• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.131-146
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• 2007

Recently, the role of IT service providers has been enlarged from managing a single function or system to reconstructing entire information management processes in new ways to contribute to shareholder value across the enterprise. This movement toward extensive and complex outsourcing agreements has been driven by the assumption that outsourcing information technology functions is a reliable approach to maximizing resource productivity. Hiring external IT service providers to manage part or all of its information-related services helps a firm focus on its core business and provides better services to its clients, thus obtaining sustainable competitive advantage. This practice of focusing on the strategic aspect of outsourcing is referred to as strategic sourcing where the focus is capability sourcing, not procurement. Given the importance of the strategic outsourcing, however, to our knowledge, there is little empirical research on the relationship between the strategic outsourcing orientation and outsourcing performance. Moreover, there is little research on the factor that makes the strategic outsourcing effective. This study is designed to investigate the relationship between strategic IT outsourcing orientation and IT outsourcing performance and the process through which strategic IT outsourcing orientation influences outsourcing performance, Based on the framework of strategic orientation-performance and core competence based management, this study first identifies core competency orientation as a proper strategic orientation pertinent to IT outsourcing and IT outsourcing process management capability as the mediator to affect IT outsourcing performance. The proposed research model is then tested with a sample of 200 firms. The findings of this study may contribute to the literature in two ways. First, it draws on the strategic orientation - performance framework in developing its research model so that it can provide a new perspective to the well studied phenomena. This perspective allows practitioners and researchers to look at outsourcing from an angle that emphasizes the strategic decision making to outsource its IT functions. Second, by separating the concept of strategic orientation and outsourcing process management capability, this study provides practices with insight into how the strategic orientation can work effectively to achieve an expected result. In addition, the current study provides a basis for future studies that examine the factors affecting IT outsourcing performance with more controllable factors such as IT outsourcing process management capability rather than external hard-to-control factors including trust and relationship management. This study investigates the major factors that determine IT outsourcing success. Based on strategic orientation and core competency theories, we develop the proposed research model to investigate the relationship between core competency orientation and IT outsourcing performance and the mediating role of IT outsourcing process management capability on IT outsourcing performance. The model consists of two independent variables (core-competency-orientation and IT outsourcing process management capability), and two dependent variables (outsourced task complexity and IT outsourcing performance). Comprehensive data collection was conducted through an outsourcing association. The survey data were analyzed using a structural analysis method. IT outsourcing process management capability was found to mediate the effect of core competency orientation on both outsourced task complexity and IT outsourcing performance. Further analysis and findings are discussed.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.579-586
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• 2018

Short-term prediction of travel speed has been widely studied using data-driven non-parametric techniques. There is, however, a lack of research on the prediction aimed at urban areas due to their complex dynamics stemming from traffic signals and intersections. The purpose of this study is to develop a hybrid approach combining ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) and artificial neural network (ANN) for predicting urban travel speed. The EEMD decomposes the time-series data of travel speed into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) and residue. The decomposed IMFs represent local characteristics of time-scale components and they are predicted using an ANN, respectively. The IMFs can be predicted more accurately than their original travel speed since they mitigate the complexity of the original data such as non-linearity, non-stationarity, and oscillation. The predicted IMFs are summed up to represent the predicted travel speed. To evaluate the proposed method, the travel speed data from the dedicated short range communication (DSRC) in Daegu City are used. Performance evaluations are conducted targeting on the links that are particularly hard to predict. The results show the developed model has the mean absolute error rate of 10.41% in the normal condition and 25.35% in the break down for the 15-min-ahead prediction, respectively, and it outperforms the simple ANN model. The developed model contributes to the provision of the reliable traffic information in urban transportation management systems.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.105-118
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• 2006

The existing facility management system is capable of managing two-dimensional and three-dimensional models that were driven from maps and registered documents. However, it is not capable to collect various fields data on a real time and operate the integrated systems. To supplement those obstacles, constructing a facility management system based on ubiquitous environment is needed. Therefore, this research has proposed the modified UFID(Unique Feature IDentifier), which is more suitable for the facility management by modifying management agency and serial codes system in the existing UFID. In addition, we established the procedures for ubiquitous environment based on facility management using proposed UFID. The feasibility of this research was assessed through case study focused on roadside trees. It is considered that the results can be applied to many other ubiquitous environments based on facility management.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.25-34
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• 2014

In winter 2013, extreme air pollution by fine particulate matter ($PM_{2.5}$) in China attracted much public attention. In order to simulate the $PM_{2.5}$ pollution, the Community Multiscale Air Quality model driven by the Weather Research and Forecasting model was applied to East Asia in a period from 1 January 2013 to 5 February 2013. The model generally reproduced $PM_{2.5}$ concentration in China with emission data in the year 2006. Therefore, the extreme $PM_{2.5}$ pollution seems to be mainly attributed to meteorological (weak wind and stable) conditions rather than emission increases in the past several years. The model well simulated temporal and spatial variations in $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations in Japan as well as China, indicating that the model well captured characteristics of the $PM_{2.5}$ pollutions in both areas on the windward and leeward sides in East Asia in the study period. In addition, contribution rates of four anthropogenic emission sectors (power generation, industrial, residential and transportation) in China to $PM_{2.5}$ concentration were estimated by conducting zero-out emission sensitivity runs. Among the four sectors, the residential sector had the highest contribution to $PM_{2.5}$ concentration. Therefore, the extreme $PM_{2.5}$ pollution may be also attributed to large emissions from combustion for heating in cold regions in China.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.350-362
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• 2015

A disease forecast model for bacterial grain rot (BGR) of rice, which is caused by Burkholderia glumae, was developed in this study. The model, which was named 'BGRcast', determined daily conduciveness of weather conditions to epidemic development of BGR and forecasted risk of BGR development. All data that were used to develop and validate the BGRcast model were collected from field observations on disease incidence at Naju, Korea during 1998-2004 and 2010. In this study, we have proposed the environmental conduciveness as a measure of conduciveness of weather conditions for population growth of B. glumae and panicle infection in the field. The BGRcast calculated daily environmental conduciveness, $C_i$, based on daily minimum temperature and daily average relative humidity. With regard to the developmental stages of rice plants, the epidemic development of BGR was divided into three phases, i.e., lag, inoculum build-up and infection phases. Daily average of $C_i$ was calculated for the inoculum build-up phase ($C_{inf}$) and the infection phase ($C_{inc}$). The $C_{inc}$ and $C_{inf}$ were considered environmental conduciveness for the periods of inoculum build-up in association with rice plants and panicle infection during the heading stage, respectively. The BGRcast model was able to forecast actual occurrence of BGR at the probability of 71.4% and its false alarm ratio was 47.6%. With the thresholds of $C_{inc}=0.3$ and $C_{inf}=0.5$, the model was able to provide advisories that could be used to make decisions on whether to spray bactericide at the preand post-heading stage.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.368-379
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• 2022

Hyaluronic acid (HA), a ligand of CD44, accumulates in some types of tumors and is responsible for tumor progression. The nuclear factor erythroid 2-like 2 (NRF2) regulates cytoprotective genes and drug transporters, which promotes therapy resistance in tumors. Previously, we showed that high levels of CD44 are associated with NRF2 activation in cancer stem like-cells. Herein, we demonstrate that HA production was increased in doxorubicin-resistant breast cancer MCF7 cells (MCF7-DR) via the upregulation of HA synthase-2 (HAS2). HA incubation increased NRF2, aldo-keto reductase 1C1 (AKR1C1), and multidrug resistance gene 1 (MDR1) levels. Silencing of HAS2 or CD44 suppressed NRF2 signaling in MCF7-DR, which was accompanied by increased doxorubicin sensitivity. The treatment with a HAS2 inhibitor, 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU), decreased NRF2, AKR1C1, and MDR1 levels in MCF7-DR. Subsequently, 4-MU treatment inhibited sphere formation and doxorubicin resistance in MCF7-DR. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data analysis across 32 types of tumors indicates the amplification of HAS2 gene is a common genetic alteration and is negatively correlated with the overall survival rate. In addition, high HAS2 mRNA levels are associated with increased NRF2 signaling and poor clinical outcome in breast cancer patients. Collectively, these indicate that HAS2 elevation contributes to chemoresistance and sphere formation capacity of drug-resistant MCF7 cells by activating CD44/NRF2 signaling, suggesting a potential benefit of HAS2 inhibition.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.75-93
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• 2022

Machine learning (ML) data-driven meta-model is proposed as a surrogate model to reduce the excessive computational cost of the physics-based model and facilitate the real-time prediction of a nuclear power plant's transient response. To forecast the transient response three machine learning (ML) meta-models based on recurrent neural networks (RNNs); specifically, Long Short Term Memory (LSTM), Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), and a sequence combination of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and LSTM are developed. The chosen accident scenario is a control element assembly withdrawal at power concurrent with the Loss Of Offsite Power (LOOP). The transient response was obtained using the best estimate thermal hydraulics code, MARS-KS, and cross-validated against the Design and control document (DCD). DAKOTA software is loosely coupled with MARS-KS code via a python interface to perform the Best Estimate Plus Uncertainty Quantification (BEPU) analysis and generate a time series database of the system response to train, test and validate the ML meta-models. Key uncertain parameters identified as required by the CASU methodology were propagated using the non-parametric Monte-Carlo (MC) random propagation and Latin Hypercube Sampling technique until a statistically significant database (181 samples) as required by Wilk's fifth order is achieved with 95% probability and 95% confidence level. The three ML RNN models were built and optimized with the help of the Talos tool and demonstrated excellent performance in forecasting the most probable NPP transient response. This research was guided by the Systems Engineering (SE) approach for the systematic and efficient planning and execution of the research.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.170-178
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• 2022

A high-performing Earned Value Management System (EVMS) can influence project success and help stakeholders meet project objectives. Although EVMS processes are well-supported by technical guidelines and standards, project managers often face challenges related to the project culture, team, resources, and business practices that make up the project environment within which an EVMS is being used. A comprehensive literature review revealed a lack of a data-driven and consistent assessment frameworks that can gauge the environment surrounding EVMS implementation. This paper will discuss the EVMS environment of construction and environmental projects, and examine its impact on cost performance. The authors used a multi-method approach to identify 27 environment factors that make up the EVMS environment, assessing them on 18 construction and environmental projects worth over $2 billion of total cost. Research methods employed include: (1) a literature review of more than 300 references; (2) a survey of 294 respondents; and (3) remote research charrettes with more than 60 participating expert practitioners. Culture (one of the identified environment categories) was found to be relatively more important in terms of its impact on the EVMS environment, followed by people, practices, and resources. These exploratory results show statistically significant differences in cost performance between completed projects with either a good or poor environment, for the sample projects. Key environment factors are outlined, and guidance is provided to practitioners around how to set up an effective EVMS environment in a construction or environmental project to inform decision-making and support achieving the project cost objectives successfully.

• Korean Journal of Artificial Intelligence
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.9-13
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• 2023

In this study, we explored the potential of integrating interactive AI callbot technology into the medical consultation domain as part of a broader service development initiative. Aimed at enhancing patient satisfaction, the AI callbot was designed to efficiently address queries from hospitals' primary users, especially the elderly and those using phone services. By incorporating an AI-driven callbot into the hospital's customer service center, routine tasks such as appointment modifications and cancellations were efficiently managed by the AI Callbot Agent. On the other hand, tasks requiring more detailed attention or specialization were addressed by Human Agents, ensuring a balanced and collaborative approach. The deep learning model for voice recognition for this study was based on the Transformer model and fine-tuned to fit the medical field using a pre-trained model. Existing recording files were converted into learning data to perform SSL(self-supervised learning) Model was implemented. The ANN (Artificial neural network) neural network model was used to analyze voice signals and interpret them as text, and after actual application, the intent was enriched through reinforcement learning to continuously improve accuracy. In the case of TTS(Text To Speech), the Transformer model was applied to Text Analysis, Acoustic model, and Vocoder, and Google's Natural Language API was applied to recognize intent. As the research progresses, there are challenges to solve, such as interconnection issues between various EMR providers, problems with doctor's time slots, problems with two or more hospital appointments, and problems with patient use. However, there are specialized problems that are easy to make reservations. Implementation of the callbot service in hospitals appears to be applicable immediately.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.797-807
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• 2023

This research aims to investigate the alterations in typhoon patterns attributable to climate change and to quantitatively assess the risk of damage to residential structures. The increasing prevalence of climate anomalies and severe weather events, a consequence of global warming, is causing escalating damage globally. Notably, numerous countries are facing substantial devastation due to shifts in typhoon trajectories. Despite this, there exists a gap in empirical research quantifying the impact of these changes on building integrity and the associated risk alterations driven by climate change. In addressing this gap, our study analyzes the frequency and intensity of typhoons impacting Korea, examining the evolution of these meteorological phenomena. Furthermore, we employ the Korean Typhoon Vulnerability Function for residential facilities to quantify the altered risk posed by these changing patterns. The outcomes of this study provide the private sector with essential data to formulate diverse scenarios and business strategies in response to the escalating risks of typhoon-related damage. Additionally, it equips governmental bodies with the necessary insights to develop comprehensive risk management strategies to mitigate the effects of future typhoons.