• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.207-228
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• 2007

Measuring Information Technology(IT) organizations' activities have been limited to mainly measure financial indicators for a long time. However, according to the multifarious functions of Information System, a number of researches have been done for the new trends on measurement methodologies that come with financial measurement as well as new measurement methods. Especially, the researches on IT Balanced Scorecard(BSC), concept from BSC measuring IT activities have been done as well in recent years. BSC provides more advantages than only integration of non-financial measures in a performance measurement system. The core of BSC rests on the cause-and-effect relationships between measures to allow prediction of value chain performance measures to allow prediction of value chain performance measures, communication, and realization of the corporate strategy and incentive controlled actions. More recently, BSC proponents have focused on the need to tie measures together into a causal chain of performance, and to test the validity of these hypothesized effects to guide the development of strategy. Kaplan and Norton[2001] argue that one of the primary benefits of the balanced scorecard is its use in gauging the success of strategy. Norreklit[2000] insist that the cause-and-effect chain is central to the balanced scorecard. The cause-and-effect chain is also central to the IT BSC. However, prior researches on relationship between information system and enterprise strategies as well as connection between various IT performance measurement indicators are not so much studied. Ittner et al.[2003] report that 77% of all surveyed companies with an implemented BSC place no or only little interest on soundly modeled cause-and-effect relationships despite of the importance of cause-and-effect chains as an integral part of BSC. This shortcoming can be explained with one theoretical and one practical reason[Blumenberg and Hinz, 2006]. From a theoretical point of view, causalities within the BSC method and their application are only vaguely described by Kaplan and Norton. From a practical consideration, modeling corporate causalities is a complex task due to tedious data acquisition and following reliability maintenance. However, cause-and effect relationships are an essential part of BSCs because they differentiate performance measurement systems like BSCs from simple key performance indicator(KPI) lists. KPI lists present an ad-hoc collection of measures to managers but do not allow for a comprehensive view on corporate performance. Instead, performance measurement system like BSCs tries to model the relationships of the underlying value chain in cause-and-effect relationships. Therefore, to overcome the deficiencies of causal modeling in IT BSC, sound and robust causal modeling approaches are required in theory as well as in practice for offering a solution. The propose of this study is to suggest critical success factors(CSFs) and KPIs for measuring performance for IT organizations and empirically validate the casual relationships between those CSFs. For this purpose, we define four perspectives of BSC for IT organizations according to Van Grembergen's study[2000] as follows. The Future Orientation perspective represents the human and technology resources needed by IT to deliver its services. The Operational Excellence perspective represents the IT processes employed to develop and deliver the applications. The User Orientation perspective represents the user evaluation of IT. The Business Contribution perspective captures the business value of the IT investments. Each of these perspectives has to be translated into corresponding metrics and measures that assess the current situations. This study suggests 12 CSFs for IT BSC based on the previous IT BSC's studies and COBIT 4.1. These CSFs consist of 51 KPIs. We defines the cause-and-effect relationships among BSC CSFs for IT Organizations as follows. The Future Orientation perspective will have positive effects on the Operational Excellence perspective. Then the Operational Excellence perspective will have positive effects on the User Orientation perspective. Finally, the User Orientation perspective will have positive effects on the Business Contribution perspective. This research tests the validity of these hypothesized casual effects and the sub-hypothesized causal relationships. For the purpose, we used the Partial Least Squares approach to Structural Equation Modeling(or PLS Path Modeling) for analyzing multiple IT BSC CSFs. The PLS path modeling has special abilities that make it more appropriate than other techniques, such as multiple regression and LISREL, when analyzing small sample sizes. Recently the use of PLS path modeling has been gaining interests and use among IS researchers in recent years because of its ability to model latent constructs under conditions of nonormality and with small to medium sample sizes(Chin et al., 2003). The empirical results of our study using PLS path modeling show that the casual effects in IT BSC significantly exist partially in our hypotheses.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.246-256
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• 1983

As epidemiological parameters of human paragonimiasis, the positive rates of intradermal test and the sputum/stool ekaminations have long been employed in population surveys. However, both the specificity of the intradermal test and the sensitivity of sputumjstool examination have been gradually declined as the endemicity was lowered; thus the gap between above two parameters widened. In such context, the development of a new epidemiologic parameter or tool which makes it possible to accurately discriminate the active paragonimiasis cases was necessary. In the present study, the detection rate of Paragonimus-speclac IgG antibody by micro-ELISA was evaluated as an indicator of epidemiologic status of human paragonimiasis in a population. A total of 4, 285 students and inhabitants living in Bukpyeong Myeon and Bukil Myeon, Haenam Gun, Jeonlanam Do was surveyed in October, 1983 by intradermal test first. Out of them, 244 cases (5.7%) were found positively reacted to VBS antigen of F. westermani. Out of 168 positive reactors, 7 cases (4.2%) were egg positive either by two times of sputum examination or by one stool examination. That indicated that only 0. 16% of total surveyed were confirmed as active paragonimiasis by egg detection. When sera collected from 239 positive reactors of Intradermal test were tested by micro-ELISA for their specific IgG antibody, 40 cases(16.7%) were found to be positive. All of 7 egg positive cases were again positive for specific IgG antibody. Among remaining 232 intradermal test positive cases, 33 cases were positive for IgG antibody. In contrast to those, none of 42 positive reactors to intradermal test for Cloncrchis and of 128 intradermal test negative cases showed positive for Paragcnimus-specIfic IgG antibody. The rate of specific IgG antibody as detected by micro-ELISA appeared to be increased with the wheal size of the intradermal test. When the wheal sixte was over 13mm in diameter, about 50% of them were positive for specific IgG antibody. Thirty-one specific antibody positive cases were clinically evaluated by laboratory examinations (repeated sputum examination, peripheral eosinophil count and chest roentgenogram) and by history taking. Out of them 24 cases were associated with one or more positive laboratory findings: thus considered as active paragonimiasis cases. Out of 7 lab. finding-free cases 3 revealed past history of typical paragonimiasis symptoms, suggesting that they were in chronic or in convalescent stages. The remaining 4 cases were considered as either mild or ectopic infection cases; the possibility of cross-reaction with other helminthiases could not be ruled out. From the above results, it was inferred that the detection of Paragonimus-specIfic IgG antibody by micro-ELISA was very much helpful in detecting the active cases as well as in proper evaluation of the endemicity of human paragonimiasis in a population. The convenience of mass haildling of sera in micro-ELISA was considered another superiority as an epidemiologic tool.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.366-374
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• 2010

Introduction: This study evaluated the capability of silk fibroin (SF) and recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 loaded SF (SF-BMP) as a bone defect replacement matrix when grafted in a calvarial bone defect of rats in vivo. Materials and Methods: A total 70 calvarial critical size defects (5.0 mm in diameter) made on 35 adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. The defects were transplanted with (1) rhBMP-2 loaded silk fibroin graft (SF-BMP: 0.8+$10\;{\mu}g$), (2) Silk fibroin (SF: $10\;{\mu}g$), and (3) no graft material (Raw). The samples were evaluated with soft x-rays, alkaline phosphatase activity, calcium/phosphate quantification, histological and histomorphometric analysis at postoperative 4 and 8 weeks. Results: The SF-BMP group ($48.86{\pm}14.92%$) had a significantly higher mean percentage bone area than the SF group ($24.96{\pm}11.01%$) at postoperative 4 weeks.(P<0.05) In addition, the SF-BMP group ($40.01{\pm}12.43%$) had a higher % bone area at postoperative 8 weeks than the SF group ($33.26{\pm}5.15%$). The mean ratio of gray scale levels to the host bone showed that the SF-BMP group ($0.67{\pm}0.08$) had a higher mean ratio level than the SF group ($0.61{\pm}0.09$) at postoperative 8 weeks. These differences were not statistically significant.(P=0.168 and P=0.243, respectively) The ratio of the calcium and phosphate contents of the SF-BMP ($0.93{\pm}0.22$) group was lower than that of the SF ($1.90{\pm}1.42$) group at postoperative 4 weeks. However, the SF-BMP group ($0.75{\pm}0.31$) had a higher Ca/$PO_4$ ratio than the SF ($0.68{\pm}0.04$) at postoperative 8 weeks. These differences were not statistically significant.(P=0.126 and P=0.627, respectively) For the bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, which is recognized as a reliable indicator of the osteoblast function, the SF-BMP ($23.71{\pm}8.60\;U/L$) groups had a significantly higher value than the SF group ($12.65{\pm}6.47\;U/L$) at postoperative 4 weeks.(P<0.05) At postoperative 8 weeks, the SF-BMP ($21.65{\pm}10.02\;U/L$) group had a lower bone-specific ALP activity than the SF group ($16.72{\pm}7.35\;U/L$). This difference was not statistically significant.(P=0.263) For the histological evaluation, the SF-BMP group revealed less inflammation, lower foreign body reactions and higher bone healing than the SF group at postoperative 4 and 8 weeks. The SF group revealed more foreign body reactions at postoperative 4 weeks. However, this immunogenic reaction decreased and the remnant of grafted material was observed at postoperative 8 weeks. For histomorphometric analysis, the SF-BMP group had a significantly longer bone length to total length ratio than those of the SF group at postoperative 4 and 8 weeks.(P<0.05) Conclusion: The rhBMP-2 loaded silk fibroin graft revealed fewer immunoreactions and inflammation as well as more new bone formation than the pure silk fibroin graft. Therefore, silk fibroin may be a candidate scaffold for tissue engineered bone regeneration.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2016

Owing to the extensive use of Web media and the development of the IT industry, a large amount of data has been generated, shared, and stored. Nowadays, various types of unstructured data such as image, sound, video, and text are distributed through Web media. Therefore, many attempts have been made in recent years to discover new value through an analysis of these unstructured data. Among these types of unstructured data, text is recognized as the most representative method for users to express and share their opinions on the Web. In this sense, demand for obtaining new insights through text analysis is steadily increasing. Accordingly, text mining is increasingly being used for different purposes in various fields. In particular, issue tracking is being widely studied not only in the academic world but also in industries because it can be used to extract various issues from text such as news, (SocialNetworkServices) to analyze the trends of these issues. Conventionally, issue tracking is used to identify major issues sustained over a long period of time through topic modeling and to analyze the detailed distribution of documents involved in each issue. However, because conventional issue tracking assumes that the content composing each issue does not change throughout the entire tracking period, it cannot represent the dynamic mutation process of detailed issues that can be created, merged, divided, and deleted between these periods. Moreover, because only keywords that appear consistently throughout the entire period can be derived as issue keywords, concrete issue keywords such as "nuclear test" and "separated families" may be concealed by more general issue keywords such as "North Korea" in an analysis over a long period of time. This implies that many meaningful but short-lived issues cannot be discovered by conventional issue tracking. Note that detailed keywords are preferable to general keywords because the former can be clues for providing actionable strategies. To overcome these limitations, we performed an independent analysis on the documents of each detailed period. We generated an issue flow diagram based on the similarity of each issue between two consecutive periods. The issue transition pattern among categories was analyzed by using the category information of each document. In this study, we then applied the proposed methodology to a real case of 53,739 news articles. We derived an issue flow diagram from the articles. We then proposed the following useful application scenarios for the issue flow diagram presented in the experiment section. First, we can identify an issue that actively appears during a certain period and promptly disappears in the next period. Second, the preceding and following issues of a particular issue can be easily discovered from the issue flow diagram. This implies that our methodology can be used to discover the association between inter-period issues. Finally, an interesting pattern of one-way and two-way transitions was discovered by analyzing the transition patterns of issues through category analysis. Thus, we discovered that a pair of mutually similar categories induces two-way transitions. In contrast, one-way transitions can be recognized as an indicator that issues in a certain category tend to be influenced by other issues in another category. For practical application of the proposed methodology, high-quality word and stop word dictionaries need to be constructed. In addition, not only the number of documents but also additional meta-information such as the read counts, written time, and comments of documents should be analyzed. A rigorous performance evaluation or validation of the proposed methodology should be performed in future works.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.480-491
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• 2015

In this study, methods using LDC (Load Duration Curve) and watershed model were suggested to develope management targets and evaluate target achievement for non-point source pollution management considering watershed and runoff characteristics and possibility for achievement of target. These methods were applied for Saemangeum watershed which was designated as nonpoint source pollution management area recently. Flow duration interval of 5 to 40% was selected as flow range for management considering runoff characteristics and TP was selected as indicator for management. Management targets were developed based on scenarios for non-point source pollutant reduction of management priority areas using LDC method and HSPF model which was calibrated using 4 years data (2009~2012). In the scenario of LID, road sweeping and 50% reduction in CSOs and untreated sewage at Jeonju A20 and 30% reduction in fertilizer and 50% in livestock NPS at Mankyung C03, Dongjin A14 and KobuA14, management targets for Mangyung bridge, Dongjin bridge, Jeonju stream and Gunpo bridge were developed as TP 0.38, 0.18, 0.64 and 0.16 mg/L respectively. When TP loads at the target stations were assumed to have been reduced by a certain percentage (10%), management targets for those target stations were developed as TP 0.35, 0.17, 0.60 and 0.15 mg/L respectively. The result of this study is expected to be used as reference material for management master plan, implementation plan and implementation assessment for non-point source management area.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.62-71
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• 1997

The apparent nutrient digestibilities were examined by using chromic oxide indicator according to the various fecal collection methods in juvenile and adult Korean rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli). Feces were collected from three replicate groups of fish by dissection, stripping or decantation using fecal collector attached to fish rearing tank, respectively. The digestibilities of dry matter, protein, lipid, and energy were affected by fecal collection methods (P<0.01), but not affected by fish size. The digestibilities of nutrient determined by stripping or decantation methods were significantly higher than those determined by dissection method (P<0.01). No significant differences in the digestibilities of protein, lipid and energy were found between the stripping and decantation methods in adult fish (P>0.01). The digestibilities of dry matter, protein, lipid, energy, nitrogen-free extract, and total amino acids in juvenile and adult fish were 58, 93, 94, 79, 32, and $93\%$, and 61, 94, 96, 80, 29, and $94\%$, respectively, when they were measured by decantation method. Methionine, cystine and valine digestibilities were significantly lower than those of other amino acids in both juvenile and adult fish (P<0.01). Results indicate that stripping or decantation with fecal collector could be a reliable digestibility procedure for measuring the nutrient digestibilities in Korean rockfish.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.117-140
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• 2019

As the aging phenomenon accelerates and various social problems related to the elderly of the vulnerable are raised, the need for effective elderly care solutions to protect the health and safety of the elderly generation is growing. Recently, more and more people are using Smart Toys equipped with ICT technology for care for elderly. In particular, log data collected through smart toys is highly valuable to be used as a quantitative and objective indicator in areas such as policy-making and service planning. However, research related to smart toys is limited, such as the development of smart toys and the validation of smart toy effectiveness. In other words, there is a dearth of research to derive insights based on log data collected through smart toys and to use them for decision making. This study will analyze log data collected from smart toy and derive effective insights to improve the quality of life for elderly users. Specifically, the user profiling-based analysis and elicitation of a change in quality of life mechanism based on behavior were performed. First, in the user profiling analysis, two important dimensions of classifying the type of elderly group from five factors of elderly user's living management were derived: 'Routine Activities' and 'Work-out Activities'. Based on the dimensions derived, a hierarchical cluster analysis and K-Means clustering were performed to classify the entire elderly user into three groups. Through a profiling analysis, the demographic characteristics of each group of elderlies and the behavior of using smart toy were identified. Second, stepwise regression was performed in eliciting the mechanism of change in quality of life. The effects of interaction, content usage, and indoor activity have been identified on the improvement of depression and lifestyle for the elderly. In addition, it identified the role of user performance evaluation and satisfaction with smart toy as a parameter that mediated the relationship between usage behavior and quality of life change. Specific mechanisms are as follows. First, the interaction between smart toy and elderly was found to have an effect of improving the depression by mediating attitudes to smart toy. The 'Satisfaction toward Smart Toy,' a variable that affects the improvement of the elderly's depression, changes how users evaluate smart toy performance. At this time, it has been identified that it is the interaction with smart toy that has a positive effect on smart toy These results can be interpreted as an elderly with a desire to meet emotional stability interact actively with smart toy, and a positive assessment of smart toy, greatly appreciating the effectiveness of smart toy. Second, the content usage has been confirmed to have a direct effect on improving lifestyle without going through other variables. Elderly who use a lot of the content provided by smart toy have improved their lifestyle. However, this effect has occurred regardless of the attitude the user has toward smart toy. Third, log data show that a high degree of indoor activity improves both the lifestyle and depression of the elderly. The more indoor activity, the better the lifestyle of the elderly, and these effects occur regardless of the user's attitude toward smart toy. In addition, elderly with a high degree of indoor activity are satisfied with smart toys, which cause improvement in the elderly's depression. However, it can be interpreted that elderly who prefer outdoor activities than indoor activities, or those who are less active due to health problems, are hard to satisfied with smart toys, and are not able to get the effects of improving depression. In summary, based on the activities of the elderly, three groups of elderly were identified and the important characteristics of each type were identified. In addition, this study sought to identify the mechanism by which the behavior of the elderly on smart toy affects the lives of the actual elderly, and to derive user needs and insights.