• Title/Summary/Keyword: Follow-Up System

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Comparative Analysis of Anti-Terrorism Act and its Enforcement Ordinance for Counter-Terrorism Activities (대테러 활동을 위한 테러 방지법과 시행령의 비교 분석)

  • Yoon, Hae-Sung
    • Korean Security Journal
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    • no.48
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    • pp.259-285
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    • 2016
  • As the need for anti-terrorism legislation has been continuously argued, Anti-terrorism act has been enacted and enforced. On the other hand, there still remain a lot of points to be discussed regarding the definition of the concept of terrorism, matters of human rights violations, strengthening authority of the investigation and intelligence agencies, and mobilization military forces for the suppression of terrorism. Also, reviewing Anti-terrorism act and its enforcement ordinance draft, this legislation seems to regulate terrorist groups like IS. If so, in the case of terrorism of North Korea or domestic anti-government organizations, whether this law would be applied could become an issue. In the case of terrorism of North Korea, Ministry of National Defense has a right of commandership in the military operations, however, it is also possible to apply the article 4 of Natural Security Act a crime of performing objective-or a crime of foreign exchange on Criminal law as legal grounds for not military terrorisms but general investigations. Therefore, it is necessary to involve consideration about this matter. Furthermore, in the view of investigation, Anti-terrorism act and its enforcement ordinance draft do not mention Supreme Prosecutors Office and Ministry of Justice that conduct investigations. In the case of terrorism, the police and prosecution should conduct to arrest criminals and determine crimes at the investigation stage, however, any explicit article related to this content in Anti-terrorism act and its enforcement ordinance draft was unable to be found. Although Anti-terrorism act is certainly toward preventive aspects, considering some matters such as prevention, actions on the scene, maneuver after terrorism, arresting terrorists, investigation direction, cooperation, and mutual assistance, it is necessary to reflect these contents in Anti-terrorism act. In other words, immediately after terrorists attacks, it is possible to mobilize the military operations by Integrated Defense act in order to arrest them in the case of military terrorism. Nevertheless, because both military terrorism and general one are included in the investigation stage, it needs to begin an investigation under the direction of the prosecution. Therefore, above all, a device for finding out the truth behind the case at the investigation stage is not reflected in the current Anti-terrorism act and its enforcement ordinance draft. Accordingly, if National Intelligence Service approaches information at the prevention level in this situation, it may be necessary to come up with follow-up measures of the police, the prosecution, and military units.

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Historical Review on the Security Service for the Royal Household in the "Goryeo" Era (고려시대 왕실호위제도의 사적 고찰)

  • Lee, Sung-Jin;Kim, Eui-Young;Lee, Jong-Hwan
    • Korean Security Journal
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    • no.14
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    • pp.413-429
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    • 2007
  • The Guard over the royal household in the "Goryeo" era was the same as if was over the President or Ruler of a nation today. In those days, a king represented a nation and any threat to the safety of a king could bring the destruction of a nation and the dispersion of the people. by reviewing the change of the 2-Gun 6-Wi system of the era, it can be, summed up as follow, Ther will be suggestions. The Guard might focus on a king's personal safety in the wake of the system of the Silla and Taebong dynasties until the establishment of the Goryeo Dynasty's unique political system. "Goryeo" rebuilt the royal palace in Gyeonyeong-gun to take the shape of unified country after its accomplishment of unification of the late three countries, Then it was afraid of the rebellion and uprising of local powerful clans, The country put them under control and organized the local army with them in the era of Kings, Seongjong, through the kings, Seongjong and Gwangjong. The army system of "Goryeo" consisted of 2-Gun and 6-Wi, and 2-Gun placed above the 6-Wi played the role of the Royal guards, and among the organizations a certain army under the specific name of "Gyeonyong-gun" guarded the kings in the nearest position. An aristocratic culture enjoyed its golden age in the period of stability of the aristocracy of "Goryeo", but afterward in the confusion of the aristocratic disruption and incompatible confrontation the country lost its control, and faced military rebellions by treating civil officials well and ill-treating military officials The safety of kings become unstable with the grasping political power by the military officials, and "Dobang" was established in the era of Choi's family to grasp political power. In the era of Choi Woo, he gathered his men and organized his familys army with them and managed the personnel administration with the civil officials of "Jeongbang and Seobang under his command. Such a fact shows the similarity to today's task of guarding. Considering the facts that "Sambyeolcho, the military ground of the military-men-rule, was at the center of the struggling against Mongolia and that even after the fall of the military regime, they rebelled and fought against Mongolia to the end, we came to know that the nationalism in the era of the military era was great. In the transition of external situations from "Myeong" to "Won"(Chinese dynasties), the conflict between the old "Won"-friendly power and the new "Myeong"-friendly power caused the weakness of the power to guard the royal household, and "Goryeo" at last gave way to the newly rising "Joseon" led by Lee, Seong Gye who won the people's confidence.

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Mobile Contents Transformation System Research for Personalization Service (개인화 서비스를 위한 모바일 콘텐츠 변환 시스템 연구)

  • Bae, Jong-Hwan;Cho, Young-Hee;Lee, Jung-Jae;Kim, Nam-Jin
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.119-128
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    • 2011
  • The Sensor technology and portable device capability able to collect recent user information and the information about the surrounding environment haven been highly developed. A user can be made use of various contents and the option is also extending with this technology development. In particular, the initial portable device had simply a call function, but now that has evolved into 'the 4th screen' which including movie, television, PC ability. also, in the past, a portable device to provided only the services of a SMS, in recent years, it provided to interactive video service, and it include technology which providing various contents. Also, it is rising as media which leading the consumption of contents, because it can be used anytime, anywhere. However, the contents available for the nature of user's handheld devices are limited. because it is very difficult for making the contents separately according to various device specification. To find a solution to this problem, the study on one contents from several device has been progressing. The contents conversion technology making use of the profile of device out of this study comes to the force and profile study has been progressing for this. Furthermore, Demand for a user is also increased and the study on the technology collecting, analyzing demands has been making active progress. And what is more, Grasping user's demands by making use of this technology and the study on the technology analyzing, providing contents has been making active progress as well. First of all, there is a method making good use of ZigBee, Bluetooth technology about the sensor for gathering user's information. ZigBee uses low-power digital radio for wireless headphone, wireless communication network, and being utilized for smart energy, automatic home system, wireless communication application and wireless sensor application. Bluetooth, as industry standards of PAN(Personal Area Networks), is being made of use of low power wireless device for the technology supporting data transmission such as drawing file, video file among Bluetooth device. With analyzing the collected information making use of this technology, it utilizes personalized service based on network knowledge developed by ETRI to service contents tailor-made for a user. Now that personalized service builds up network knowledge about user's various environments, the technology provides context friendly service constructed dynamically on the basis of this. The contents to service dynamically like this offer the contents that it converses with utilizing device profile to working well. Therefore, this paper suggests the system as follow. It collects the information, for example of user's sensitivity, context and location by using sensor technology, and generates the profile as a means of collected information as sensor. It collects the user's propensity to the information by user's input and event and generates profile in the same way besides the gathered information by sensor. Device transmits a generated profile and the profile about a device specification to proxy server. And proxy server transmits a profile to each profile management server. It analyzes profile in proxy server so that it selects the contents user demand and requests in contents server. Contents server receives a profile of user portable device from device profile server and converses the contents by using this. Original source code of contents convert into XML code using the device profile and XML code convert into source code available in user portable device. Thus, contents conversion process is terminated and user friendly system is completed as the user transmits optimal contents for user portable device.

A Comparative Analysis of Social Commerce and Open Market Using User Reviews in Korean Mobile Commerce (사용자 리뷰를 통한 소셜커머스와 오픈마켓의 이용경험 비교분석)

  • Chae, Seung Hoon;Lim, Jay Ick;Kang, Juyoung
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.21 no.4
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    • pp.53-77
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    • 2015
  • Mobile commerce provides a convenient shopping experience in which users can buy products without the constraints of time and space. Mobile commerce has already set off a mega trend in Korea. The market size is estimated at approximately 15 trillion won (KRW) for 2015, thus far. In the Korean market, social commerce and open market are key components. Social commerce has an overwhelming open market in terms of the number of users in the Korean mobile commerce market. From the point of view of the industry, quick market entry, and content curation are considered to be the major success factors, reflecting the rapid growth of social commerce in the market. However, academics' empirical research and analysis to prove the success rate of social commerce is still insufficient. Henceforward, it is to be expected that social commerce and the open market in the Korean mobile commerce will compete intensively. So it is important to conduct an empirical analysis to prove the differences in user experience between social commerce and open market. This paper is an exploratory study that shows a comparative analysis of social commerce and the open market regarding user experience, which is based on the mobile users' reviews. Firstly, this study includes a collection of approximately 10,000 user reviews of social commerce and open market listed Google play. A collection of mobile user reviews were classified into topics, such as perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use through LDA topic modeling. Then, a sentimental analysis and co-occurrence analysis on the topics of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use was conducted. The study's results demonstrated that social commerce users have a more positive experience in terms of service usefulness and convenience versus open market in the mobile commerce market. Social commerce has provided positive user experiences to mobile users in terms of service areas, like 'delivery,' 'coupon,' and 'discount,' while open market has been faced with user complaints in terms of technical problems and inconveniences like 'login error,' 'view details,' and 'stoppage.' This result has shown that social commerce has a good performance in terms of user service experience, since the aggressive marketing campaign conducted and there have been investments in building logistics infrastructure. However, the open market still has mobile optimization problems, since the open market in mobile commerce still has not resolved user complaints and inconveniences from technical problems. This study presents an exploratory research method used to analyze user experience by utilizing an empirical approach to user reviews. In contrast to previous studies, which conducted surveys to analyze user experience, this study was conducted by using empirical analysis that incorporates user reviews for reflecting users' vivid and actual experiences. Specifically, by using an LDA topic model and TAM this study presents its methodology, which shows an analysis of user reviews that are effective due to the method of dividing user reviews into service areas and technical areas from a new perspective. The methodology of this study has not only proven the differences in user experience between social commerce and open market, but also has provided a deep understanding of user experience in Korean mobile commerce. In addition, the results of this study have important implications on social commerce and open market by proving that user insights can be utilized in establishing competitive and groundbreaking strategies in the market. The limitations and research direction for follow-up studies are as follows. In a follow-up study, it will be required to design a more elaborate technique of the text analysis. This study could not clearly refine the user reviews, even though the ones online have inherent typos and mistakes. This study has proven that the user reviews are an invaluable source to analyze user experience. The methodology of this study can be expected to further expand comparative research of services using user reviews. Even at this moment, users around the world are posting their reviews about service experiences after using the mobile game, commerce, and messenger applications.

Early Result of Surgical Management of the Anomalous Origin of the Left Coronary Artery from the Pulmonary Artery (관상동맥-폐동맥 이상 기시증에 대한 수술의 조기 결과)

  • Yoon Yoo Sang;Park Jeong Jun;Yun Tae Jin;Kim Young Hwue;Ko Jae Kon;Park In Sook;Seo Dong Man
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
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    • v.39 no.1 s.258
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    • pp.18-27
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    • 2006
  • Background: Anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) is a rare congenital anomaly, but is one of the most common causes of myocardial ischemia which would result in high mortality within the first year of life. This is our early result of the surgical management for these patients. Material and Method: From June 1989 to July 2003, 6 patients with ALCAPA and one patient with ARCAPA (Anomalous origin of the Right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery) underwent surgical repair. We have reviewed the all medical records, electrocardiogram, chest X-ray and echocardiography retrospectively. Result: Three of the patients were boys and four were girls. The median age at the operation was 5.4 months (Range: 3$\∼$33 months). The average body weight of at the operation was 6.7 kg (Range: 3.7$\∼$11.3 kg). A mean follow up period was 18 months. Only 3 patients were initially diagnosed as ALCAPA. And 3 patients had moderate mitral regurgitation. Immediate coronary artery reimplantation on diagnosis with the aim of restoring a two-coronary system circulation was done. The average bypass time was 114$\pm$37 minutes, and the average aortic cross clamping time was 55$\pm$22 minutes. The average stay of intensive care unit was 5$\pm$3 days, the mean mechanical ventilator time was 38$\pm$45 hours and the hospital stay after operation was 12$\pm$5 days. There were significant improvements in electrocardiogram and chest X-ray of the all patients except one late death patient. The ventricular function showed almost normal recovery after operation; the EF (Ejection Fraction) increased from 41.2$\pm$ 10.3$\%$ to 60.5$\pm$ 15.8$\%$ within 1 month and to 59.8$\pm$13.9$\%$ within 1 year after operation, the SF (Shortening Fraction) increased from 23.6$\pm$4.7$\%$ to 38.6$\pm$8.4$\%$ within 1 month and to 37.4$\pm$7.9$\%$ within 1 year after operation, LVEDDI (Left Ventricular End-diastolic Dimension Index) decreased from 100.8$\pm$25.6 mm/$m^{2}$ to 90.3$\pm$ 19.2 mm/$m^{2}$ within f month and to 79.3$\pm$ 15.8 mm/$m^{2}$ within 1 year after operation. Concomitant mitral repair was done in two patients with anterior mitral leaflet prolapse. In every patient, mitral valve showed less than mild regurgitation during follow up. One late death occurred in which patient Dor procedure was applied 10 months after initial operation due to the dilated cardiomyopathy Conclusion: In the management of this rare and could be fatal Anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA), early suspicion and correct diagnosis is of most important. But, after diagnosis, immediate restoration of 2 coronary systems could result in good outcome.

The Early Results of Tricuspid Valvuloplasty with Using the Edwards MC3 Annuloplasty System (Edwards MC3 Annuloplasty System을 이용한 삼첨판 성형술의 조기 성적)

  • Oh, Tak-hyuck;Cho, Joon-Yong;Lee, Jong-Tae;Kim, Gun-Jik;Kim, Dae-Hyun
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
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    • v.42 no.1
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    • pp.28-33
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    • 2009
  • Background: Functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) greater than or equal to a mild grade requires tricuspid valvuloplasty, and tricuspid valvuloplasty with ring annuloplasty has shown good outcomes. We report here on our early experience with the Edwards $MC^3$ annuloplasty system (Edwards LifeSciences, Irvine, CA). Material and Method: From November 2004 to July 2006, 72 patients with tricuspid annular dilatation and TR underwent tricuspid valvuloplasty with using the Edwards $MC^3$ annuloplasty ring. Sixty-eight patients were operated on via median sternotomy and four patients were operated on using robotic assisted minimal invasive thoracotomy. The patient population included 21 males and 51 females and their mean age was $53.9{\pm}12.3$. The mean grade of TR, as assessed by the preoperative echocardiography, was $2.2{\pm}1.0$. The mean NYHA functional class was $3.1{\pm}0.8$. The mean left ventricular ejection fraction was $57.0{\pm}9.9$%. Result: The TR and NYHA functional class, as assessed by postoperative echocardiography, was significantly reduced (mean=$0.4{\pm}0.6$ and $2.0{\pm}0.7$, respectively p<0.001). There was one case of hospital mortality. One patient required permanent pacemaker insertion for third degree atrioventricular block. Conclusion: Our study shows that the Edwards $MC^3$ remodeling ring is easy to implant and it effectively corrects functional TR with excellent clinical and echocardiographic outcomes. Further follow-up and a larger clinical series are required to establish the long-term stability of this repair technique.

Survival Results and Prognostic Factors in T4 N0-3 Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients According to the AJCC 7th Edition Staging System

  • Arslan, Deniz;Bozcuk, Hakan;Gunduz, Seyda;Tural, Deniz;Tattli, Ali Murat;Uysal, Mukremin;Goksu, Sema Sezgin;Bassorgun, Cumhur Ibrahim;Koral, Lokman;Coskun, Hasan Senol;Ozdogan, Mustafa;Savas, Burhan
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.6
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    • pp.2465-2472
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    • 2014
  • Background: The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) published a new staging system ($7^{th}$ edition) in 2009. In our study, we evaluated the survival results and prognostic factors among T4 local advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) patients in a large heterogeneous group, in accordance with this new system. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the files of 122 T4 N0-3 M0 LA-NSCLC patients, identified according to the new staging system, treated at two centers between November 2003 and June 2012. Variables correlating with univariate survival at p<0.20 were later included in multivariate Cox regression analysis. Here, selection of relevant predictors of survival was carried out in accordance with the likelihood ratio formula with p<0.05 regarded as significant. Results: The median age was 60 and the median follow-up period was 17.4 months. Median overall survival (OS) was 18.3 months, the 1 year overall survival (OS) rate was 72%, and the 5 year OS rate was 28%. Statistically significant predictors of survival were (p<0.20) ECOG-PS (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status), age, T4 factor subgroup, stage and primary treatment in OS univariate analysis. On multivariate analysis for OS ECOG-PS (p=0.001), diagnostic stage (p=0.021), and primary treatment (p=0.004) were significant. In the group receiving non-curative treatment, the median OS was 11.0 months, while it was 19.0 months in the definitive RT group and 26.6 months in the curative treatment group. There was a significant difference between the non-curative group and the groups which had definitive RT and curative operations (respectively p<0.001 and p=0.001) in terms of OS, but not between the groups which had definitive RT and curative operations. The median event free survival (EFS) rate was 9.9 months, with rates of 46% and 19% at 3 and 5 years, respectively. On univariate analysis of EFS rate with ECOG-PS, weight loss and staging, statistical significance was found only for thorax computerized tomography (CT)+18F-fluorodeoxy-glucose positron emission tomography-CT (PET-CT) use, stage and primary treatment (p<0.20). In multivariate analysis with EFS, only the primary treatment was statistically significant (p=0.001). In the group receiving non-curative treatment, the median EFS was 10.5 months while in the curative operation group it was 14.7 months. When all the primary treatment groups were taken into consideration, grade III/IV side effect swas observed in 57 patients (46.6%). Esophagitis was most prominent among those that received definitive radiotherapy. Conclusions: Independent prognostic factors among these 122 heterogeneous LA-NSCLC T4 N0-3 M0 patients were age at diagnosis, ECOG-PS, stage and primary treatment, the last also being a significant prognostic indicator of EFS. Our findings point to the importance of appropriate staging and a multidisciplinary approach with modern imaging methods in this patient group. In those with T4 lesions, treatment selection and the effective use of curative potential should be the most important goal of clinical care.

Comparison of Clinical Characteristics and Polysomnographic Findings between REM Sleep Behavior Disorder with and without Associated Central Nervous System Disorders (중추신경계질환 동반 여부에 따른 렘수면 행동장애의 임상 특성과 수면다원기록소견 소견 비교)

  • Lee, Yu-Jin;Jeong, Do-Un
    • Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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    • v.12 no.1
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    • pp.58-63
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    • 2005
  • Objectives: REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), characterized by excessive motor activity during REM sleep, is associated with loss of muscle atonia. In recent years, it has been reported that RBD has high co-morbidity with CNS disorders (especially, Parkinson's disease, dementia, multiple system atrophy, etc.). We aimed to assess differences in clinical and polysomnographic findings among RBD patients, depending on the presence or absence of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Methods: The medical records and polysomnographic data of 81 patients who had been diagnosed as having RBD were reviewed. The patients were classified into two groups: associated RBD (aRBD, i.e., with a clinical history and/or brain MRI evidence of CNS disorder) and idiopathic RBD (iRBD, i.e., without a clinical history and/or brain MRI evidence of CNS disorder) groups. Twenty-one patients (25.9%) belonged to the aRBD group and 60 patients (74.1%) belonged to the iRBD group. The clinical characteristics and polysomnographic findings of the two groups were compared. Results: Periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), i.e., PLMI (periodic limb movement index)>5, was observed more frequently in the aRBD group than in the iRBD group (p<0.001, Fisher's exact test). Also, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), i.e., RDI (respiratory disturbance index)>5, was found more frequently in the aRBD group (p=0.0042, Fisher's exact test). The percentages for slow wave sleep and sleep efficiency were significantly lower in the aRBD group than in the iRBD group. Conclusion: We found that 1 out of 4 RBD patients had associated CNS disorders, warranting more careful neurological evaluation and follow-up in this category of RBD. In this category of RBD patients, we also found more frequent PLMD and OSAS. These patients were also found to have lower slow wave sleep and sleep efficiency. In summary, RBD patients with associated CNS disorders suffer from more disturbed sleep than those without them.

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APPLICATION OF FUZZY SET THEORY IN SAFEGUARDS

  • Fattah, A.;Nishiwaki, Y.
    • Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems Conference
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    • 1993.06a
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    • pp.1051-1054
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    • 1993
  • The International Atomic Energy Agency's Statute in Article III.A.5 allows it“to establish and administer safeguards designed to ensure that special fissionable and other materials, services, equipment, facilities and information made available by the Agency or at its request or under its supervision or control are not used in such a way as to further any military purpose; and to apply safeguards, at the request of the parties, to any bilateral or multilateral arrangement, or at the request of a State, to any of that State's activities in the field of atomic energy”. Safeguards are essentially a technical means of verifying the fulfilment of political obligations undertaken by States and given a legal force in international agreements relating to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The main political objectives are: to assure the international community that States are complying with their non-proliferation and other peaceful undertakings; and to deter (a) the diversion of afeguarded nuclear materials to the production of nuclear explosives or for military purposes and (b) the misuse of safeguarded facilities with the aim of producing unsafeguarded nuclear material. It is clear that no international safeguards system can physically prevent diversion. The IAEA safeguards system is basically a verification measure designed to provide assurance in those cases in which diversion has not occurred. Verification is accomplished by two basic means: material accountancy and containment and surveillance measures. Nuclear material accountancy is the fundamental IAEA safeguards mechanism, while containment and surveillance serve as important complementary measures. Material accountancy refers to a collection of measurements and other determinations which enable the State and the Agency to maintain a current picture of the location and movement of nuclear material into and out of material balance areas, i. e. areas where all material entering or leaving is measurab e. A containment measure is one that is designed by taking advantage of structural characteristics, such as containers, tanks or pipes, etc. To establish the physical integrity of an area or item by preventing the undetected movement of nuclear material or equipment. Such measures involve the application of tamper-indicating or surveillance devices. Surveillance refers to both human and instrumental observation aimed at indicating the movement of nuclear material. The verification process consists of three over-lapping elements: (a) Provision by the State of information such as - design information describing nuclear installations; - accounting reports listing nuclear material inventories, receipts and shipments; - documents amplifying and clarifying reports, as applicable; - notification of international transfers of nuclear material. (b) Collection by the IAEA of information through inspection activities such as - verification of design information - examination of records and repo ts - measurement of nuclear material - examination of containment and surveillance measures - follow-up activities in case of unusual findings. (c) Evaluation of the information provided by the State and of that collected by inspectors to determine the completeness, accuracy and validity of the information provided by the State and to resolve any anomalies and discrepancies. To design an effective verification system, one must identify possible ways and means by which nuclear material could be diverted from peaceful uses, including means to conceal such diversions. These theoretical ways and means, which have become known as diversion strategies, are used as one of the basic inputs for the development of safeguards procedures, equipment and instrumentation. For analysis of implementation strategy purposes, it is assumed that non-compliance cannot be excluded a priori and that consequently there is a low but non-zero probability that a diversion could be attempted in all safeguards ituations. An important element of diversion strategies is the identification of various possible diversion paths; the amount, type and location of nuclear material involved, the physical route and conversion of the material that may take place, rate of removal and concealment methods, as appropriate. With regard to the physical route and conversion of nuclear material the following main categories may be considered: - unreported removal of nuclear material from an installation or during transit - unreported introduction of nuclear material into an installation - unreported transfer of nuclear material from one material balance area to another - unreported production of nuclear material, e. g. enrichment of uranium or production of plutonium - undeclared uses of the material within the installation. With respect to the amount of nuclear material that might be diverted in a given time (the diversion rate), the continuum between the following two limiting cases is cons dered: - one significant quantity or more in a short time, often known as abrupt diversion; and - one significant quantity or more per year, for example, by accumulation of smaller amounts each time to add up to a significant quantity over a period of one year, often called protracted diversion. Concealment methods may include: - restriction of access of inspectors - falsification of records, reports and other material balance areas - replacement of nuclear material, e. g. use of dummy objects - falsification of measurements or of their evaluation - interference with IAEA installed equipment.As a result of diversion and its concealment or other actions, anomalies will occur. All reasonable diversion routes, scenarios/strategies and concealment methods have to be taken into account in designing safeguards implementation strategies so as to provide sufficient opportunities for the IAEA to observe such anomalies. The safeguards approach for each facility will make a different use of these procedures, equipment and instrumentation according to the various diversion strategies which could be applicable to that facility and according to the detection and inspection goals which are applied. Postulated pathways sets of scenarios comprise those elements of diversion strategies which might be carried out at a facility or across a State's fuel cycle with declared or undeclared activities. All such factors, however, contain a degree of fuzziness that need a human judgment to make the ultimate conclusion that all material is being used for peaceful purposes. Safeguards has been traditionally based on verification of declared material and facilities using material accountancy as a fundamental measure. The strength of material accountancy is based on the fact that it allows to detect any diversion independent of the diversion route taken. Material accountancy detects a diversion after it actually happened and thus is powerless to physically prevent it and can only deter by the risk of early detection any contemplation by State authorities to carry out a diversion. Recently the IAEA has been faced with new challenges. To deal with these, various measures are being reconsidered to strengthen the safeguards system such as enhanced assessment of the completeness of the State's initial declaration of nuclear material and installations under its jurisdiction enhanced monitoring and analysis of open information and analysis of open information that may indicate inconsistencies with the State's safeguards obligations. Precise information vital for such enhanced assessments and analyses is normally not available or, if available, difficult and expensive collection of information would be necessary. Above all, realistic appraisal of truth needs sound human judgment.

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Effects of firm strategies on customer acquisition of Software as a Service (SaaS) providers: A mediating and moderating role of SaaS technology maturity (SaaS 기업의 차별화 및 가격전략이 고객획득성과에 미치는 영향: SaaS 기술성숙도 수준의 매개효과 및 조절효과를 중심으로)

  • Chae, SeongWook;Park, Sungbum
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.151-171
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    • 2014
  • Firms today have sought management effectiveness and efficiency utilizing information technologies (IT). Numerous firms are outsourcing specific information systems functions to cope with their short of information resources or IT experts, or to reduce their capital cost. Recently, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) as a new type of information system has become one of the powerful outsourcing alternatives. SaaS is software deployed as a hosted and accessed over the internet. It is regarded as the idea of on-demand, pay-per-use, and utility computing and is now being applied to support the core competencies of clients in areas ranging from the individual productivity area to the vertical industry and e-commerce area. In this study, therefore, we seek to quantify the value that SaaS has on business performance by examining the relationships among firm strategies, SaaS technology maturity, and business performance of SaaS providers. We begin by drawing from prior literature on SaaS, technology maturity and firm strategy. SaaS technology maturity is classified into three different phases such as application service providing (ASP), Web-native application, and Web-service application. Firm strategies are manipulated by the low-cost strategy and differentiation strategy. Finally, we considered customer acquisition as a business performance. In this sense, specific objectives of this study are as follows. First, we examine the relationships between customer acquisition performance and both low-cost strategy and differentiation strategy of SaaS providers. Secondly, we investigate the mediating and moderating effects of SaaS technology maturity on those relationships. For this purpose, study collects data from the SaaS providers, and their line of applications registered in the database in CNK (Commerce net Korea) in Korea using a questionnaire method by the professional research institution. The unit of analysis in this study is the SBUs (strategic business unit) in the software provider. A total of 199 SBUs is used for analyzing and testing our hypotheses. With regards to the measurement of firm strategy, we take three measurement items for differentiation strategy such as the application uniqueness (referring an application aims to differentiate within just one or a small number of target industry), supply channel diversification (regarding whether SaaS vendor had diversified supply chain) as well as the number of specialized expertise and take two items for low cost strategy like subscription fee and initial set-up fee. We employ a hierarchical regression analysis technique for testing moderation effects of SaaS technology maturity and follow the Baron and Kenny's procedure for determining if firm strategies affect customer acquisition through technology maturity. Empirical results revealed that, firstly, when differentiation strategy is applied to attain business performance like customer acquisition, the effects of the strategy is moderated by the technology maturity level of SaaS providers. In other words, securing higher level of SaaS technology maturity is essential for higher business performance. For instance, given that firms implement application uniqueness or a distribution channel diversification as a differentiation strategy, they can acquire more customers when their level of SaaS technology maturity is higher rather than lower. Secondly, results indicate that pursuing differentiation strategy or low cost strategy effectively works for SaaS providers' obtaining customer, which means that continuously differentiating their service from others or making their service fee (subscription fee or initial set-up fee) lower are helpful for their business success in terms of acquiring their customers. Lastly, results show that the level of SaaS technology maturity mediates the relationships between low cost strategy and customer acquisition. That is, based on our research design, customers usually perceive the real value of the low subscription fee or initial set-up fee only through the SaaS service provide by vender and, in turn, this will affect their decision making whether subscribe or not.