitude toward the firm for electronic NWOM with a warning intent was lower than electronic NWOM with a vengeful intent. Positive word of mouth for electronic NWOM with a warning intent was lower than electronic NWOM with a vengeful intent. Behavioral intention for electronic NWOM with a warning intent was lower than electronic NWOM with a vengeful intent. Thus, H2b, H2c and H2d were supported. However, H2a was not supported though results were in the hypothesized direction. Otherwise, there was no significant multivariate service failure severity by post intent interaction, nor was there a significant univariate service failure severity by post intent interaction for any of the three hypothesized variables. Thus, H3 was not supported for any of the four hypothesized variables. This study has research and managerial implications. The findings of this study support prior research that service failure severity impacts consumer perceptions, attitude, positive word of mouth and behavioral intentions (Weun et al. 2004). Of further relevance, this response is evidenced in the online context, suggesting the need for firms to engage in serious focused service recovery efforts. With respect to perceived intention of electronic NWOM, the findings support prior research suggesting reader's attributions of the intentions of a source influence the strength of its impact on perceptions, attitude, positive word of mouth and behavioral intentions. The implication for managers suggests while consumers do find online communications to be credible and influential, not all communications are weighted the same. A benefit of electronic WOM, even when it may be potentially damaging, is it can be monitored for potential problems and additionally offers the possibility of redress.

Automatic Quality Evaluation with Completeness and Succinctness for Text Summarization (완전성과 간결성을 고려한 텍스트 요약 품질의 자동 평가 기법)

  • Ko, Eunjung;Kim, Namgyu
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.125-148
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    • 2018
  • Recently, as the demand for big data analysis increases, cases of analyzing unstructured data and using the results are also increasing. Among the various types of unstructured data, text is used as a means of communicating information in almost all fields. In addition, many analysts are interested in the amount of data is very large and relatively easy to collect compared to other unstructured and structured data. Among the various text analysis applications, document classification which classifies documents into predetermined categories, topic modeling which extracts major topics from a large number of documents, sentimental analysis or opinion mining that identifies emotions or opinions contained in texts, and Text Summarization which summarize the main contents from one document or several documents have been actively studied. Especially, the text summarization technique is actively applied in the business through the news summary service, the privacy policy summary service, ect. In addition, much research has been done in academia in accordance with the extraction approach which provides the main elements of the document selectively and the abstraction approach which extracts the elements of the document and composes new sentences by combining them. However, the technique of evaluating the quality of automatically summarized documents has not made much progress compared to the technique of automatic text summarization. Most of existing studies dealing with the quality evaluation of summarization were carried out manual summarization of document, using them as reference documents, and measuring the similarity between the automatic summary and reference document. Specifically, automatic summarization is performed through various techniques from full text, and comparison with reference document, which is an ideal summary document, is performed for measuring the quality of automatic summarization. Reference documents are provided in two major ways, the most common way is manual summarization, in which a person creates an ideal summary by hand. Since this method requires human intervention in the process of preparing the summary, it takes a lot of time and cost to write the summary, and there is a limitation that the evaluation result may be different depending on the subject of the summarizer. Therefore, in order to overcome these limitations, attempts have been made to measure the quality of summary documents without human intervention. On the other hand, as a representative attempt to overcome these limitations, a method has been recently devised to reduce the size of the full text and to measure the similarity of the reduced full text and the automatic summary. In this method, the more frequent term in the full text appears in the summary, the better the quality of the summary. However, since summarization essentially means minimizing a lot of content while minimizing content omissions, it is unreasonable to say that a "good summary" based on only frequency always means a "good summary" in its essential meaning. In order to overcome the limitations of this previous study of summarization evaluation, this study proposes an automatic quality evaluation for text summarization method based on the essential meaning of summarization. Specifically, the concept of succinctness is defined as an element indicating how few duplicated contents among the sentences of the summary, and completeness is defined as an element that indicating how few of the contents are not included in the summary. In this paper, we propose a method for automatic quality evaluation of text summarization based on the concepts of succinctness and completeness. In order to evaluate the practical applicability of the proposed methodology, 29,671 sentences were extracted from TripAdvisor 's hotel reviews, summarized the reviews by each hotel and presented the results of the experiments conducted on evaluation of the quality of summaries in accordance to the proposed methodology. It also provides a way to integrate the completeness and succinctness in the trade-off relationship into the F-Score, and propose a method to perform the optimal summarization by changing the threshold of the sentence similarity.

A Study on the Prediction Model of Stock Price Index Trend based on GA-MSVM that Simultaneously Optimizes Feature and Instance Selection (입력변수 및 학습사례 선정을 동시에 최적화하는 GA-MSVM 기반 주가지수 추세 예측 모형에 관한 연구)

  • Lee, Jong-sik;Ahn, Hyunchul
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.23 no.4
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    • pp.147-168
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    • 2017
  • There have been many studies on accurate stock market forecasting in academia for a long time, and now there are also various forecasting models using various techniques. Recently, many attempts have been made to predict the stock index using various machine learning methods including Deep Learning. Although the fundamental analysis and the technical analysis method are used for the analysis of the traditional stock investment transaction, the technical analysis method is more useful for the application of the short-term transaction prediction or statistical and mathematical techniques. Most of the studies that have been conducted using these technical indicators have studied the model of predicting stock prices by binary classification - rising or falling - of stock market fluctuations in the future market (usually next trading day). However, it is also true that this binary classification has many unfavorable aspects in predicting trends, identifying trading signals, or signaling portfolio rebalancing. In this study, we try to predict the stock index by expanding the stock index trend (upward trend, boxed, downward trend) to the multiple classification system in the existing binary index method. In order to solve this multi-classification problem, a technique such as Multinomial Logistic Regression Analysis (MLOGIT), Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA) or Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) we propose an optimization model using Genetic Algorithm as a wrapper for improving the performance of this model using Multi-classification Support Vector Machines (MSVM), which has proved to be superior in prediction performance. In particular, the proposed model named GA-MSVM is designed to maximize model performance by optimizing not only the kernel function parameters of MSVM, but also the optimal selection of input variables (feature selection) as well as instance selection. In order to verify the performance of the proposed model, we applied the proposed method to the real data. The results show that the proposed method is more effective than the conventional multivariate SVM, which has been known to show the best prediction performance up to now, as well as existing artificial intelligence / data mining techniques such as MDA, MLOGIT, CBR, and it is confirmed that the prediction performance is better than this. Especially, it has been confirmed that the 'instance selection' plays a very important role in predicting the stock index trend, and it is confirmed that the improvement effect of the model is more important than other factors. To verify the usefulness of GA-MSVM, we applied it to Korea's real KOSPI200 stock index trend forecast. Our research is primarily aimed at predicting trend segments to capture signal acquisition or short-term trend transition points. The experimental data set includes technical indicators such as the price and volatility index (2004 ~ 2017) and macroeconomic data (interest rate, exchange rate, S&P 500, etc.) of KOSPI200 stock index in Korea. Using a variety of statistical methods including one-way ANOVA and stepwise MDA, 15 indicators were selected as candidate independent variables. The dependent variable, trend classification, was classified into three states: 1 (upward trend), 0 (boxed), and -1 (downward trend). 70% of the total data for each class was used for training and the remaining 30% was used for verifying. To verify the performance of the proposed model, several comparative model experiments such as MDA, MLOGIT, CBR, ANN and MSVM were conducted. MSVM has adopted the One-Against-One (OAO) approach, which is known as the most accurate approach among the various MSVM approaches. Although there are some limitations, the final experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model, GA-MSVM, performs at a significantly higher level than all comparative models.

Optimization of Multiclass Support Vector Machine using Genetic Algorithm: Application to the Prediction of Corporate Credit Rating (유전자 알고리즘을 이용한 다분류 SVM의 최적화: 기업신용등급 예측에의 응용)

  • Ahn, Hyunchul
    • Information Systems Review
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    • v.16 no.3
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    • pp.161-177
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    • 2014
  • Corporate credit rating assessment consists of complicated processes in which various factors describing a company are taken into consideration. Such assessment is known to be very expensive since domain experts should be employed to assess the ratings. As a result, the data-driven corporate credit rating prediction using statistical and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques has received considerable attention from researchers and practitioners. In particular, statistical methods such as multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) and multinomial logistic regression analysis (MLOGIT), and AI methods including case-based reasoning (CBR), artificial neural network (ANN), and multiclass support vector machine (MSVM) have been applied to corporate credit rating.2) Among them, MSVM has recently become popular because of its robustness and high prediction accuracy. In this study, we propose a novel optimized MSVM model, and appy it to corporate credit rating prediction in order to enhance the accuracy. Our model, named 'GAMSVM (Genetic Algorithm-optimized Multiclass Support Vector Machine),' is designed to simultaneously optimize the kernel parameters and the feature subset selection. Prior studies like Lorena and de Carvalho (2008), and Chatterjee (2013) show that proper kernel parameters may improve the performance of MSVMs. Also, the results from the studies such as Shieh and Yang (2008) and Chatterjee (2013) imply that appropriate feature selection may lead to higher prediction accuracy. Based on these prior studies, we propose to apply GAMSVM to corporate credit rating prediction. As a tool for optimizing the kernel parameters and the feature subset selection, we suggest genetic algorithm (GA). GA is known as an efficient and effective search method that attempts to simulate the biological evolution phenomenon. By applying genetic operations such as selection, crossover, and mutation, it is designed to gradually improve the search results. Especially, mutation operator prevents GA from falling into the local optima, thus we can find the globally optimal or near-optimal solution using it. GA has popularly been applied to search optimal parameters or feature subset selections of AI techniques including MSVM. With these reasons, we also adopt GA as an optimization tool. To empirically validate the usefulness of GAMSVM, we applied it to a real-world case of credit rating in Korea. Our application is in bond rating, which is the most frequently studied area of credit rating for specific debt issues or other financial obligations. The experimental dataset was collected from a large credit rating company in South Korea. It contained 39 financial ratios of 1,295 companies in the manufacturing industry, and their credit ratings. Using various statistical methods including the one-way ANOVA and the stepwise MDA, we selected 14 financial ratios as the candidate independent variables. The dependent variable, i.e. credit rating, was labeled as four classes: 1(A1); 2(A2); 3(A3); 4(B and C). 80 percent of total data for each class was used for training, and remaining 20 percent was used for validation. And, to overcome small sample size, we applied five-fold cross validation to our dataset. In order to examine the competitiveness of the proposed model, we also experimented several comparative models including MDA, MLOGIT, CBR, ANN and MSVM. In case of MSVM, we adopted One-Against-One (OAO) and DAGSVM (Directed Acyclic Graph SVM) approaches because they are known to be the most accurate approaches among various MSVM approaches. GAMSVM was implemented using LIBSVM-an open-source software, and Evolver 5.5-a commercial software enables GA. Other comparative models were experimented using various statistical and AI packages such as SPSS for Windows, Neuroshell, and Microsoft Excel VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). Experimental results showed that the proposed model-GAMSVM-outperformed all the competitive models. In addition, the model was found to use less independent variables, but to show higher accuracy. In our experiments, five variables such as X7 (total debt), X9 (sales per employee), X13 (years after founded), X15 (accumulated earning to total asset), and X39 (the index related to the cash flows from operating activity) were found to be the most important factors in predicting the corporate credit ratings. However, the values of the finally selected kernel parameters were found to be almost same among the data subsets. To examine whether the predictive performance of GAMSVM was significantly greater than those of other models, we used the McNemar test. As a result, we found that GAMSVM was better than MDA, MLOGIT, CBR, and ANN at the 1% significance level, and better than OAO and DAGSVM at the 5% significance level.

A Study on the Strategy for Enhancing the Service Export linked with Manufacturing Sector : focused on Stage System and Special Lighting Service (제조-서비스 연계형 수출상품화 모델 개발전략 - 무대장치 및 특수조명서비스 수출산업을 중심으로 -)

  • Park, Moon-Suh
    • International Commerce and Information Review
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    • v.10 no.4
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    • pp.457-491
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    • 2008
  • As stage equipment export markets along with special lighting service lack the attraction for already globally established businesses, such markets can be viewed as an advantageous opportunity for SMEs as in general. In reality, global businesses tend to focus on large construction projects and this indicates relatively less substantial markets such as stage equipment and special lighting service export are more suitable for SME businesses. However, possible problems may be recognized as following; doubtful capabilities by such businesses to join in the vast and competitive global market and pursue manufacturing and service based export. This point is also supported by the fact that such in general SME businesses have substantially less experience in exporting products and services abroad. Realizing the distinctive features of the Korean economy, it is unarguable that every sector and area of global market must be regarded and monitored closely. Hence, it can be argued that there is an imminent need for establishment of supportive institution to assist export process of combination of stage equipments and special lighting service. This study emphasizes the need to improve export process of stage equipments, special lighting services as well as other related products and services which have been focused in domestic market only until now. Further, it also analyzed the potential prospect of such direction reconciling current crisis our manufacturing industry is facing. Even though it maybe regarded as one of the niche market for export of Korea in the short term view, stage equipment and special lighting service industry may rapidly grow as the global cultural industries have grown along with the increase of national income earnings overall. Due to such advantageous features, it can be expected that such industries will show strong growth in the near future. After analyzing the fact that Korea's plants (eg. powerplants) export sector is at its boom, there is a need to transform stage equipment and special lighting service export market into a primary market from a secondary(niche) market for SMEs. This study is viewed from the Korean economic and export sector aspect in the aim of seeking a solution to conquest our realistic limit in our export sector by developing a suitable export model. There have been cases of very few attempts to expand abroad by SMEs who have failed miserably due to their failure to adapt to foreign culture, practice and languages as well as substantial lack in experience in export marketing. Despite this, neglecting our manufacturing industry as it is which is showing its limit and problems is out of option therefore, it is imminent that we come up with an effective measure to address this problem and service export can be suggested as one of them. This study reveals manufacturing-service export model of stage equipment and special lighting service and its related areas is recognized as a field with a very strong future and furthermore, it is expected to bring synergy effects in manufacturing and services sector as well. Further, the operation strategy contains combination, composition and fusion(convergence) of manufacturing and service sectors which could derive various of export products which displays greater success probability or this export model. The outcome of this research is expected to become a useful source for enterprises related to such industry which are seeking a possible global expansion. Furthermore, it is also expected to become a catalyst which fastens the process of global expansion and not only that, we are firmly assured that this study will become an opportunity to improve our current policies and institutions related to this area's export market.

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Combined Chemoradiotherapy vs Radiotherapy Alone for Locally Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (국소적으로 진행된 두경부 편평상피세포종양의 방사선- 항암화학 병용요법과 방사선단독치료의 비교)

  • Jeong, Hyeon-Ju;Suh, Hyun-Suk;Kim, Chul-Soo;Kim, Re-Hwe;Kim, Sung-Rok
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.9-15
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    • 1996
  • Purpose: The traditional approach with surgery and/or radiotherapy(RT) for advanced head and neck cancer Provides anticipated cure rates of $10-65\%$ depending on stages and sites. Recently, combined modality with chemotherapy have been extensively investigated in attempts to improve survival and local control. We retrospectively analysed our experience of 31 patients with advanced head and neck cancer. Materials and Methods : November 1983 to October 1994. 31 Patients with Stage III and IV squamous cell head and neck cancer were treated with RT. Sixteen patients were treated with RT alone, and IS patients were treated with combined RT plus chemotherapy. All patients were treated with 4-MV LINAC and radiation dose ranged from 5000 cGy to 7760 cGy (median 7010 cGy). In combined group, 7 patients were treated with cisplatin plus 5-FU 2 patients were treated with methotrexate plus leucovorin plus 5-FU plus cisplatin or carboplatin, and 6 patients were treated with cisplatin as a radiosensitizer. Results : Median follow up period was 16 months (range 4-134 months). The major responses (CR+PR) were noted in 10 patient ($66.6\%$) of the RT alone group and 14 patient ($93.3\%$) of the chemoradiation group. There was no statistical difference in CR rate between the two groups The overall survival rates at 5 years were $23.4\%$ in the radiation alone group, $23.5\%$ in the chemoradiation group Disease-free survival rates at 3 years were $44.5\%$ in the radiation alone group, $40\%$ in the chemoradiation group. There was no statistical differences in overall survival rates and disease-free survival rates between the two groups. Local recurrences occurred in $71.5\%$ of the radiation alone group, $72.7\%$ of the chemoradiation group and distant metastasis occurred in $14.4\%$ of radiation alone group, $9.1\%$ of the chemoradiation group. The frequencies of complications were comparable in both groups except hematologic toxicity Conclusion : Total response rates in the combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy was relatively higher than radiotherapy alone. But our result failed to show any survival benefit of the combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The accrual of large number of patients and long term follow-un may be necessary to confirm the present result of combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

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Early and Mid-term Results of Operation for Infective Endocarditis on Mitral Valve (감염성 승모판 심내막염의 중단기 수술 성적)

  • Ahn, Byong-Hee;Chun, Joon-Kyung;Yu, Ung;Ryu, Sang-Wan;Choi, Yong-Sun;Kim, Byong-Pyo;Hong, Sung-Bum;Bum, Min-Sun;Na, Kook-Ju;Park, Jong-Chun;Kim, Sang-Hyung
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
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    • v.37 no.1
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    • pp.27-34
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    • 2004
  • Background: Infective endocarditis shows higher operative morbidity and mortality rates than other cardiac diseases. The vast majority of studies on infective endocarditis have been made on aortic endocarditis, with little attention having been paid to infective endocarditis on the mitral valve. This study attempts to investigate the clinical aspects and operative results of infective endocarditis on the mitral valve. Meterial and Method: The subjects of this study consist of 23 patients who underwent operations for infective endocariditis on the mitral valve from June 1995 to May 2003. Among them, 2 patients suffered from prosthetic valvular endocarditis and the other 21 from native valvular endocarditis. The subjects were evenly distributed age-wise with an average age of 44.8$\pm$15.7 (11∼66) years. Emergency operations were performed on seventeen patients (73.9%) due to large vegetation or instable hemodynamic status. In preoperative examinations, twelve patients exhibited congestive heart failure, four patients renal failure, two patients spleen and renal infarction, and two patients temporary neurological defects, while one patient had a brain abscess. Based on the NYHA functional classification, seven patients were determined to be at Grade II, 9 patients at Grade III, and 6 patients at Grade IV. Vegetations were detected in 20 patients while mitral regurgitation was dominant in 19 patients with 4 patients showing up as mitral stenosis dominant on the preoperative echocardiogram. Blood cultures for causative organisms were performed on all patients, and positive results were obtained from ten patients, with five cases of Streptococcus viridance, two cases of methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, and one case each of Corynebacteriurn, Haemophillis, and Gernella. Operations were decided according to the AA/AHA guidelines (1988). The mean follow-up period was 27.6 $\pm$23.3 (1 ∼ 97) months. Result: Mitral valve replacements were performed on 43 patients, with mechanical valves being used on 9 patients and tissue valves on the other 4. Several kinds of mitral valve repair or mitral valvuloplasty were carried out on the remaining 10 patients. Associated procedures included six aortic valve replacements, two tricuspid annuloplasty, one modified Maze operation, and one direct closure of a ventricular septal defect. Postoperative complications included two cases of bleeding and one case each of mediastinitis, low cardiac output syndrome, and pneumonia. There were no cases of early deaths, or death within 30 days following the operation. No patient died in the hospital or experienced valve related complications. One patient, however, underwent mitral valvuloplasty 3 months after the operation. Another patient died from intra-cranial hemorrhage in the 31st month after the operation. Therefore, the valve-related death rate was 4.3%, and the valve-related complication rate 8.6% on mid-term follow-up. 1, 3-, and 5-year valve- related event free rates were 90.8%, 79.5%, and 79.5%, respectively, while 1, follow-up. 1, 3-, and 5-year valve- related event free rates were 90.8%, 79.5%, and 79.5%, respectively, while 1, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 100%, 88.8%, and 88.8%, respectively. Conclusion: The findings suggest that a complete removal of infected tissues is essential in the operative treatment of infectious endocarditis of the mitral valve. It is also suggested that when infected tissues are completely removed, neither type of material nor method of operation has a significant effect on the operation result. The postoperative results also suggest the need for a close follow-up observation of the patients suspected of having brain damage, which is caused by preoperative blood contamination or emboli from vegetation, for a possible cerebral vascular injury such as mycotic aneurysm.

A Study on the Distribution, Contents and Types of Stone Inscription of Wuyi-Gugok in China (중국 무이구곡 바위글씨(石刻)의 분포와 내용 및 유형에 관한 연구)

  • Rho, Jae-Hyun;Cheng, Zhao-Xia;Kim, Hong-Gyun
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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    • v.38 no.1
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    • pp.115-131
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    • 2020
  • Through literature research and field investigation, this paper attempts to study the distribution, morphology and the typification of the visual and perceptual stone inscription in Wuyi-Gugok of China. The results are as follows: First, there are 350 stone inscriptions in total from the 1st Gok to 9th Gok in Wuyi-Gugok. Second, according to the analysis of the stone inscription distribution, 74(21.2%) stone inscriptions in the 5th Gok, 67(19.2%) in the 6th Gok, 65(18.6%) in the 1st Gok, 60(17.2%) in the 2nd Gok and 53(15.2%) in the 4th Gok are confirmed. The above five Goks contain 319(91.1%) stone inscriptions, so they have rich cultural landscape. Third, according to the survey, the number of the stone inscriptions existed in the Sugwangseok of the 1st Gok are 41(22.6%), in the Homagan of Cheonyubong of the 6th Gok are 29(8.3%), in the Jesiam of the 4th Gok are 23(6.6%), in the Nyeongam of the 2nd Gok are 22(6.3%), in the Hyangseongam of the 6th Gok are 21(6%), in the Unwa of the 5th Gok are 19(5.4%), in the Bokhoam of the 5th Gok are 18(5.1%), in the Eunbyeongbong of the 5th Gok are 17(4.9%), in the Daejangbong of the 4th Gok are 14(4%), in the Daewangbong of the 1st Gok and the Geumgokam of the 4th Gok are 12(3.4%). Thus, a total of 228 (65.1%) stone inscriptions are concentrated in these 11 sites, which represent the popularity and cultural value of these rocks. Fourth, the stone inscription of Wuyi-Gugok, praising the landform and topographical geological landscape of Mount Wuyi, mainly describe the scenic name of each Gok related to Zhu Xi's Gugok culture, appreciate Zhu Xi's tracks and the stone inscription in the sacred land of Neo-Confucianism culture, and also record the Confucian edification of mencius thoughts, Muigun(武夷君) and the myths and legends related to the site names of Wuyi mountain, which can remind people of the worldview of the celestial paradise where the gods live and the fairyland of the land of peach blossoms. In addition, it indicates that the historical and cultural landscape, which is full of colorful history and myths and legends, including allusions related to Confucian, buddhist and Taoist celebrities and the ancestor ancient things related to traditional culture of China is very diverse. Fifth, the results of the classification, based on the content of the stone inscription in Wuyi-Gugok, are classified as the scenery name inscription, the praise scene inscription, the recording travel inscription, the recording event inscription, the philosophy inscription, the expressing emotion inscription, the religion inscription, the inscription for auspiciousness, the slogan and expressing ambition inscription and the official document notice inscription, among which there are 102(29.1%) praise scene inscriptions, 93(26.6%) scenery name inscriptions and 61(17.4%) recording travel inscriptions. The stone inscriptions of Wuyi-Gugok have the characteristics of the special emphasis on scenery names, landscape praise and commemorative tours. Sixth, the analysis of the intertext between the 「Figure of Wuyi-Gugok」 and Wuyi-Gugok rock letters, in the study found that the method of propagation between media was mostly the method of propagation of quotations and maintained intermedia through extension, repetition, extension, and compression.