• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.103-129
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• 2023

This study aims to analyze the network structure of technological innovation resources in SMEs, especially manufacturing firms, and reveal the differences between innovative and non-innovative firms. The study first analyzes connection centrality, flow-mediated centrality, and power centrality for all firms, and derives structural equivalence through CONCOR analysis. Then, the network structure of innovative and non-innovative firms was compared and analyzed according to innovation performance and creation. The results show that entrepreneurship and corporate innovation strategy have a significant impact on the analysis of technological innovation resources of all firms. According to the CONCOR analysis, the innovation resources of SMEs are organized into seven clusters, which can be defined as intrinsic product innovation resources, competitive advantage promotion resources, cooperative activities resources, information system resources, and innovation protection resources. The network analysis of innovative and non-innovative firms showed that innovative firms focused on enhancing competitiveness and improving quality, while non-innovative firms tended to focus more on existing products and customers. In addition, innovative firms had eight clusters, while non-innovative firms had six clusters, suggesting that innovative firms utilize resources diversely to pursue structural change and new value creation, while non-innovative firms operate technological innovation resources in a more stable form. This study emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurship and corporate innovation strategy in SMEs' technological innovation, and suggests that strong internal efforts are needed to increase innovativeness. These findings have important implications for strategy formulation and policy development for technological innovation in SMEs.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2024

Background: The pathogenesis of orofacial cleft (OFC) is multifactorial, involving both genetic and non-genetic factors, the latter of which play a key role in the development of these anomalies. This paper addresses the incidence of OFC in Indonesia, with a focus on identifying and examining the distribution of contributory factors, including parental medical history, pregnancy history, and environmental influences. Methods: The study was conducted through the collection of primary data. An interdisciplinary research team from Indonesia administered a standardized questionnaire to parents who had children with OFC and who had provided informed consent. The case group comprised 133 children born with cleft lip and/or palate, and the control was 133 noncleft children born full-term. The risk factors associated with OFC anomalies were analyzed using the chi-square test and logistic regression. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 25. A p-value of 0.05 or less was considered to indicate statistical significance. Results: The study comprised 138 children, of whom 82 were boys (59.4%) and 56 were girls (40.6%). Among them, 45 patients (32.6%) presented with both cleft lip and cleft palate, 25 individuals (18.1%) had a cleft palate only, and 28 patients (20.3%) had a cleft lip only. OFC was found to be significantly associated with a maternal family history of congenital birth defects (p<0.05), complications during the first trimester (p<0.05), consumption of local fish (p<0.05), caffeine intake (p<0.05), prolonged medication use (p<0.05), immunization history (p<0.05), passive smoking (p<0.05), and X-ray exposure during pregnancy (p<0.05). Conclusion: The findings indicate close relationships between the incidence of OFC and maternal medical history, prenatal factors, and environmental influences.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.531-550
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• 2023

Purpose: The unique nature of life-and-death healthcare services sets them apart from other service industries. While many studies exist on the relationship between healthcare services and customer satisfaction, most of them focus on mildly ill patients, ignoring the differences between critically ill and non-seriously ill patients. This study discusses the actual quality of healthcare services for patients who are facing life-threatening illnesses and are on life support, as well as their right to protection and dignity. Methods: The survey conducted to 149 patients with the four major illnesses: cancer, heart disease, brain disease and rare and incurable disease, those who have experiences with senior general hospitals. Results: The basic statistics of this study are adequate to represent the four major critical illnesses, and the reliability and validity of this study's hypotheses, which were measured by multiple items, were analyzed, and the internal consistency was judged to be high. In addition, it was found that the convergent validity was good and the discriminant validity was also secured. When examining the goodness of fit of the hypotheses, the SRMR, which is the standardized root mean square of residuals that measures the difference between the covariance matrix of the data variables and the theoretical covariance matrix structure of the model, met the optimal criteria. Conclusion: The academic implications of this study are differentiated from other studies by moving away from evaluating the quality of healthcare services for mildly ill patients and focusing on the rights and dignity of patients with life-threatening illnesses in four senior general hospitals. In terms of academic implications, this study enriches the depth of related studies by demonstrating the right to protection and dignity as a factor of patient-centeredness based on physical environment quality, interaction quality, and outcome quality, which are presented as sub-factors of healthcare quality. We found that the three quality factors classified by Brady and Cronin (2001) are optimized for healthcare quality assessment and management, and that the results of patients' interaction quality assessment can be used to provide a comprehensive quality rating for hospitals. Health and human rights are inextricably linked, so assessing the degree to which rights and dignity are protected can be a superior and more comprehensive measurement tool than traditional health level measures for healthcare organizations. Practical implications: Improving the quality of the physical environment and the quality of outcomes is an important challenge for hospital managers who attract patients with life and death conditions, but given the scale and economics of time, money, and human inputs, improving the quality of interactions and defining them as performance indicators in hospital quality management is an efficient way to create maximum value in the short term.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.27-45
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• 2024

We conducted a survey in collaboration with the Chungcheongbuk-do Office of Education to assess the current status of collections in public libraries affiliated with the Office of Education. The objective of this survey was to identify the current challenges and determine when these libraries are expected to reach a state of collection saturation. Libraries under the jurisdiction of the Chungcheongbuk-do Office of Education are currently facing significant challenges due to severe collection saturation. This underscores the pressing need for the systematic expansion and operation of a collaborative preservation library for a swift response. In the future, it appears that the focus during the transfer process will primarily be on transferring collection-oriented materials. Given the difficulty in providing preservation facilities at individual library levels, materials with preservation value, such as rare books and specialized resources, will need to be transferred to the collaborative preservation library. Additionally, the development of policies and regulations related to material preservation seems necessary. Furthermore, when transferring materials to the collaborative preservation library in the future, it appears that criteria for material transfer will be needed, particularly concerning issues such as a decrease in usage rates for less frequently accessed materials. Subsequent research should consider conducting a survey on the collection saturation status of public libraries under local governments in order to assess the overall need for collection expansion in all public libraries within Chungcheongbuk-do.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.84 no.1
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• pp.240-252
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• 2023

Purpose To assess the effect of deep learning image reconstruction (DLIR) for head CT in pediatric patients. Materials and Methods We collected 126 pediatric head CT images, which were reconstructed using filtered back projection, iterative reconstruction using adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR)-V, and all three levels of DLIR (TrueFidelity; GE Healthcare). Each image set group was divided into four subgroups according to the patients' ages. Clinical and dose-related data were reviewed. Quantitative parameters, including the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and qualitative parameters, including noise, gray matter-white matter (GM-WM) differentiation, sharpness, artifact, acceptability, and unfamiliar texture change were evaluated and compared. Results The SNR and CNR of each level in each age group increased among strength levels of DLIR. High-level DLIR showed a significantly improved SNR and CNR (p < 0.05). Sequential reduction of noise, improvement of GM-WM differentiation, and improvement of sharpness was noted among strength levels of DLIR. Those of high-level DLIR showed a similar value as that with ASiR-V. Artifact and acceptability did not show a significant difference among the adapted levels of DLIR. Conclusion Adaptation of high-level DLIR for the pediatric head CT can significantly reduce image noise. Modification is needed while processing artifacts.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.87-118
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• 2024

Coastal ports play an essential role in developing a country and a city. Port efficiency is an important factor affecting port trade, and the importance of port efficiency for port performance has been recognized in previous literature. DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) and SFA (Stochastic Frontier Analysis) are widely used in this field of research. However, these two methods are limited in selecting input and output variables. In addition, the literature studies on Chinese coastal ports mainly focus on the study of port clusters in local areas, which lacks a holistic approach and generally lacks up-to-date data. Therefore, to fill the gap in this area of research, this paper introduces a model combining principal component analysis and data envelopment analysis to analyze the operational efficiency of the top 17 coastal ports in China in terms of throughput based on the most recent data available in 2021. This paper identifies container throughput as the output variable, and 13 second indicators are selected as input variables from four primary indicators: land, capital, labor, and infrastructure. Four principal components were selected from 13 second indicators using PCA.After that, DEA (BBC) and DEA (CCR) were used to analyze the 17 ports, among which five were Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Guangzhou, Xiamen, and Dongguan, respectively, DEA efficient, and the remaining 12 ports were non-DEA efficient. Finally, improvement directions for each port are derived, and brief suggestions are made. This paper provides some reference value for developing and constructing coastal ports in China.

• Journal of Practical Engineering Education
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.599-609
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• 2024

The government has introduced the Regional Innovation System (RIS) to establish regional innovation platforms, leading to the creation of the Bio-PRIDE shared university in the Chungbuk region, centered around the bio-health industry. The purpose of this study is to analyze the educational service quality of the Bio-PRIDE shared university through a qualitative approach. To achieve this, in-depth exploration of the experiences of students participating in the Bio-PRIDE shared university was conducted using Focus Group Interviews (FGI) and telephone interviews. The study identified three main findings: 1) Motivations for student participation included recommendations and support from professors, economic benefits and scholarships, the flexibility and convenience of remote learning, and the appeal of new learning experiences and challenges. 2) Experiences during participation revealed themes such as the effectiveness and challenges of remote classes, the value of providing up-to-date technology and content, student engagement and commitment, and communication and support from faculty. 3) The impact of participation after completing the program highlighted the importance of innovative learning experiences and expanded choices, the significance of information accessibility and learning support, the need for improved promotion and awareness of the shared university, and the necessity for administrative support and communication. In conclusion, the Bio-PRIDE shared university has successfully implemented educational innovation, offering students new learning experiences and contributing to the broadening of their academic perspectives. This study will serve as a foundational resource for improving the educational service quality and ensuring the successful operation of the Bio-PRIDE shared university in the future.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.8
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• pp.233-267
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• 2001

The management environment in Korea today is undergoing rapid changes; in particular, domestic corporations and businesses are confronting formidable adversity with IMF crisis and WTO. Though cost cutback, higher quality, rapid production, and diversification of products were accepted as important requirements for competitiveness in the past, they have been replaced by brand power. Consumption patterns have changed their focus from function to image orientation. This is why managers in corporations have invested enormous amounts of resources into producing powerful brands, which can attract consumers' attention greatly enough to improve the image of their products. Brands are regarded as a vital vehicle for marketing strategies and thus as a legal asset. Brands with remarkable and favorable image can secure a loyal consumer groups stable revenues. M & A, currently active between corporations, makes brand equity all the more important. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of internal marketing and increased brand diversification on brand equity by combining them as influential factors with marketing mix factor. For this purpose, literature review was make on previous fragmented studies of influential factors on brand equity build-up. Based on the findings of this study, some operational implications were suggested for marketing managers. The findings and implications of the present study are as follows; First, efficient communication among organization members was found to have a significant effect on product quality. Second, job satisfaction and efficient communication among members was shown to significantly influence price policies. Thirdly, efficient communication among organization workers proved to have a significant effect on distribution strategies. Forth, efficient communication among members was demonstrated to significantly influence advertisement and other public-relations activities. Fifth, opacity of market environment appeared to have a significant effect on product quality, prior market entrance as perceived by organization members turned to be of negative influence on product quality. Sixth, opacity of market environment was found to have a significant effect on price policies. Seventh, opacity of market environment was shown to be of significant effect on distribution strategies. Eighth, grater opacity of market environment proved to improve advertisement and other public-relations activities. Ninth, price policies, distribution strategies, advertisement and public-relations activities were found to have a significant effect on brand equity value. To sum up these findings, in order for corporations and businesses to cope with consumers' needs that are increasingly segmented, internal marketing strategies and brand diversification should be implemented so as to generate greater synergy effect. It is also important to stress that differentiated, higher competitiveness should be secured for Korean corporations and businesses to survive in the drastically changing, globalized market environment. In this regard, continuous and long-term management strategies for brand equity build-up should be ensured and is essential in the present unlimited competition. The last but not least important point to notice is that to increase brand equity value, intensive investment and constant emphasis should be made on internal marketing management on intra-organizational members before strengthening external marketing.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.309-319
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• 2008

Roads are an indicator of anthropogenic activity causing ecosystem disturbances and often lead to habitat fragmentation, habitat loss, and habitat isolation. The Hallasan National Park(153.4$km^2$) on Jeju Island being distinguished for its unique geology, topography, and biota has also been designated as a core area of UNESCO Man and the Biosphere(MAB) Reserve. Although the high conservation value of this park has contributed to a rapid growth of tourists and road construction, landscape changes due to roads have not been examined yet. We used GIS systems to examine the fragmentation pattern caused by roads, in relation to its zonation, elevation, and vegetation. When a buffer was applied to roads(112m width for paved roads and 60m width for both legal and illegal trails), the park consisted of 100 fragments. The ten fragments generated after applying buffer to only paved roads and legal trails ranged from $0.002km^2$ to $38.2km^2$ with a mean of $14.2km^2$, and about 7% of both nature conservation zone and nature environment zone of the park were edge. Fragments in both east and west ends of the park and around the summit exhibited relatively high shape indices with means of 5.19(for 100 fragments) and 7.22(for 10 fragments). All five legal trails are connected to the pit crater of the mountain and vegetation changed from broadleaf forests and conifer forests to grasslands with elevation, consequently resulting in dramatic fragment size reduction in grasslands at high elevation, in particular above 1,400m, where endemic and alpine plants are abundant. These results show that in Hallasan National Park the risks of habitat deterioration and habitat loss due to fragmentation may be more severe in the nature conservation zone dominated by Baengnokdam than in the nature environment zone. Therefore, current road networks of the park appear to fall short of the goal of the national park for ecosystem conservation and protection. Considering that the entire Hallasan National Park also serves as a MAB core area, conservation efforts should focus, first of all, on park rezoning and road management to mitigate habitat fragmentation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.104-113
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• 2012

This study aimed to find out the improvement plan through analyzing the perception of the expert group engaged in landscape architectural construction and to focus on analyzing the expert groups' experience on Landscape Construction Defects (LCD), defect liability, warranty period, and implementation of the defect liability. The results are as follows: 1. Regarding the experience on the LCD, landscape construction contractors were an awareness of the LCD issue at a serious level, while public-sector clients recognize moderately the LCD issue; and on the first priority in defect implementation, landscape construction contractors considered repair cost while public-sector clients value the identifying causes of defects. 2. In disagreement on the defect liability, landscape construction contractors attributed it to client's lack of responsibility for maintenance while public-sector clients ascribed it to the absence of dealing a criteria with LCD, and regarding the appropriate defect implementation, public-sector clients preferred the following objective by dealing the criteria with LCD while landscape construction contractors advocates by sharing the responsibilities for dealing with LCD based on the identified causes of construction defects. 3. Regarding the warranty period, the public-sector clients considered the 2-year warranty period as appropriate while landscape construction contractors considered it comparatively long, and concerning the commencement of defect warranty period, the public-sector clients viewed it as it should commence to cover the overall completion of the construction while landscape construction contractors perceived it to start on the completion of each work. 4. As for the improvement of the defect implementation system, public-sector clients considered it necessary to establish the objective dealing the criteria with LCD while landscape construction contractors viewed the legislation of maintenance duty. Also, with regard to the important value in establishing and dealing the criteria with LCD, public-sector clients pointed out the objective of the criteria for determining the defects per work type while landscape construction contractors suggested client (user)'s maintenance duty. Because of research, because the system in dealing with LCD is an absence of LCD management agency and dealing the criteria with LCD, it is needed to establish an LCD management agency and make the system in dealing with LCD.