• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.40 no.4 s.273
• /
• pp.280-287
• /
• 2007

Background: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical results of surgically managing patients with Ebstein's anomaly. Material and Method: Between Feb. f 984 and June 2006, 50 patients who underwent surgical treatment for Ebstein's anomaly at Yonsei Cardiovascular Center were retrospectively reviewed. The mean age of the patients was 26.9 years and 19 patients were male, Associated anomalies included atrial septal defect (33), patent ductus arteriosus (2), ventricular septal defect (1), and pulmonary stenosis (4), and 90%, (45/50) of the patients had more than a moderate degree of tricuspid regurgitation. Carpentier type A was present in 6 patients, type B in 26, type C in 14 and type D in 4. Ten patients were associated with WPW syndrome. Conservative surgery was possible in 31 patients (tricuspid annuloplasty, plication of the atrialized RV), Fontan's operation was peformed in 4 patients, tricuspid valve replacement was done in 12 and palliative surgery was done in 2 patients. Thirteen patients were associated with hi-directional cavopulmonary shunt (BCPS: one and a half ventricular repairs): 10 patients with WPW syndrome and 4 patients with atrial fibrillation underwent concomitant ablation. Result: The postoperative median NYHA functional class $(3{\rightarrow}1)$ and the mean cardio-thoracic ratio $(0.65{\rightarrow}0.59)$ were decreased significantly (p<0.001, p=0.014). The mean oxygen saturation $(86.6{\rightarrow}94.1%)$, and median TR grade $(4{\rightarrow}1)$ were also significantly improved (p=0.004, p<0.001). For comparison of BCPS and conservative surgery, the preoperative right ventricular pressure (33.0 vs. 41.3 mmHg), the ICU stay (2.80 vs. 1.89 days), the hospital say (10.6 vs. 16.8 days), and the left ventricular ejection fraction (64.3 vs. 72.8%) were statistically different. Postoperative mortality occurred in 3 patients (6%) due to biventricular failure in 2 patients and sepsis in the other patient. The mean follow up duration was 101.5 months, and one patient died of Fontan failure and 6 patients required reoperation (bioprosthetic degenerative change (2) and Fontan conversion (4)). The overall survival rate at 10 years was 90.2%, the freedom from reoperation rate and rate of cardiac related events were 78.9% and 49.2%, respectively. Conclusion: Surgical management of Ebstein's anomaly can be performed safely, and the associated BCPS may be helpful for high-risk patients. Adequate application of surgical management may increase the long-term survival with a reduced rate of reoperation.

• Journal of Distribution Research
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.65-93
• /
• 2011

As relationship between buyer and seller has been brought closer and long-term relationship has been more important in B2B markets, the importance of service and service convenience increases as well as product. In homogeneous markets, where service offerings are similar and therefore not key competitive differentiator, providing greater convenience may enable a competitive advantage. Service convenience, as conceptualized by Berry et al. (2002), is defined as the consumers' time and effort perceptions related to buying or using a service. For this reason, B2B customers are interested in how fast the service is provided and how much save non-monetary cost like time or effort by the service convenience along with service quality. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the impact of service convenience on relationship factors such as relationship satisfaction, relationship commitment, and relationship performance. The purpose of this study is to find out whether service convenience can be a new antecedent of relationship quality and relationship performance. In addition, this study tries to examine how five-dimensional service convenience constructs (decision convenience, access convenience, transaction convenience, benefit convenience, post-benefit convenience) affect customers' relationship satisfaction, relationship commitment, and relationship performance. The service convenience comprises five fundamental components - decision convenience (the perceived time and effort costs associated with service purchase or use decisions), access convenience(the perceived time and effort costs associated with initiating service delivery), transaction convenience(the perceived time and effort costs associated with finalizing the transaction), benefit convenience(the perceived time and effort costs associated with experiencing the core benefits of the offering) and post-benefit convenience (the perceived time and effort costs associated with reestablishing subsequent contact with the firm). Earlier studies of perceived service convenience in the industrial market are none. The conventional studies that have dealt with service convenience have usually been made in the consumer market, or they have dealt with convenience aspects in the service process. This service convenience measure for consumer market can be useful tool to estimate service quality in B2B market. The conceptualization developed by Berry et al. (2002) reflects a multistage, experiential consumption process in which evaluations of convenience vary at each stage. For this reason, the service convenience measure is good for B2B service environment which has complex processes and various types. Especially when categorizing B2B service as sequential stage of service delivery like Kumar and Kumar (2004), the Berry's service convenience measure which reflect sequential flow of service deliveries suitable to establish B2B service convenience. For this study, data were gathered from respondents who often buy business service and analyzed by structural equation modeling. The sample size in the present study is 119. Composite reliability values and average variance extracted values were examined for each variable to have reliability. We determine whether the measurement model supports the convergent validity by CFA, and discriminant validity was assessed by examining the correlation matrix of the constructs. For each pair of constructs, the square root of the average variance extracted exceeded their correlations, thus supporting the discriminant validity of the constructs. Hypotheses were tested using the Smart PLS 2.0 and we calculated the PLS path values and followed with a bootstrap re-sampling method to test the hypotheses. Among the five dimensional service convenience constructs, four constructs (decision convenience, transaction convenience, benefit convenience, post-benefit convenience) affected customers' positive relationship satisfaction, relationship commitment, and relationship performance. This result means that service convenience is important cue to improve relationship between buyer and seller. One of the five service convenience dimensions, access convenience, does not affect relationship quality and performance, which implies that the dimension of service convenience is not important factor of cumulative satisfaction. The Cumulative satisfaction can be distinguished from transaction-specific customer satisfaction, which is an immediate post-purchase evaluative judgment or an affective reaction to the most recent transactional experience with the firm. Because access convenience minimizes the physical effort associated with initiating an exchange, the effect on relationship satisfaction similar to cumulative satisfaction may be relatively low in terms of importance than transaction-specific customer satisfaction. Also, B2B firms focus on service quality, price, benefit, follow-up service and so on than convenience of time or place in service because it is relatively difficult to change existing transaction partners in B2B market compared to consumer market. In addition, this study using partial least squares methods reveals that customers' satisfaction and commitment toward relationship has mediating role between the service convenience and relationship performance. The result shows that management and investment to improve service convenience make customers' positive relationship satisfaction, and then the positive relationship satisfaction can enhance the relationship commitment and relationship performance. And to conclude, service convenience management is an important part of successful relationship performance management, and the service convenience is an important antecedent of relationship between buyer and seller such as the relationship commitment and relationship performance. Therefore, it has more important to improve relationship performance that service providers enhance service convenience although competitive service development or service quality improvement is important. Given the pressure to provide increased convenience, it is not surprising that organizations have made significant investments in enhancing the convenience aspect of their product and service offering.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.707-718
• /
• 2012

This study was conducted to monitor 4 years of changes in the vegetation structure starting from 2007 when restoration began and propose vegetation management ideas for the riparian ecological restoration areas in the purchased land around Nakdonggang(River). The study was conducted in each of 15 locations ($208,342m^2$) in the riparian ecological restoration areas in November 2007, September 2008, October 2009 and September 2010. The analysis results of the changes in planting species and population showed that, in the case of trees, Acer pseudo-sieboldianum, Quercus acutissima, Acer ginnala, Quercus aliena, Quercus variabilis indicated relatively little changes in their numbers and Quercus dentata, Cornus walteri, Morus alba, Styrax obassia, Sorbus alnifolia var. macrophylla indicated a 100% withering rate. Most shrubs withered due to the oppressive pressure of herbs and climbing plants. The planting density decreased over 4 years on average 28 plants/$100m^2$ to 20 plants/$100m^2$ to 16 plants/$100m^2$. Shortly after the restoration, The the amount of growth was reduced by restoration stress. however as time goes on after the restoration tended to stabilize. The changes in the basal area showed a decrease from $507.1cm^2/100m^2$ in 2007 right after restoration to $301.8cm^2/100m^2$ in 2008 and afterwards showed an increasing trend by going to $324.9cm^2/100m^2$ in 2009 and $372.7cm^2/100m^2$ in 2010. To improve the planting structure of the riparian ecological restoration area, the selection of tree species that have been considered for soil moisture and the differentiation of suitable planting structures that have been considered for local conditions were needed.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.56 no.4
• /
• pp.577-584
• /
• 2018

This study was conducted to investigate the potential of chicken feather (CF), which is a by-product in poultry industry, as a partial substitute of wood fiber in the production of wood-based fiberboard. Keratin-type protein constituted the majority of CF, and its appearance did not differ from that of wood fiber. When the formaldehyde (HCHO) adsorptivities of CF compared by its pretreatment type, feather meal (FM), which was pretreated CF with high temperature and pressure and then grounded, showed the highest HCHO adsorptivity. In addition, there was no difference between the adsorbed HCHO amounts, which was measured by dinitrophenylhydrazine method, of scissors-chopped CF and CF beated with an electrical blender. Mechanical properties and HCHO emission of medium-density fiberboards (MDF), which were fabricated with wood fiber and 5 wt% CF, beated CF or FM based on the oven-dried weight of wood fiber, were not influenced by the pretreatment type of CF. However, when the values compared with those of MDF made with just wood fiber, thickness swelling and HCHO emission of the MDF were improved greatly with the addition of CF, beated CF or FM. Based on the results, it might be possible to produce MDF with improved dimensional stability and low HCHO emission if CF, beated CF or FM is added partially as a substitute of wood fiber in the manufacturing process of MDF produced with the conventional urea-formaldehyde resin of $E_1$ grade. However, the use of CF or FM in the production of MDF has a low economic feasibility at the current situation due to the securing difficulty and high cost of CF. In order to enhance the economic feasibility, it requires to use CF produced at small to medium-sized chicken meat plants. More importantly, it is considered that the technology developed from this research has a great potential to make provision for the prohibition of animal-based feed and to dispose environmentally avian influenza-infected poultry.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.147-165
• /
• 1992

This paper analyzes the macroeconomic effects of elections on the Korean economy and their future ramifications. It measures the shocks to the Korean economy caused by elections by taking the average of sample forecast errors from four major elections held in the 1980s. The seven variables' Bayesian Vector Autoregression Model which includes the Monetary Base, Industrial Production, Consumption, Consumer Price, Exports, and Investment is based on the quarterly time series data starting from 1970 and is updated every quarter before forecasts are made for the next quarter. Because of this updating of coefficients, which reflects in part the rapid structural changes of the Korean economy, this study can capture the shock effect of elections, which is not possible when using election dummies with a fixed coefficient model. In past elections, especially the elections held in the 1980s, $M_2$ did not show any particular movement, but the currency and base money increased during the quarter of the election was held and the increment was partly recalled in the next quarter. The liquidity of interest rates as measured by corporate bond yields fell during the quarter the election and then rose in the following quarter, which is somewhat contrary to the general concern that interest rates will increase during election periods. Manufacturing employment fell in the quarter of the election because workers turned into campaigners. This decline in employment combined with voting holiday produce a sizeable decline in industrial production during the quarter in which elections are held, but production catches up in the next quarter and sometimes more than offsets the disruption caused during the election quarter. The major shocks to price occur in the previous quarter, reflecting the expectational effect and the relaxation of government price control before the election when we simulate the impulse responses of the VAR model, imposing the same shocks that was measured in the past elections for each election to be held in 1992 and assuming that the elections in 1992 will affect the economy in the same manner as in the 1980s elections, 1992 is expected to see a sizeable increase in monetary base due to election and prices increase pressure will be amplified substantially. On the other hand, the consumption increase due to election is expected to be relatively small and the production will not decrease. Despite increased liquidity, a large portion of liquidity in circulation being used as election funds will distort the flow of funds and aggravate the fund shortage causing investments in plant and equipment and construction activities to stagnate. These effects will be greatly amplified if elections for the head of local government are going to be held this year. If mayoral and gubernatorial elections are held after National Assembly elections, their effect on prices and investment will be approximately double what they normally will have been have only congressional and presidential elections been held. Even when mayoral and gubernatorial elections are held at the same time as congressional elections, the elections of local government heads are shown to add substantial effects to the economy for the year. The above results are based on the assumption that this year's elections will shock the economy in the same manner as in past elections. However, elections in consecutive quarters do not give the economy a chance to pause and recuperate from past elections. This year's elections may have greater effects on prices and production than shown in the model's simulations because campaigners' return to industry may be delayed. Therefore, we may not see a rapid recall of money after elections. In view of the surge in the monetary base and price escalation in the periods before and after elections, economic management in 1992 should place its first priority on controlling the monetary aggregate, in particular, stabilizing the growth of the monetary base.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.39-47
• /
• 2009

The importance of securing water resources and their efficient management has attracted more attention recently due to water deficit. In water budget analysis, however, evapotranspiration(${\lambda}E$) has been approximated as the residual in the water balance equation or estimated from empirical equations and assumptions. To minimize the uncertainties in these estimates, it is necessary to directly measure ${\lambda}E$. In this study, using the eddy covariance technique, we have measured ${\lambda}E$ in a mixed forest in the Seolmacheon catchment in Korea from September 2007 to December 2008. During the growing season(May-July), ${\lambda}E$ in this mixed forest averaged about $2.2\;mm\;d^{-1}$, whereas it was on average $0.5\;mm\;d^{-1}$ during the non-growing season in winter. The annual total ${\lambda}E$ in 2008 was $581\;mm\;y^{-1}$, which is about 1/3 of the annual precipitation of 1997 mm. Despite the differences in the amount and frequency of precipitation, the accumulated ${\lambda}E$ during the overlapping period(i.e., September to December) for 2007 and 2008 was both ${\sim}110$ mm, showing virtually no difference. The omega factor, which is a measure of decoupling between forest and the atmosphere, was on average 0.5, indicating that the contributions of equilibrium ${\lambda}E$ and imposed ${\lambda}E$ to the total ${\lambda}E$ were about the same. The results suggest that ${\lambda}E$ in this mixed forest was controlled by various factors such as net radiation, vapor pressure deficit, and canopy conductance. In this study, based on the direct measurements of ${\lambda}E$, we have quantified the relative contribution of ${\lambda}E$ in the water balance of a mixed forest in the Seolmacheon catchment. In combination with runoff data, the information on ${\lambda}E$ would greatly enhance the reliability of water budget analysis in this catchment.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.64 no.2
• /
• pp.125-132
• /
• 2008

Background: In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, the serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) are elevated and an increase of CRP is more exaggerated in the acute exacerbation form of COPD (AECOPD) than in stable COPD. Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a common complication of COPD. An increased level of CRP is known to be associated with the risk of systemic cardio-vascular disorders. However, few findings are available on the potential role of CRP in pulmonary arterial hypertension due to COPD. Methods: This study was performed prospectively and the study population was composed of 72 patients that were hospitalized due to AECOPD. After receiving acute management for AECOPD, serum CRP levels were evaluated, arterial oxygen pressure ($PaO_2$), was measured, and the existence of pulmonary arterial hypertension under room air inhalation was determined in the patients. Results: The number of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension was 47 (65.3%)., There was an increased prevalence of pulmonary arterial hypertension and an increase of serum CRP levels in patients with the higher stages of COPD (e.g., patients with stage 3 and stage 4 disease; P<0.05). The mean serum CRP levels of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and without pulmonary arterial hypertension were $37.6{\pm}7.4mg/L$ and $19.9{\pm}6.6mg/L$, respectively (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference of the mean values of $PaO_2$ between patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and without pulmonary arterial hypertension statistically ($77.8{\pm}3.6mmHg$ versus $87.2{\pm}6.0mmHg). Conclusion: We conclude that higher serum levels of CRP can be a sign for pulmonary arterial hypertension in AECOPD patients.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.70-78
• /
• 2006

This study was performed to investigate the effect of 12-week weight control program including nutrition education, diet therapy and regular exercise on body weight, obesity degree, BMI and blood lipid levels among middle aged obese women. The 31 middle aged obese women participated in the weight control program for 12-week. The body weight, body composition, blood lipid levels and food habit were measured before and after the weight control program. Changes in body weight after 12 week weight control program showed the slight reduction from $67.4{\pm}10.8kg\;to\;65.1{\pm}9.2kg$. Obesity degree and BMI were decreased from $128.4{\pm}19.1%,\;27.8{\pm}3.9\;to\;123.4{\pm}15.7%,\;26.8{\pm}3.0$, respectively. Waist-hip ratio was also decreased from $0.98{\pm}10.16\;to\;0.94{\pm}0.04$. LBM was also slightly reduced from $39.9{\pm}5.6kg\;to\;37.0{\pm}8.5kg$ with the reduction of body fat. The levels of systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol and triglyceride were slightly decreased, HDL-chol level was significantly increased from $43.1{\pm}14.1mg/dL\;to\;50.4{\pm}16.5mg/dL$. Waist-hip ratio was also slightly decreased after 12 weeks. Food habit score was significantly increased after nutriton education and personal counseling about their eating behaviors and nutritional status.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.263-268
• /
• 2009

This study was conducted to determine application possibility of mulberry (Morus alba) silage as a functional feed in feeding management of Korean native cattle for high quality beef production by analysing active components and antioxidative activity. The chemical analysis of mulberry silage indicates that the content of dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, crude fiber and crude ash was $28.41{\pm}3.12%,\;12.43{\pm}0.28%,\;2.47{\pm}0.18%,\;20.29{\pm}0.75%\;and\;6.98{\pm}0.12%$, respectively. The content of 1-deoxynojirimycin (1-DNJ), which is representative active ingredient of mulberry and blood sugar descending component, was 0.568 mg/g and the content of $\gamma$-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is blood pressure descending component, was 5,936.22 pmol. Mulberry silage used in this study did not contain flavonoids but did contain total phenols for 21.69 ${\mu}g/mg$. 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity was increased with increasing the concentration of mulberry silage extracts and there was above 50% of scavenging activity at the concentration of 0.25 mg/ml. Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity was also increased with increasing the concentration of silage extracts. Alkyl radical scavenging activity was high at the low concentration of silage extracts, which was above 50% of scavenging activity at the concentration of 0.125 mg/ml. The result of this study indicated that there was high possibility of mulberry silage as a functional feed for beef cattle.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2017

The purpose of this study is to find out which factors determine the success of start-up in the initial market and what are the most important determinants. For the empirical analysis, the questionnaire related to the analysis of success factors for start-up success was designed according to the quantitative analysis (AHP technique). First, we selected 8 representative success factors for successful start-up in the initial market. In order to determine the degree of priority among these factors, we surveyed 12 entrepreneurs who are interested in entrepreneurship, universities, research institutes, and public officials. As a result of the empirical analysis, 51% of the funds in the tier 1 were ranked as the top priority to determine success factors. Followed by research and development (32.5%), management (8.7%) and marketing (7.8%). In particular, when each of the four items is calculated as 100 according to the result of the tier 1, and the tier 2 is converted, the foreign investment is analyzed as 43.7%. It was followed by 15.14% of R & D facilities, 14.07% of ideas, 8.7% of managerial ability, 7.29% of domestic investment, 5.85% of buyer feedback, 3.3% of development strategy and 1.95% of marketing strategy. Among the eight success factors, overseas investment items showed the closest preference to half, and it was the most important variable that determines the success or failure of market entry. The implication of this study is that many start-ups in Korea expect to receive investment and support from overseas accelerators. This means that overseas investment itself has been recognized as a start-up that makes services and products that can be used in the global market. A high preference for attracting foreign investment is due to the fact that the amount of investment is larger than that of Korea and that it can flexibly cope with the pressure on the performance compared to domestic investors. In this study, it was meaningful that we could confirm this fact through questionnaires of start-up experts. In future research, we need to find a viable alternative through studying how to provide start-up to foreign direct investment at the national level.