• Title/Summary/Keyword: Growth simulation

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Estimation of Long-term Effects of Harvest Interval and Intensity, and Post-harvest Residue Management on the Soil Carbon Stock of Pinus densiflora Stands using KFSC Model (한국형 산림토양탄소모델(KFSC)을 이용한 수확 주기 및 강도와 수확 후 잔재물 처리방법에 따른 소나무림 토양탄소 저장량의 장기 변화 추정 연구)

  • Park, Chan-Woo;Yi, Koong;Lee, Jongyeol;Lee, Kyeong-Hak;Yi, Myong-Jong;Kim, Choonsig;Park, Gwan-Soo;Kim, Raehyun;Son, Yowhan
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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    • v.102 no.1
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    • pp.82-89
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    • 2013
  • Harvest is one of the major disturbances affecting the soil carbon (C) dynamics in forests. However, researches on the long-term impact of periodic harvest on the soil C dynamics are limited since they requires rigorous control of various factors. Therefore, we adopted a modeling approach to determine the long-term impacts of harvest interval, harvest intensity and post-harvest residue management on soil C dynamics by using the Korean Forest Soil Carbon model (KFSC model). The simulation was conducted on Pinus densiflora S. et Z. stands in central Korea, and twelve harvest scenarios were tested by altering harvest intervals (50, 80, and 100-year interval), intensities (partial-cut harvest: 30% and clear-cut harvest: 100% of stand volume), and the residue managements after harvest (collection: 0% and retention: 100% of aboveground residue). We simulated the soil carbon stock for 400 years for each scenario. As a result, the soil C stocks in depth of 30 cm after 400 years range from 50.3 to 55.8 Mg C $ha^{-1}$, corresponding to 98.1 to 108.9% of the C stock at present. The soil C stock under the scenarios with residue retention was 2.5-11.0% higher than that under scenarios with residue collection. However, there was no significant impact of harvest interval and intensity on the soil C stock. The soil C dynamics depended on the dead organic matter dynamics derived from the amount of dead organic matter and growth pattern after harvest.

Building an Efficient Supply Chain by reduction of lead time with a Focus on Korea Server Manufacturer (리드타임 감소에 의한 효율적 공급체인 구축 - 국내 서버 공급체인을 대상으로 -)

  • 신용석;김태현;문성암
    • Journal of Distribution Research
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    • v.6 no.2
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    • pp.1-17
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    • 2002
  • The recent dot-com craze has been one of the main causes that accelerated the growth of internet-related companies in diversity as well as in size. Meanwhile, the domestic market of supplies and equipment for internet businesses has been dominated by major foreign companies. To regain their market positions, the domestic manufacturers had to find the way to build up their competitive advantages, such as meeting their customers needs and reducing overall costs. In this study, one domestic PC server manufacturer, which competes fiercely with foreign manufacturers for the top place, has been chosen as a model to evaluate its current supply chain and to find an area that can be improved for a better performance. System Dynamics is used throughout the study. The central concept to system dynamics is understanding how all the objects in a system interact with one another. It focuses on feedback and secondary effects to think through how a strategy might or might not work, depending on how organizational changes are received, and what kinds of consequences emerge. Then, computerized models were built for simulations, each with different conditions, and, finally, the results were evaluated based on some criteria which are considered to be important and meaningful. The inefficiency that exists in the supply chain was proved to be a thirty-day long purchasing order leadtime, and it was expected that more effective supply chain could be formed if the leadtme were reduced to 14 days or 7 days. The results of simulations showed that the overall expected costs in supply chain was the least with the purchasing leadtime being 7 days. The lower average number of parts held as inventory, along with the reduced lost sales, acted as the factor reducing the expected overall costs. Although there was a slight increase in the average number of final products held as inventory and the total ordering cost, the benefits from lower parts inventory and reduced lost sales were large enough to justify the overall cost reduction.

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Research of Diffusion Bonding of Tungsten/Copper and Their Properties under High Heat Flux

  • Li, Jun;Yang, Jianfeng
    • Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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    • 2011.05a
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    • pp.14-14
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    • 2011
  • W (tungsten)-alloys will be the most promising plasma facing armor materials in highly loaded plasma interactive components of the next step fusion reactors due to its high melting point, high sputtering resistance and low deuterium/tritium retention. The bonding technology of tungsten to Cu alloy was one of the key issues. In this paper, W/CuCrZr diffusion bonding has been performed successfully by inserting pure metal interlay. The joint microstructure, interfacial elements migration and phase composition were analyzed by SEM, EDS, XRD, and the joint shear strength and micro-hardness were investigated. The mock-ups were fabricated successfully with diffusion bonding and the cladding technology respectively, and the high heat flux test and thermal fatigue test were carried out under actively cooling condition. When Ni foil was used for the bonding of tungsten to CuCrZr, two reaction layers, Ni4W and Ni(W) layer, appeared between the tungsten and Ni interlayer with the optimized condition. Even though Ni4W is hard and brittle, and the strength of the joint was oppositely increased (217 MPa) due primarily to extremely small thicknesses (2~3 ${\mu}m$). When Ti foil was selected as the interlayer, the Ti foil diffused quickly with Cu and was transformed into liquid phase at $1,000^{\circ}C$. Almost all of the liquid was extruded out of the interface zone under bonding pressure, and an extremely thin residual layer (1~2 ${\mu}m$) of the liquid phase was retained between the tungsten and CuCrZr, which shear strength exceeded 160 MPa. When Ni/Ti/Ni multiple interlayers were used for bonding of tungsten to CuCrZr, a large number of intermetallic compound ($Ni_4W/NiTi_2/NiTi/Ni_3T$) were formed for the interdiffusion among W, Ni and Ti. Therefore, the shear strength of the joint was low and just about 85 MPa. The residual stresses in the clad samples with flat, arc, rectangle and trapezoid interface were estimated by Finite Element Analysis. The simulation results show that the flat clad sample was subjected maximum residual stress at the edge of the interface, which could be cracked at the edge and propagated along the interface. As for the rectangle and trapezoid interface, the residual stresses of the interface were lower than that of the flat interface, and the interface of the arc clad sample have lowest residual stress and all of the residual stress with arc interface were divided into different grooved zones, so the probabilities of cracking and propagation were lower than other interfaces. The residual stresses of the mock-ups under high heat flux of 10 $MW/m^2$ were estimated by Finite Element Analysis. The tungsten of the flat interfaces was subjected to tensile stresses (positive $S_x$), and the CuCrZr was subjected to compressive stresses (negative $S_x$). If the interface have a little microcrack, the tungsten of joint was more liable to propagate than the CuCrZr due to the brittle of the tungsten. However, when the flat interface was substituted by arc interfaces, the periodical residual stresses in the joining region were either released or formed a stress field prohibiting the growth or nucleation of the interfacial cracks. Thermal fatigue tests were performed on the mock-ups of flat and arc interface under the heat flux of 10 $MW/m^2$ with the cooling water velocity of 10 m/s. After thermal cycle experiments, a large number of microcracks appeared at the tungsten substrate due to large radial tensile stress on the flat mock-up. The defects would largely affect the heat transfer capability and the structure reliability of the mock-up. As for the arc mock-up, even though some microcracks were found at the interface of the regions, all microcracks with arc interface were divided into different arc-grooved zones, so the propagation of microcracks is difficult.

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Dehumidification and Temperature Control for Green Houses using Lithium Bromide Solution and Cooling Coil (리튬브로마이드(LiBr) 용액의 흡습성질과 냉각코일을 이용한 온실 습도 및 온도 제어)

  • Lee, Sang Yeol;Lee, Chung Geon;Euh, Seung Hee;Oh, Kwang Cheol;Oh, Jae Heun;Kim, Dea Hyun
    • Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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    • v.23 no.4
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    • pp.337-341
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    • 2014
  • Due to the nature of the ambient air temperature in summer in korea, the growth of crops in greenhouse normally requires cooling and dehumidification. Even though various cooling and dehumidification methods have been presented, there are many obstacles to figure out in practical application such as excessive energy use, cost, and performance. To overcome this problem, the lab scale experiments using lithium bromide(LiBr) solution and cooling coil for dehumidification and cooling in greenhouses were performed. In this study, preliminary experiment of dehumidification and cooling for the greenhouse was done using LiBr solution as the dehumidifying materials, and cooling coil separately and then combined system was tested as well. Hot and humid air was dehumidified from 85% to 70% by passing through a pad soaked with LiBr, and cooled from 308K to 299K through the cooling coil. computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) analysis and analytical solution were done for the change of air temperature by heat transfer. Simulation results showed that the final air temperature was calculated 299.7K and 299.9K respectively with the deviation of 0.7K comparing the experimental value having good agreement. From this result, LiBr solution with cooling coil system could be applicable in the greenhouse.

Factors Influencing the Adoption of Location-Based Smartphone Applications: An Application of the Privacy Calculus Model (스마트폰 위치기반 어플리케이션의 이용의도에 영향을 미치는 요인: 프라이버시 계산 모형의 적용)

  • Cha, Hoon S.
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.7-29
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    • 2012
  • Smartphone and its applications (i.e. apps) are increasingly penetrating consumer markets. According to a recent report from Korea Communications Commission, nearly 50% of mobile subscribers in South Korea are smartphone users that accounts for over 25 million people. In particular, the importance of smartphone has risen as a geospatially-aware device that provides various location-based services (LBS) equipped with GPS capability. The popular LBS include map and navigation, traffic and transportation updates, shopping and coupon services, and location-sensitive social network services. Overall, the emerging location-based smartphone apps (LBA) offer significant value by providing greater connectivity, personalization, and information and entertainment in a location-specific context. Conversely, the rapid growth of LBA and their benefits have been accompanied by concerns over the collection and dissemination of individual users' personal information through ongoing tracking of their location, identity, preferences, and social behaviors. The majority of LBA users tend to agree and consent to the LBA provider's terms and privacy policy on use of location data to get the immediate services. This tendency further increases the potential risks of unprotected exposure of personal information and serious invasion and breaches of individual privacy. To address the complex issues surrounding LBA particularly from the user's behavioral perspective, this study applied the privacy calculus model (PCM) to explore the factors that influence the adoption of LBA. According to PCM, consumers are engaged in a dynamic adjustment process in which privacy risks are weighted against benefits of information disclosure. Consistent with the principal notion of PCM, we investigated how individual users make a risk-benefit assessment under which personalized service and locatability act as benefit-side factors and information privacy risks act as a risk-side factor accompanying LBA adoption. In addition, we consider the moderating role of trust on the service providers in the prohibiting effects of privacy risks on user intention to adopt LBA. Further we include perceived ease of use and usefulness as additional constructs to examine whether the technology acceptance model (TAM) can be applied in the context of LBA adoption. The research model with ten (10) hypotheses was tested using data gathered from 98 respondents through a quasi-experimental survey method. During the survey, each participant was asked to navigate the website where the experimental simulation of a LBA allows the participant to purchase time-and-location sensitive discounted tickets for nearby stores. Structural equations modeling using partial least square validated the instrument and the proposed model. The results showed that six (6) out of ten (10) hypotheses were supported. On the subject of the core PCM, H2 (locatability ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) and H3 (privacy risks ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) were supported, while H1 (personalization ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) was not supported. Further, we could not any interaction effects (personalization X privacy risks, H4 & locatability X privacy risks, H5) on the intention to use LBA. In terms of privacy risks and trust, as mentioned above we found the significant negative influence from privacy risks on intention to use (H3), but positive influence from trust, which supported H6 (trust ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA). The moderating effect of trust on the negative relationship between privacy risks and intention to use LBA was tested and confirmed by supporting H7 (privacy risks X trust ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA). The two hypotheses regarding to the TAM, including H8 (perceived ease of use ${\rightarrow}$ perceived usefulness) and H9 (perceived ease of use ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) were supported; however, H10 (perceived effectiveness ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) was not supported. Results of this study offer the following key findings and implications. First the application of PCM was found to be a good analysis framework in the context of LBA adoption. Many of the hypotheses in the model were confirmed and the high value of $R^2$ (i.,e., 51%) indicated a good fit of the model. In particular, locatability and privacy risks are found to be the appropriate PCM-based antecedent variables. Second, the existence of moderating effect of trust on service provider suggests that the same marginal change in the level of privacy risks may differentially influence the intention to use LBA. That is, while the privacy risks increasingly become important social issues and will negatively influence the intention to use LBA, it is critical for LBA providers to build consumer trust and confidence to successfully mitigate this negative impact. Lastly, we could not find sufficient evidence that the intention to use LBA is influenced by perceived usefulness, which has been very well supported in most previous TAM research. This may suggest that more future research should examine the validity of applying TAM and further extend or modify it in the context of LBA or other similar smartphone apps.

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A Study on the Measure to Maximize the Effects of Functional Games in Relation to the Changes in Visual and Auditory Stimulations (시각 및 청각 자극 변화에 따른 기능성 게임의 효능 극대화 방안 연구)

  • Shin, Jeong-Hoon
    • Journal of the Institute of Convergence Signal Processing
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    • v.14 no.3
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    • pp.147-153
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    • 2013
  • Functional game, which is the combination of play and learning and a futuristic tool, can minimize the dysfunction and maximize the proper functions, and furthermore, has taken root as a new alternative that can change the game industry and game culture. Recently, the focus of game and education markets is shifting to the development of more advanced learning contents, rather than emphasizing the self-control and motivation of users. Along with that, the game market has excluded the socially dysfunctional elements, such as the addiction and learning disabilities, and has witnessed a diversification into the human-friendly entertainment business that emphasizes the mental and physical health and pursues scientific educational effects. In addition, functional games are expanding its reach from the professional sectors - such as medical aide/medical learning, military simulation, health, auxiliary tools, special education and learning tools - to the realm of routine education, mental health, etc., and has seen a steady growth. However, most functional games, which are being currently planned and developed to cope with the special characteristics of the market, have not undergone accurate scientific assessment of their functions and have not proven their effectiveness. An overwhelming proportion of the functional games are being developed based on the intuition and experience of game developers. Moreover, the type of games, which involve the repetition of simple tasks or take the form of simple puzzles, cannot effectively combine the practically interesting factors and the learning effects. Most games incorporate unscientific methods leading to the vague anticipation of improvement in functions, rather than the assessment of human functions. In this paper, a study was conducted to present the measures that could maximize the effects of functional games in relation to the changes in the visual and auditory stimulations in order to maximize the effects of functional games, i,e., the immersion and concentration. To compare the degree of effects arising from the visual stimulation, the functional game contents made in the form of 2D and 3D were utilized. In addition. ultra sound and 3-dimensional functional game contents were utilized to compare the degree of effects resulting from the changes in the auditory stimulation. The brainwave of the users were measured while conducting the experiments related to the response to the changes in visual and auditory stimulations in 3 steps, and the results of the analysis were compared.

Numerical Study on Spring-Neap Variability of Net Volume Transport at Yeomha Channel in the Han River Estuary (한강하구 수로별 순 수송량과 대.소조기 변화에 따른 염하수로의 순 수송량 변동에 관한 수치해석적 연구)

  • Yoon, Byung-Il;Woo, Seung-Buhm
    • Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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    • v.24 no.4
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    • pp.257-268
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    • 2012
  • The EFDC model with find grid resolution system connecting the Gyeong-Gi bay and Han River estuary was constructed to study on spring-neap variability of net volume transport at each channel of the Han River estuary. The simulation time of numerical model is 124 days from May to August, 2009 with freshwater discharge at Han, Imjin and Yeseong River. The calibration and verification of model results was confirmed using harmonic components of water level and tidal current. The net volume transport was calculated during 30 days with normal freshwater conditions at Seokmo channel and Yeomha channel around Ganghwado. The ebbing net volume transport of 44% and 56% is drained into Gyeong-Gi bay through Yeomha and Seokmo channel, respectively. The ebbing net volume transport nearby Seodo at Yeomha channel convergence flooding net volume transport at Incheon harbor, and drain (westward direction) through channel of tidal flat between Ganghwado and Yeongjongdo to the Gyeong-Gi bay. The averaged net volume transport during 4 tidal cycles was compared to variation of spring-neap periods of the Yeomha channel. The convergence position is moved up- and down-ward according to spring-neap variability. The movement of the convergence zone is appeared because 1) increasing of discharged rate tidal flat channel between Ganghwado and Yeongjongdo at the spring period, 2) The growth of barotropic forcing with downward direction at the spring tide, and 3) The strength of the baroclinic pressure gradient is greater than spring with mixing processes.

Assessment of the Angstrom-Prescott Coefficients for Estimation of Solar Radiation in Korea (국내 일사량 추정을 위한 Angstrom-Prescott계수의 평가)

  • Hyun, Shinwoo;Kim, Kwang Soo
    • Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.221-232
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    • 2016
  • Models to estimate solar radiation have been used because solar radiation is measured at a smaller number of weather stations than other variables including temperature and rainfall. For example, solar radiation has been estimated using the Angstrom-Prescott (AP) model that depends on two coefficients obtained empirically at a specific site ($AP_{Choi}$) or for a climate zone ($AP_{Frere}$). The objective of this study was to identify the coefficients of the AP model for reliable estimation of solar radiation under a wide range of spatial and temporal conditions. A global optimization was performed for a range of AP coefficients to identify the values of $AP_{max}$ that resulted in the greatest degree of agreement at each of 20 sites for a given month during 30 years. The degree of agreement was assessed using the value of Concordance Correlation Coefficient (CCC). When $AP_{Frere}$ was used to estimate solar radiation, the values of CCC were relatively high for conditions under which crop growth simulation would be performed, e.g., at rural sites during summer. The statistics for $AP_{Frere}$ were greater than those for $AP_{Choi}$ although $AP_{Frere}$ had the smaller statistics than $AP_{max}$ did. The variation of CCC values was small over a wide range of AP coefficients when those statistics were summarized by site. $AP_{Frere}$ was included in each range of AP coefficients that resulted in reasonable accuracy of solar radiation estimates by site, year, and month. These results suggested that $AP_{Frere}$ would be useful to provide estimates of solar radiation as an input to crop models in Korea. Further studies would be merited to examine feasibility of using $AP_{Frere}$ to obtain gridded estimates of solar radiation at a high spatial resolution under a complex terrain in Korea.

The Effects of Virtual Reality Advertisement on Consumer's Intention to Purchase: Focused on Rational and Emotional Responses (가상현실(Virtual Reality) 광고가 소비자 구매의도에 미치는 영향: 이성적인 반응과 감성적인 반응의 통합)

  • Cha, Jae-Yol;Im, Kun-Shin
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.101-124
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    • 2009
  • According to Wikipedia, virtual reality (VR) is defined as a technology that allows a user to interact with a computer-simulated environment. Due to a rapid growth in information technology (IT), the cost of virtual reality has been decreasing while the utility of virtual reality advertisements has dramatically increased. Nevertheless, only a few studies have investigated the effects of virtual reality advertisement on consumer behaviors. Therefore, the objective of this study is to empirically examine the effects of virtual reality advertisement. Compared to traditional online advertisements, virtual reality advertisement enables consumers to experience products realistically over the Internet by providing high media richness, interactivity, and telepresence (Suh and Lee, 2005). Advertisements with high media richness facilitate consumers' understanding of advertised products by providing them with a large amount and a high variety of information on the products. Interactivity also provides consumers with a high level of control over the computer-simulated environment in terms of their abilities to adjust the information according to their individual interests and concerns and to be active rather than passive in their engagement with the information (Pimentel and Teixera, 1994). Through high media richness and interactivity, virtual reality advertisements can generate compelling feelings of "telepresence" (Suh and Lee, 2005). Telepresence is a sense of being there in an environment by means of a communication medium (Steuer, 1992). Virtual reality advertisements enable consumers to create a perceptual illusion of being present and highly engaged in a simulated environment, while they are in reality physically present in another place (Biocca, 1997). Based on the characteristics of virtual reality advertisements, a research model has been proposed to explain consumer responses to the virtual reality advertisements. The proposed model includes two dimensions of consumer responses. One dimension is consumers' rational response, which is based on the Information Processing Theory. Based on the Information Processing Theory, product knowledge and perceived risk are selected as antecedents of intention to purchase. The other dimension is emotional response of consumers, which is based on the Attitude-Structure Theory. Based on the Attitude-Structure Theory, arousal, flow, and positive affect are selected as antecedents of intention to purchase. Because it has been criticized to have investigated only one of the two dimensions of consumer response in prior studies, our research model has been built so as to incorporate both dimensions. Based on the Attitude-Structure Theory, we hypothesized the path of consumers' emotional responses to a virtual reality advertisement: (H1) Arousal by the virtual reality advertisement increases flow; (H2) Flow increases positive affect; and (H3) Positive affect increases intension to purchase. In addition, we hypothesized the path of consumers' rational responses to the virtual reality advertisement based on the Information Processing Theory: (H4) Increased product knowledge through the virtual reality advertisement decreases perceived risk; and (H5) Perceived risk decreases intension to purchase. Based on literature of flow, we additionally hypothesized the relationship between flow and product knowledge: (H6) Flow increases product knowledge. To test the hypotheses, we conducted a free simulation experiment [Fromkin and Streufert, 1976] with 300 people. Subjects were asked to use the virtual reality advertisement of a cellular phone on the Internet and then answer questions about the variables. To check whether subjects fully experienced the virtual reality advertisement, they were asked to answer a quiz about the virtual reality advertisement itself. Responses of 26 subjects were dropped because of their incomplete answers. Responses of 274 subjects were used to test the hypotheses. It was found that all of six hypotheses are accepted. In addition, we found that consumers' emotional response has stronger impact on their intention to purchase than their rational response does. This study sheds much light into practical implications for both IS researchers and managers. First of all, while most of previous research has analyzed only one of the customers' rational and emotional responses, we theoretically incorporated and empirically examined both of the two sides. Second, we empirically showed that mediators such as arousal, flow, positive affect, product knowledge, and perceived risk play an important role between virtual reality advertisement and customer's intention to purchase. In addition, the findings of this study can provide a basis of practical strategies for managers. It was found that consumers' emotional response is stronger than their rational response. This result indicates that advertisements using virtual reality should focus on the emotional side, and that virtual reality can be served as an appropriate advertisement tool for fancy products that require their online advertisements to give an impetus to customers' emotion. Finally, even if this study examined the effects of virtual reality advertisement of cellular phone, its findings could be applied to other products that are suited for virtual experience. However, this research has some limitations. We were unable to control different kinds of consumers and different attributes of products on consumers' intention to purchase. It is, therefore, deemed important for future research to control the consumer and product types for more reliable results. In addition to the consumer and product attributes, other variables could affect consumers' intention to purchase. Thus, the future research needs to find ways t control other variables.

Recent Progress in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Research: A Review of Papers Published in the Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering in 2006 (공기조화, 냉동 분야의 최근 연구 동향: 2006년 학회지 논문에 대한 종합적 고찰)

  • Han, Hwa-Taik;Shin, Dong-Sin;Choi, Chang-Ho;Lee, Dae-Young;Kim, Seo-Young;Kwon, Yong-Il
    • Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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    • v.20 no.6
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    • pp.427-446
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    • 2008
  • A review on the papers published in the Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering in 2006 has been accomplished. Focus has been put on current status of research in the aspect of heating, cooling, ventilation, sanitation and building environments. The conclusions are as follows. (1) The research trends of fluid engineering have been surveyed as groups of general fluid flow, fluid machinery and piping, etc. New research topics include micro heat exchanger and siphon cooling device using nano-fluid. Traditional CFD and flow visualization methods were still popular and widely used in research and development. Studies about diffusers and compressors were performed in fluid machinery. Characteristics of flow and heat transfer and piping optimization were studied in piping systems. (2) The papers on heat transfer have been categorized into heat transfer characteristics, heat exchangers, heat pipes, and two-phase heat transfer. The topics on heat transfer characteristics in general include thermal transport in a cryo-chamber, a LCD panel, a dryer, and heat generating electronics. Heat exchangers investigated include pin-tube type, plate type, ventilation air-to-air type, and heat transfer enhancing tubes. The research on a reversible loop heat pipe, the influence of NCG charging mass on heat transport capacity, and the chilling start-up characteristics in a heat pipe were reported. In two-phase heat transfer area, the studies on frost growth, ice slurry formation and liquid spray cooling were presented. The studies on the boiling of R-290 and the application of carbon nanotubes to enhance boiling were noticeable in this research area. (3) Many studies on refrigeration and air conditioning systems were presented on the practical issues of the performance and reliability enhancement. The air conditioning system with multi indoor units caught attention in several research works. The issues on the refrigerant charge and the control algorithm were treated. The systems with alternative refrigerants were also studied. Carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons and their mixtures were considered and the heat transfer correlations were proposed. (4) Due to high oil prices, energy consumption have been attentioned in mechanical building systems. Research works have been reviewed in this field by grouping into the research on heat and cold sources, air conditioning and cleaning research, ventilation and fire research including tunnel ventilation, and piping system research. The papers involve the promotion of efficient or effective use of energy, which helps to save energy and results in reduced environmental pollution and operating cost. (5) Studies on indoor air quality took a great portion in the field of building environments. Various other subjects such as indoor thermal comfort were also investigated through computer simulation, case study, and field experiment. Studies on energy include not only optimization study and economic analysis of building equipments but also usability of renewable energy in geothermal and solar systems.