• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.2817-2834
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• 2016

The existing reversible data hiding methods for block truncation coding (BTC) compressed images often utilize difference expansion or histogram shifting technique for data embedment. Although these methods effectively embed data into the compressed codes, the embedding operations may swap the numerical order of the higher and lower quantization levels. Since the numerical order of these two quantization levels can be exploited to carry additional data without destroying the quality of decoded image, the existing methods cannot take the advantages of this property to embed data more efficiently. In this paper, we embed data by shifting the higher and lower quantization levels in opposite direction. Because the embedment does not change numerical order of quantization levels, we exploit this property to carry additional data without further reducing the image quality. The proposed method performs no-distortion embedding if the payload is small, and performs reversible data embedding for large payload. The experimental results show that the proposed method offers better embedding performance over prior works in terms of payload and image quality.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.325-337
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• 2023

Background: While there are many studies estimating the effects of private health insurance on various types of health care utilization, few have examined how such effects change in conjunction with important policy reforms in national health insurance (NHI). This study examined how the effect of private health insurance (supplemental and fixed cash benefit) on high-cost outpatient imaging test utilization changed following the expansion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) coverage in 2018, which is a key example of the NHI benefit expansion policy in recent years. Methods: Data from the 2017 and 2019 Korea Health Panel Survey, which contained information about healthcare utilization before and after the expansion of MRI coverage in 2018, were used. The incremental effect of private health insurance on high-cost outpatient imaging test utilization for each period were quantified and compared, with special attention given to the type of private health insurance. Results: While people with supplemental private health insurance were more likely to use high-cost outpatient imaging tests than those without, both before and after the expansion of MRI coverage, the incremental effect increased from 1.6% points in 2017 to 2.5% points in 2019. Conclusion: Benefit expansion in NHI does not necessarily reduce disparities in the use of health care between private health insurance subscribers and non-subscribers. The results of our study also suggest that the path through which private health insurance affects healthcare utilization may not be limited to the price mechanism alone but can be more complex.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.12
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• pp.25-37
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• 2013

Purpose - The structure of retailing has changed as retailers develop markets in response to business environment changes. This study aims to analyze the general situation of retailers in order to predict future global strategy using case studies of overseas expansion strategy and the Metro Group's global strategy. Research design, data, and methodology - The backgrounds to the new retail business model and retailer classification are analyzed as theoretical data. In addition, the key success point of the Metro Group's "cash and carry" strategy is analyzed as is the Metro Group's global CFAR (collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment) strategy. Finally, the plan for cooperation and precise forecasting under the Metro Group's supply chain management are analyzed from the promotion environment viewpoint. Related materials analyzed included the 2012 annual report, the Metro Group's web page, and a video interview with the executive in charge of global strategy and the new market development department. Some data were revised to avoid disrupting essential aspects of the case studies. Results - The important finding was that the Metro Group could be a world-class retail company with its successful global expansion strategy. The Metro Group's global strategy's primary goal is to have a leading business position in Eastern and Western Europe. The "cash and carry" strategy is highest priority in its overseas expansion strategy. Moreover, the Metro Group has standardized product planning capacity, which could be applied in various countries with different structural and cultural backgrounds. This is the main reason that the Metro Group could rapidly become successful in the Eastern Europe and Asian markets through its structural overseas expansion strategies. In addition, the Metro Group emphasizes the importance of supply chain management. Conclusions - First, retailers should create additional value through utilizing the domestic market, market power, and economies of scale to launch a global strategy to maximize benefits from diversification. Second, the political, economic, and cultural background of the target country needs to be understood to successfully implement the overseas expansion strategy. Third, the main factor of successful cooperation with a local partner is how quickly the company gains total understanding of the business resources and core competence of its partner. All organizations should focus on the achievement of goals in order to successfully operate the partnership. Fourth, retailers should improve their business, financial and organizational structure. Moreover, the work processes and company culture should also be improved to respond strongly in the competitive global market. Fifth, the essential point of a successful retail business is the control capacity of its branding and format. The retailer could avoid forecasting errors through supply chain management by perfectly distributing the actual amount of its inventory. In addition, the risks along the supply chain are effectively shared between the supply chain partners. Finally, the central tendency of the market is to gain in strength with this taking place across all parts of the business.

• International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.192-197
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• 2004

A capillary tube, which is a common expansion device in small sized refrig-eration and air-conditioning systems, should be redesigned properly to establish an optimum operation cycle of a refrigerating system with alternative refrigerants. Based on experimental data for R-22, R-290, and R-407C, an empirical correlation is developed to predict mass flow rate through capillary tubes. Dimensionless parameters are derived from the Buckingham Pi theorem, considering the effects of operating conditions and capillary tube geometry on mass flow rate. Approximately $97\%$ of the present data are correlated within a relative deviation of $\pm\;10\%.$ The present correlation also predicts the data obtained from open literature within $\pm\;15\%.$ In addition, rating charts of refrigerant flow rate for R-12, R-22, R-134a, R-152a, R-407C, R-410A, R-290, and R-600a are developed.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.655-670
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• 2010

To be reversible as a data hiding method, the original content and hidden message should be completely recovered. One important objective of this approach is to achieve high embedding capacity and low distortion. Using predicted errors is very effective for increasing the embedding capacity. Sorting the predicted errors has a good influence on decreasing distortion. In this paper, we present an improved reversible data hiding scheme using upgraded histogram shifting based on sorting the predicted errors. This new scheme is characterized by the algorithm which is able to find the optimum threshold values and manage the location map effectively. Experimental results compared with other methods are presented to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.85-90
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• 2016

In this paper, we study the domain-independent sensor data structuring method and the derivations about ' Filter Criteria' expansion factors of heterogeneous domain systems. For this purpose, we propose a 5W1H based information search and retrieval method without knowledges about the target domains. And we also suggest a resource management model that can support expanding search of information. By the suggested method, the oneM2M standard able to implement the use-cases like 'data exchanging between the heterogeneous domains'.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.229-237
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• 2021

Objective : Expansion in the spinal canal area (SCA) after laminoplasty is one of the critical factors to relieve the preoperative symptoms. No previous study has compared the increases in SCA achieved by open-door laminoplasty (ODL) and double door laminoplasty (DDL) according to the preoperative lamina angle (LA). This study was designed to clarify the relationship between the laminoplasty opening angle (OA)/laminoplasty opening size (OS) and increases in the SCA following ODL and DDL according to the preoperative LA using a simulation model. Methods : The simulation model was constructed and validated by comparing the clinical data of 64 patients who had undergone C3-C6 laminoplasty (43 patients with ODL and 21 patients with DDL). SCA expansion was predicted with a verified simulation model at various preoperative LAs (from 28° to 32°) with different OAs (40° to 44°) and OSs (10 mm to 14 mm) recruited from patient data. Results : The constructed simulation model was validated by comparing clinical data and revealed a very high degree of correlation (r=0.935, p<0.001). In this validated model, at the same OA, the increase in SCA was higher following ODL than following DDL in the usual LA (p<0.05). At the same OS, the increase in SCA was slightly larger following DDL than following ODL, but the difference was not significant (p>0.05). The difference was significant when the preoperative LA was narrower or much wider. Conclusion : Based on clinical data, a simulation model was constructed and verified that could predict increases in the SCA following ODL and DDL. When applying this model, prediction in SCA increase using the OS parameter was more practical and compatible with clinical data. Both laminoplasties achieved enough SCA, and there was no significant difference between them in the usual range.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.113-120
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• 2024

With the advancement of information and communication technology, we can easily generate various forms of data in our daily lives. To efficiently manage such a large amount of data, systematic classification into categories is essential. For effective search and navigation, data is organized into a tree-like hierarchical structure known as a category tree, which is commonly seen in news websites and Wikipedia. As a result, various techniques have been proposed to classify large volumes of documents into the terminal nodes of category trees. However, document classification methods using category trees face a problem: as the height of the tree increases, the number of terminal nodes multiplies exponentially, which increases the probability of misclassification and ultimately leads to a reduction in classification accuracy. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a new node expansion-based classification algorithm that satisfies the classification accuracy required by the application, while enabling detailed categorization. The proposed method uses a greedy approach to prioritize the expansion of nodes with high classification accuracy, thereby maximizing the overall classification accuracy of the category tree. Experimental results on real data show that the proposed technique provides improved performance over naive methods.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.99-109
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aims to develop and empirically analyze a research model in order to comprehend the relationship among the service quality of market-wholesaler system, re-transaction intention, and recommendation intention of forwarder. Further, we suggest new six factors reflecting the service quality of market-wholesaler system and highlight market expansion of forwarder as a mechanism in the relationship. Research design, data and methodology: The authors developed the new scales measuring the service quality of market-wholesaler system (i.e. trade price, price fluctuation, payment receipt, settlement period, trade information, and customer service) and conducted a cross-sectional survey for 439 forwarders in a wholesale market. And then we performed a series of path analyses to test hypotheses. The hypotheses are as follows. [H1] The service quality of market-wholesaler system will positively affect forwarders' market expansion, [H2] Forwarders' market expansion will positively affect their re-transaction intention, [H3] Forwarders' market expansion will positively affect their recommendation intention, [H4] Forwarders' re-transaction intention will positively affect their recommendation intention. Results: The results showed that all the six factors for the service quality of market-wholesaler system were positively related to market expansion of forwarders. There was a differential effectiveness in the six factors of the service quality. More specifically, the positive effect of customer service factor was the strongest on market expansion of forwarders. And the respective effects of trade price, price fluctuation, settlement period, trade information factors were followed in order. The positive effect of payment receipt factor was the weakest on market expansion of forwarders. Also, market expansion of forwarders was positively related to their re-transaction intention and recommendation intention. Furthermore, market expansion of forwarders was indirectly related to recommendation intention through re-transaction intention as well. Conclusions: The research findings provide important theoretical and practical implications. This study is the first to attempt to test the perception of forwarders for the service quality of market-wholesaler system by developing and using the new scales. Also, there has been a sharp controversy about the effectiveness of market-wholesaler system. The findings support that market-wholesaler system would be activated by empirically verifying the effectiveness of the service quality on the various outcomes.

• Journal of electromagnetic engineering and science
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.128-134
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• 2012

In this manuscript, we consider electromagnetic imaging of perfectly conducting cracks completely hidden in a homogeneous material via boundary measurements. For this purpose, we carefully derive a topological derivative formula based on the asymptotic expansion formula for the existence of a perfectly conducting inclusion with a small radius. With this, we introduce a topological derivative based imaging algorithm and discuss its properties. Various numerical examples with noisy data show the effectiveness and limitations of the imaging algorithm.