• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.103-128
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• 2013

When a consumer needs a product or service and multiple sellers are available online, the process of selecting a seller to buy online from is complex since the process involves many behavioral dimensions that have to be taken into account. As a part of this selection process, consumers may set minimum trust expectation that can be used to screen out less trustworthy sellers. In the previous research, the level of consumers' trust expectation has been anchored on two important factors: product involvement and perceived risk. Product involvement refers to the extent to which a consumer perceives a specific product important. Thus, the higher product involvement may result in the higher trust expectation in sellers. On the other hand, other related studies found that when consumers perceived a higher level of risk (e.g., credit card fraud risk), they set higher trust expectation as well. While abundant research exists addressing the relationship between product involvement and perceived risk, little attention has been paid to the integrative view of the link between the two constructs and their impacts on the trust expectation. The present paper is a step toward filling this research gap. The purpose of this paper is to understand the process by which a consumer chooses an online merchant by examining the relationships among product involvement, perceived risk, trust expectation, and intention to buy from an e-tailer. We specifically focus on the mediating role of perceived risk in the relationships between enduring product involvement and the trust expectation. That is, we question whether product involvement affects the trust expectation directly without mediation or indirectly mediated by perceived risk. The research model with four hypotheses was initially tested using data gathered from 635 respondents through an online survey method. The structural equation modeling technique with partial least square was used to validate the instrument and the proposed model. The results showed that three out of the four hypotheses formulated were supported. First, we found that the intention to buy from a digital storefront is positively and significantly influenced by the trust expectation, providing support for H4 (trust expectation ${\rightarrow}$ purchase intention). Second, perceived risk was found to be a strong predictor of trust expectation, supporting H2 as well (perceived risk ${\rightarrow}$ trust expectation). Third, we did not find any evidence of direct influence of product involvement, which caused H3 to be rejected (product involvement ${\rightarrow}$ trust expectation). Finally, we found significant positive relationship between product involvement and perceived risk (H1: product involvement ${\rightarrow}$ perceived risk), which suggests that the possibility of complete mediation of perceived risk in the relationship between enduring product involvement and the trust expectation. As a result, we conducted an additional test for the mediation effect by comparing the original model with the revised model without the mediator variable of perceived risk. Indeed, we found that there exists a strong influence of product involvement on the trust expectation (by intentionally eliminating the variable of perceived risk) that was suppressed (i.e., mediated) by the perceived risk in the original model. The Sobel test statistically confirmed the complete mediation effect. Results of this study offer the following key findings. First, enduring product involvement is positively related to perceived risk, implying that the higher a consumer is enduringly involved with a given product, the greater risk he or she is likely to perceive with regards to the online purchase of the product. Second, perceived risk is positively related to trust expectation. A consumer with great risk perceptions concerning the online purchase is likely to buy from a highly trustworthy online merchant, thereby mitigating potential risks. Finally, product involvement was found to have no direct influence on trust expectation, but the relationship between the two constructs was indirect and mediated by the perceived risk. This is perhaps an important theoretical integration of two separate streams of literature on product involvement and perceived risk. The present research also provides useful implications for practitioners as well as academicians. First, one implication for practicing managers in online retail stores is that they should invest in reducing the perceived risk of consumers in order to lower down the trust expectation and thus increasing the consumer's intention to purchase products or services. Second, an academic implication is that perceived risk mediates the relationship between enduring product involvement and trust expectation. Further research is needed to elaborate the theoretical relationships among the constructs under consideration.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.62-66
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• 2015

Purpose Various database comparison methods(DCM) are used for analyzing functional neuro-imaging. It is possible to statistically evaluate decreased or increased metabolism of abnormal patient's brain by comparing with asymptomatic controls in DCM. And results of DCM are additionally used for easily explaining defect region. The aim of this study was to evaluate usefulness of statistical parametric mapping(SPM) and scenium. Materials and Methods Data of 15 patients($62.02{\pm}15.03year$) underwent $^{18}F-FDG$ brain PET/CT were collected and analyzed. Biograph TruePoint 40 with TrueV, (Siemens) was used as a PET/CT scanner. Scenium(version 4.0) in Syngo.via(version VA30A) and SPM99 were applied for statistical evaluation. Consistency between PET reading and result of DCM were evaluated by 5 nuclear medicine physicians through a questionnaire survey. SUV and SD changes were evaluated by changing iteration, gaussian filter and matrix size in scenium. And average required time for generating result of SPM99 and scenium was compared by 3 medical technologists. Results Consistency from the result of SPM99 and scenium showed 84% and 92.4% compare to PET reading. When iteration 4, FWHM 8 and matrix size 168, SUV and SD were decreased by 0.59%, 8.73%, 4.69%, 20.38% and 0.88%, 8.25% respectively compare to routine parameter(iteration 8, FWHM 2 and matrix size 336) of scenium. Average required time of SPM99 and Scenium took 282 seconds and 116 seconds to generate result. Conclusion Results of SPM99 and Scenium showed high consistency compare to PET reading. Various parameters can be controled by user when using SPM. However, normal database needs to be acquired. And it takes significant amount of time and effort for the first set up. On the other hand, Scenium provides normal database even though modifiable parameters are limited. Therefore, more informations could be provided for brain PET/CT if properly understanding and selecting each DCM.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.76-82
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• 2017

Purpose Whole body bone scan is one of the most frequently performed in nuclear medicine. Basically, both the anterior and posterior views are acquired simultaneously. Occasionally, it is difficult to distinguish the lesion by only the anterior view and the posterior view. In this case, accurate location of the lesion through SPECT / CT or additional static scan images are important. Therefore, in this study, various improvement activities have been carried out in order to enhance the work capacity of technologists. In this study, we investigate the effect of technologist training and standardized work process processes on bone scan error reduction. Materials and Methods Several systems have been introduced in sequence for the application of new processes. The first is the implementation of education and testing with physicians, the second is the classification of patients who are expected to undergo further scanning, introducing a pre-filtration system that allows technologists to check in advance, and finally, The communication system called NMQA is applied. From January, 2014 to December, 2016, we examined the whole body bone scan patients who visited the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea Results We investigated errors based on the Bone Scan NMQA sent from January 2014 to December 2016. The number of tests in which NMQA was transmitted over the entire bone scan during the survey period was calculated as a percentage. The annual output is 141 cases in 2014, 88 cases in 2015, and 86 cases in 2016. The rate of NMQA has decreased to 0.88% in 2014, 0.53% in 2015 and 0.45% in 2016. Conclusion The incidence of NMQA has decreased since 2014 when the new process was applied. However, we believe that it will be necessary to accumulate data continuously in the future because of insufficient data until statistically confirming its usefulness. This study confirmed the necessity of standardized work and education to improve the quality of Bone Scan image, and it is thought that update is needed for continuous research and interest in the future.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.743-760
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• 2014

This study aimed to isolate and identify freshwater algae from the organic agricultural ecosystems and investigate its biological characteristics to study the possibility of utilizing a biomass freshwater algae in organic farming. In the survey area, average water temperature was $12.4{\sim}28.2^{\circ}C$ and the pH ranges were from 6.1 to 8.5. The solid culture method is more suitable than liquid culture method for isolation of freshwater algae with lower contamination level and higher isolation frequency. A total of 115 strains were isolated from six freshwater algae habitats in nine regions in Korea. BGMM (BG11 Modified Medium) amended with NaNO3 and $KNO_3$ as a nitrogen, and $Na_2CO_3$ as carbon source was designed to isolate and culture freshwater algae. Absorbance of freshwater algae culture has increased dramatically to four days and decreased after eight days after inoculation. CHK008 of the seven isolates showed the highest absorbance in seven days after culturing in BGMM. The optimal pH of BGMM for culturing freshwater algae was pH 6-7. As light intensity increased, growth of freshwater algae increased. Among the five kinds of carbon sources, glucose and galactose promoted good growth of freshwater algae in BGMM. The colony color of purified 16 green algae isolates showed a separation of green, dark and light green, and of them, eleven algae strains showed a strong fluorescent light under fluorescence microscopy. Cell size of the green algae showed a wide range of variation depending on the species. General morphology of the green algae strains was spherical. Chlamydomonas sp. was elliptical, and Chlorella sorokiniana was ellipsoidal and cylindrical. All strains of the green algae except for Chlamydomonas sp. did not have flagella. One isolate of Chlamydomonas sp. and five isolates of C. sorokiniana secreted mucus. Sixteen isolates of 16 green algae were identified as two family and six species, Chlorella vulgalis, C. sorokiniana, C. pyrenoidosa, C. kessleri, C. emersonii, and Chlamydomonas sp. based on their morphological characteristics.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.267-285
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• 2002

Dok Island, a Pliocene volcano, lies in the southwestern part of the East Sea. Most the work to date have focused primarily on the petrolography of the island, and as a result, the morphological characteristics and internal structure of the volcanic edifices of the Dok Island remain poorly understood. To provide better constraints on these features, bathymetric data with multibeam echo sounder, 32-channel seismic and 3D gravity modeling were used in this study. Three positive topographic highs are present in the study area, and these highs satisfy the seamount criteria. They are named as Dokdo, Tamhae, and Donghae seamounts. 32-channel seismic survey was conducted to investigate the sediment thickness of the area, which shows that there are no sediments near the summit of seamounts. Away from the seamounts, however, sediment becomes thick(>2000 m) toward the western part of the study area, and sediments in the northern and southern parts are about 1000 m thick. Free-Air gravity anomalies in this study generally follow the bathymetric feature with less than -20 mGal at the western part, but increase towards the seamounts. In the summit of the Dokdo Seamount, anomalies reach over 120 mGal, and in Tamhae and Donghae seamounts, the peak anomaly shows 90 and 70 mGals, respectively. All seamounts have an isolated volcanic conduit in their centre and show regional compensation root with 0.5～1.5 km thickness. The flat-topped summit of the seamounts is probably caused by wave truncation, indicating the sea level at the time of formation of the flat-topped geometry. Comparison between the present-day sea level and subsidence level during the opening of the East Sea suggests that the seamounts in the study area have subsided by 200～300 m after the formation. Furthermore, it implies that the seamounts formed over 12～10 Ma.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.234-265
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• 2013

Oceanic current maps in the secondary school science and earth science textbooks have played an important role in piquing students's inquisitiveness and interests in the ocean. Such maps can provide students with important opportunities to learn about oceanic currents relevant to abrupt climate change and global energy balance issues. Nevertheless, serious and diverse errors in these secondary school oceanic current maps have been discovered upon comparison with up-to-date scientific knowledge concerning oceanic currents. This study presents the fundamental methods and strategies for constructing such maps error-free, through the unification of the diverse current maps currently in the textbooks. In order to do so, we analyzed the maps found in 27 different textbooks and compared them with other up-to-date maps found in scientific journals, and developed a mapping technique for extracting digitalized quantitative information on warm and cold currents in the East Sea. We devised analysis items for the current visualization in relation to the branching features of the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) in the Korea Strait. These analysis items include: its nearshore and offshore branches, the northern limit and distance from the coast of the East Korea Warm Current, outflow features of the TWC near the Tsugaru and Soya Straits and their returning currents, and flow patterns of the Liman Cold Current and the North Korea Cold Current. The first draft of the current map was constructed based upon the scientific knowledge and input of oceanographers based on oceanic in-situ measurements, and was corrected with the help of a questionnaire survey to the members of an oceanographic society. In addition, diverse comments have been collected from a special session of the 2013 spring meeting of the Korean Oceanographic Society to assist in the construction of an accurate current map of the East Sea which has been corrected repeatedly through in-depth discussions with oceanographers. Finally, we have obtained constructive comments and evaluations of the interim version of the current map from several well-known ocean current experts and incorporated their input to complete the map's final version. To avoid errors in the production of oceanic current maps in future textbooks, we provide the geolocation information (latitude and longitude) of the currents by digitalizing the map. This study is expected to be the first step towards the completion of an oceanographic current map suitable for secondary school textbooks, and to encourage oceanographers to take more interest in oceanic education.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.206-213
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• 2013

Glass eels (Anguilla japonica) are caught in the west coast of Korea on their migratory route from the breeding grounds in the Mariana Trench along the North Equatorial Current and the Kuroshio Current. To identify the food source of natural glass eels, we analyzed the stable C and N isotopes of glass eels caught in April 2012 and investigated possible food sources in the survey area. In particular, with respect to the stable C and N isotopes of particulate organic matter, we extended the surveying area to the northern parts of East China Sea as well as the west coast of Korea. The stable C and N isotope ratios of the glass eels caught in the west coast were found to be $-20.7{\pm}0.1$‰ and $5.0{\pm}0.2$‰, respectively. The stable C and N isotope ratios of the particulate organic matter in the west coast of Korea, in which the glass eels are assumed to eat the particulate organic matter as food source, were estimated to be $-24.0{\pm}0.3$‰ and $2.8{\pm}0.4$‰, respectively. Similar data were obtained from the northern part of the East China Sea, $-24.5{\pm}0.5$‰ and $0.8{\pm}0.3$‰. The stable isotope ratios showed values differing from the stepwise increasing rates up the food web in natural aquatic ecosystem, showing that particulate organic matter in the west coast of Korea and East China Sea was not served as the glass eels food source. This result suggested that the glass eels caught in the west coast might not assimilate nutrition from the marine environment during long migration.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.85-94
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• 2009

This study examines the operational effectiveness of a Convection Current Aeration System (CCAS) in reservoir. CCAS was run from June, 2008 when the thermocline begun forming in the reservoir. This paper reviews the influence of stratification, dissolved oxygen dynamics and temperature in the lake's natural state from June to October 2008. The survey was done on a week basis. Upwelling flow effects a radius of $7{\sim}10m$ at a surface directly and was irrelevant to the strength of thermocline. On the other hand, it was affected the number of working days, and strength of thermocline at vertical profiles of the reservoir. Longer CCAS run, the deeper was the vertical direct flow area. However it didn't break the thermocline during summer season of 2008. The operating efficiency of the CCAS in the reservoir depends on hydraulics and meteological conditions. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a very useful tool for evaluating the operating efficiency of fluid dynamics. The geometry for CFD simulation consists of a cylindrical vessel 25 m radius and 40 m height. The CCAS is located in center of domain. The non-uniform tetrahedral meshes had a bulk of the geometry. The meshes ranged from the coarse to the very fine. This is attributed to the cold water flowing into the downcomer and rising, creating a horizontal flow to the top of the CCAS. The result of CFD demonstrate a closer agreement with surveyed data for temperature and flow velocity. Theoretical dispersion volume were calculated at 8m depth, 120 m diameter working for 30 days and 10 m depth, 130 m diameter working for 50 days.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.27-39
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• 1996

A survey was conducted for dairy farmer to estimate the optimum number of machine and equipment in 1994. Labor hours, operation costs and operation methods for each dairy processing were investigated and analyzed for the farmers to find the expected numbers of machine and equipment on the basis of the desired farm scale. And also, the estimated models were compared and analyzed with the conventional models which more than half dairy farmers used bucket milker in tie stall barn. Some of the results are as follows : 1. Analysis results of conventional model showed that a dairy farm could raise to 15 heads of dairy cow with family labor of 1.5 men, labor hours of 2, 700 in you and total operation costs of 734 thousand won per head. 2. The result, used in conjunction with minimum operation costs in tie stall barn, showed that 28 dairy cows could be raised by using concentrates feeding by hoppers, water supply by water cups, milking by pipeline milker, and manure cleaning by barn cleaner with total operation costs of 520 thousands won per head. 3. The total operation costs of a loose barn system is higher than those of tie stall barn system to raise about 30 heads. For the loose barn system, the herringbone parlour was used for milking, concentrate feeding by automatic concentrate feeder, water supply by thermal insulation feeder, and manure cleaning by scraper with total operation costs of 582 thousands won per head every year.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2013

This study investigated the frequency, amount and consumption patterns of 50 potentially hazardous foods (PHF) along with consumers' risk perceptions towards PHF in Korea. A quantitative survey was performed from May through August by trained interviewers, surveying 1,000 adults aged over 18 who were randomly selected from six major provinces in Korea. Consumers perceived seafood, including shellfish, mussel, sashimi and sushi, as the top foods with the highest risk, followed by raw sliced beef. The food with the highest frequency intake per month was leafy vegetables, which is used to wrap other foods, followed by blanched vegetables, fried chicken, etc. The group of middle aged individuals with economic stability had the highest frequency intake of sashimi and sushi. Respondents living in small regions consume greater PHF portions at once. Food safety education with regard to the risk of PHF is essential for consumers, with high frequent intake of PHF.