• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.157-175
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• 2012

It is difficult to evaluate the performance of process innovation of e-procurement which has large scale and complex processes. The existing evaluation methods for measuring the effects of process innovation have been mainly done with statistically quantitative methods by analyzing operational data or with qualitative methods by conducting surveys and interviews. However, these methods have some limitations to evaluate the effects because the performance evaluation of e-procurement process innovation should consider the interactions among participants who are active either directly or indirectly through the processes. This study considers the e-procurement process as a complex system and develops a simulation model based on MAS(Multi-Agent System) to evaluate the effects of e-procurement process innovation. Multi-agent based simulation allows observing interaction patterns of objects in virtual world through relationship among objects and their behavioral mechanism. Agent-based simulation is suitable especially for complex business problems. In this study, we used Netlogo Version 4.1.3 as a MAS simulation tool which was developed in Northwestern University. To do this, we developed a interaction model of agents in MAS environment. We defined process agents and task agents, and assigned their behavioral characteristics. The developed simulation model was applied to G2B system (KONEPS: Korea ON-line E-Procurement System) of Public Procurement Service (PPS) in Korea and used to evaluate the innovation effects of the G2B system. KONEPS is a successfully established e-procurement system started in the year 2002. KONEPS is a representative e-Procurement system which integrates characteristics of e-commerce into government for business procurement activities. KONEPS deserves the international recognition considering the annual transaction volume of 56 billion dollars, daily exchanges of electronic documents, users consisted of 121,000 suppliers and 37,000 public organizations, and the 4.5 billion dollars of cost saving. For the simulation, we analyzed the e-procurement of process of KONEPS into eight sub processes such as 'process 1: search products and acquisition of proposal', 'process 2 : review the methods of contracts and item features', 'process 3 : a notice of bid', 'process 4 : registration and confirmation of qualification', 'process 5 : bidding', 'process 6 : a screening test', 'process 7 : contracts', and 'process 8 : invoice and payment'. For the parameter settings of the agents behavior, we collected some data from the transactional database of PPS and some information by conducting a survey. The used data for the simulation are 'participants (government organizations, local government organizations and public institutions)', 'the number of bidding per year', 'the number of total contracts', 'the number of shopping mall transactions', 'the rate of contracts between bidding and shopping mall', 'the successful bidding ratio', and the estimated time for each process. The comparison was done for the difference of time consumption between 'before the innovation (As-was)' and 'after the innovation (As-is).' The results showed that there were productivity improvements in every eight sub processes. The decrease ratio of 'average number of task processing' was 92.7% and the decrease ratio of 'average time of task processing' was 95.4% in entire processes when we use G2B system comparing to the conventional method. Also, this study found that the process innovation effect will be enhanced if the task process related to the 'contract' can be improved. This study shows the usability and possibility of using MAS in process innovation evaluation and its modeling.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.545-552
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• 2015

This study One of the key elements of corporate competitiveness in the modern world of unlimited competition is human resource management. The reason that the world's leading companies are devoting a lot of investment and effort for good human resource development and management is that human resource can impact firm survival. In particular, there is little research on the internal and external environmental stimuli and job stress in the employee of small business which are often led to turnover, while they have suffered from chronic shortage of manpower. The purpose of this study is to determine the turnover factors in the small logistics companies and contribute to stable maintenance of workforce, facilitating human resource management and minimizing turnover. This study empirically analyzed the factors of the turnover in the organization of logistics companies from Busan Port, South Korea, which became one of the national infrastructure and the fifth world largest harbor. The conclusion proposed the development and direction of the human resource management which could promote the job environment improving the turnover factors and creating sustainable work condition through conducting preventive measures. The results indicated that the highest turnover rates was found in the category of field work, and the highest turnover group was from the 'less than one year', which implies that high turnover rates after and during job training might be greater cost to the companies than early turnover. The most common reasons for the high employee turnover were 'excessive workload' and 'dissatisfaction with wages'. Followed reasons including 'troubles with managers' and 'failure in organizational adaptation' can be understood in line with worse working conditions of the small logistic companies. It turned out that the preventive programs of the logistic enterprises had little effect through 'incentives system' and 'improving wage system' which are mainly conducted. The human resource managers appreciated the importance of 'wage raise' and 'benefits improvement'. This study is aimed at contributing to efficient human resource management through understanding of the turnover causes and human resource managers applying preventive measures. In particular, this can benefit small port logistics companies securing competitiveness and promoting persistent growth and development.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.101 no.1
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• pp.36-45
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• 2012

Education on the environment and plants offered by arboretum for today's people not only contribute to foster a better natural environment in urban region but also provide visitors with decent refreshment environment and beyond. In the study, the author undertook the observation on usage behavior and satisfaction model of arboretum visitors expect and investigated the facilities and programs to be offered by arboretum in order to propose the opinion regarding the service. For observation size of variables in a multiple regression analysis of variables is influencing satisfaction rankings walks the line of flow, the educational effect on the environment, cleanliness of the facility, visits pay, natural beauty, diversity of trees, accessibility and friendliness of staff, expansion of facilities in the arboretum and appeared as a complement. In case of visitor attribute, the residents living near the facility showed the highest visit frequency of more than 5 times, especially as part of taking a walk. This proves that the visit to arboretum is considered as part of everyday life, and thus a new program and walk path as well as movement route are needed to be developed for the visitors. In the question relating to the facilities and operation programs in Daegu Arboretum, particularly the requests by visitors, they responded that the establishment of cultural event, beautiful natural scenery, refreshment and convenience facilities is the most critical issue. In addition, the management on withered trees and bare lands is an urgent issue as well. In this sense, the Operation and Management Strategies based upon the visitor behaviors and model of satisfaction are needed to deal with the adoption of diverse events and festivals joined by local residents, ombudsman program, environmental program development for students and teachers within the region, negligent bare lands and withered tree replacement, and cafeteria facility improvement and supplement as well as the bench marking of other facilities than arboretums located in other regions. These items are thought to be sufficiently dealt with by Daegu Arboretum having no more external resources. It is recognized that the visitor satisfaction begins from a minor thing, and a small difference determines a great satisfaction, and thus the software approach rather than hardware one is in need.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.764-771
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• 2016

Extracts from Artemisia annua Linné (AAE) have been known to possess various functions, including anti-bacterial, anti-virus, and anti-oxidant effects. However, the mechanism of those effects of AAE is not well-known. The aim of this study was to analyze the inhibitory effects of AAE on cell proliferation of the human hepatoma cell line (Hep3B) and to examine its effects on apoptosis. Activation by phosphorylation of Akt is cell proliferation through the phosphorylation of TSC2, mTOR, and GSK-3β. We suggested that AAE may exert cancer cell apoptosis through Akt/mTOR/GSK-3β signal pathways and mitochondria-mediated apoptotic proteins. For this, we examined the effects of extracts of AAE on cell proliferation according to treatment concentration. Treatment with AAE not only reduced cell viability, but also resulted in the induced release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). These results were determined with a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and a lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. Furthermore, we determined the effects of apoptosis through Hoechst 33342 staining, annexinⅤ-propidium iodide (PI) staining, 5,5′, 6,6′-tetrachloro-1,1′,3,3′-tetraethyl-imidacarbocyanine iodide (JC-1) staining, and Western blotting. Our study showed that the treatment of liver cancer cells with AAE resulted in the inhibition of Akt, TSC2, GSK-3β-phosphorylated, Bcl-2, and pro-caspase 3 and the activation of Bim, Bax, Bak, and cleaved PARP expressions. These results indicate that AAE induced apoptosis by means of a mitochondrial event through the regulate of Akt/mTOR/GSK-3β signaling pathways.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.127-140
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• 2010

The benefit that a consumer derives from the use of a good often depends on the number of other consumers purchasing the same goods or other compatible items. This property, which is known as network externality, is significant in many IT related industries. Over the past few decades, network externalities have been recognized in the context of physical networks such as the telephone and railroad industries. Today, as many products are provided as a form of system that consists of compatible components, the appreciation of network externality is becoming increasingly important. Network externalities have been extensively studied among economists who have been seeking to explain new phenomena resulting from rapid advancements in ICT (Information and Communication Technology). As a result of these efforts, a new body of theories for 'New Economy' has been proposed. The theoretical bottom-line argument of such theories is that technologies subject to network effects exhibit multiple equilibriums and will finally lock into a monopoly with one standard cornering the entire market. They emphasize that such "tippiness" is a typical characteristic in such networked markets, describing that multiple incompatible technologies rarely coexist and that the switch to a single, leading standard occurs suddenly. Moreover, it is argued that this standardization process is path dependent, and the ultimate outcome is unpredictable. With incomplete information about other actors' preferences, there can be excess inertia, as consumers only moderately favor the change, and hence are themselves insufficiently motivated to start the bandwagon rolling, but would get on it once it did start to roll. This startup problem can prevent the adoption of any standard at all, even if it is preferred by everyone. Conversely, excess momentum is another possible outcome, for example, if a sponsoring firm uses low prices during early periods of diffusion. The aim of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of the adoption process in markets exhibiting network effects by focusing on two factors; switching and agent heterogeneity. Switching is an important factor that should be considered in analyzing the adoption process. An agent's switching invokes switching by other adopters, which brings about a positive feedback process that can significantly complicate the adoption process. Agent heterogeneity also plays a important role in shaping the early development of the adoption process, which has a significant impact on the later development of the process. The effects of these two factors are analyzed by developing an agent-based simulation model. ABM is a computer-based simulation methodology that can offer many advantages over traditional analytical approaches. The model is designed such that agents have diverse preferences regarding technology and are allowed to switch their previous choice. The simulation results showed that the adoption processes in a market exhibiting networks effects are significantly affected by the distribution of agents and the occurrence of switching. In particular, it is found that both weak heterogeneity and strong network effects cause agents to start to switch early and this plays a role of expediting the emergence of 'lock-in.' When network effects are strong, agents are easily affected by changes in early market shares. This causes agents to switch earlier and in turn speeds up the market's tipping. The same effect is found in the case of highly homogeneous agents. When agents are highly homogeneous, the market starts to tip toward one technology rapidly, and its choice is not always consistent with the populations' initial inclination. Increased volatility and faster lock-in increase the possibility that the market will reach an unexpected outcome. The primary contribution of this study is the elucidation of the role of parameters characterizing the market in the development of the lock-in process, and identification of conditions where such unexpected outcomes happen.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.586-603
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• 2004

One of the subtle problems that make noise control difficult for engineers is “the invisibility of noise or sound.” The visual image of noise often helps to determine an appropriate means for noise control. There have been many attempts to fulfill this rather challenging objective. Theoretical or numerical means to visualize the sound field have been attempted and as a result, a great deal of progress has been accomplished, for example in the field of visualization of turbulent noise. However, most of the numerical methods are not quite ready to be applied practically to noise control issues. In the meantime, fast progress has made it possible instrumentally by using multiple microphones and fast signal processing systems, although these systems are not perfect but are useful. The state of the art system is recently available but still has many problematic issues : for example, how we can implement the visualized noise field. The constructed noise or sound picture always consists of bias and random errors, and consequently it is often difficult to determine the origin of the noise and the spatial shape of noise, as highlighted in the title. The first part of this paper introduces a brief history, which is associated with “sound visualization,” from Leonardo da Vinci's famous drawing on vortex street (Fig. 1) to modern acoustic holography and what has been accomplished by a line or surface array. The second part introduces the difficulties and the recent studies. These include de-Dopplerization and do-reverberation methods. The former is essential for visualizing a moving noise source, such as cars or trains. The latter relates to what produces noise in a room or closed space. Another mar issue associated this sound/noise visualization is whether or not Ivecan distinguish mutual dependence of noise in space : for example, we are asked to answer the question, “Can we see two birds singing or one bird with two beaks?"

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 1996

This experiment was carried out to study the effect of sprinkler and fan cooling system on the physiological parameter, milk production and milk composition for Holstein cows in hot, humid climates. Thirty cows were assigned to one of two sections of open-sided loose barn. Water nozzles of sprinkler system were spaced in line at 1.2m intervals. Forced air was provided by 85cm diameter fans at rate of 3.4㎥/sec. The results obtained from these experiments are as follows: 1. There was no significant difference in meteorological data between control and fan + sprinkler cooling system(treatment group). 2. Skin temperature and rectal temperature of the treatment group were significantly lower than those of the control group (32.96 : 39.53$^{\circ}C$ vs 34.02 : 41.21$^{\circ}C$ respectively) (P<0.05). 3. Serum cortisol concentration of the treatment group(0.90$\mu\textrm{g}$/dL) was lower than that of control group(1.44$\mu\textrm{g}$/dL)(P<0.05). 4. Milk production of cows cooled with a sprinkler and fan cooling system was significantly higher than that of no cooling system (P<0.0l). 5. Lactose, protein and solid-not-fat content of milk were not changed by the treatments. Milk fat content of the control(3.23%) was low compared with the treatment group(3.38%). Somatic cell count was reduced by 26.63% in the treatment. The results indicate that a sprinkler and fan cooling systems can provide an effective means to relieve heat stress and enhance productivity of lactating Holstein cows during hot and humid summer season.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.42-49
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• 2011

QTL analysis for blast resistance was carried out using 140 $BC_3F_3$ lines derived from a cross between Ilpum as a recurrent parent and Moroberekan as a donor parent. 140 $BC_3F_3$ lines with the parents were inoculated with nine blast isolates. To identify QTLs for resistance to nine blast isolates, 134 SSR markers showing polymorphisms between the parents were genotyped for the 140 $BC_3F_3$ lines. A total of 17 resistance QTLs to nine isolates were detected on chromosomes 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 10. The phenotypic variance explained by each QTL ranged from 8.2% to 26.4%. The Moroberekan alleles contributed the positive effect at these 17 QTL loci. In a previous study, the QTL, Pi45(t) for durable resistance to blast was identified using a sequential planting method. To know the relationship between Pi45(t) and the isolate-specific resistance gene, an $F_2$ population was developed from a cross between Ilpum and an introgression line harboring Pi45(t). $F_3$ lines segregating for the Pi45(t) were inoculated to three isolates. $F_3$ lines from the $F_2$ plants with the Moroberekan segment at the target region showed resistance to two isolates. This result seems to indicate that the Pi45(t) and the isolate-specific resistance gene are tightly linked or the resistance is controlled by the same gene(s). The markers linked to genes controlling blast resistance would be useful in developing blast resistance lines in the breeding program.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.244-251
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• 2009

This study was carried out to identify useful single gene and gene combination resistant to K1, K2, K3 and 24 bacterial blight(BB) isolates (including K3a, HB01009) breaking down Xa3 gene. Xa3, Xa4, xa5 and Xa7 genes were resistant to K1, K2, K3 of bacterial blight pathogen. Against 24 BB isolates breaking down Xa3 gene, Xa1, Xa2, xa8, Xa10, Xa11, xa13 genes were susceptible, whereas Xa4 gene was moderately resistant and xa5 and Xa21 genes were resistant. IRBB7 having Xa7 gene showed resistance responding to 24 BB isolates, whereas IRBB107 carrying Xa7 gene was susceptible to 10 BB isolates and moderately resistant to 14 BB isolates. Near-isogenic lines (NILs) of Toyonishiki and IR24, both possessing Xa7 gene, showed different resistance response against 24 BB isolates according to genetic background. Xa3+xa5, Xa4+xa5, Xa4+xa13, Xa4+Xa21, xa5+xa13, xa5+Xa21, xa13+Xa21, Xa4+xa5+xa13, Xa4+xa5+Xa21, Xa4+xa13+Xa21, xa5+xa13+Xa21, and Xa4+xa5+xa13+Xa21 were resistant to K1, K2, K3 and 24 isolates breaking down Xa3 gene. When Xa3 and xa13 genes were combined with xa5, Xa4, Xa21, resistance response was enhanced compared with single gene lines containg only Xa3 or xa13. Similarly, when Xa4 gene was combined with xa5 and Xa21, resistance response was improved by the gene combination effect.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.303-311
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• 2018

In this study, a preliminary evaluation of the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of the Ficus erecta var. sieboldii (Miq.) King (FES) leaf extract has been performed to assess its potential as a natural resource for food and medicinal materials. FES was extracted using 70% EtOH and then fractionated sequentially using n-hexane, $CH_2Cl_2$, EtOAc, and n-BuOH. To screen for antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents effectively, the inhibitory effect of the FES extracts on the production of oxidant stresses (DPPH, xanthine oxidase, and superoxide) and pro-inflammatory factors (NO, iNOS, COX-2, $PGE_2$, IL-6, and $IL-1{\beta}$) in the murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 activated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was examined. Among the sequential solvent fractions of FES, the $CH_2Cl_2$ and EtOAc fractions showed decreased production of oxidant stresses (DPPH, xanthine oxidase and superoxide), and the hexane and $CH_2Cl_2$ fractions of FES inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory factors (NO, iNOS, COX-2, and $PGE_2$). The $CH_2Cl_2$ fraction also inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines ($TNF-{\alpha}$, IL-6, and $IL-1{\beta}$). These results suggest that FES has a significant effects on the production of oxidant stresses and pro-inflammatory factors and may be used a natural resource for antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents.