• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.17-26
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• 2010

Recently concerns have been raised due to the unbalanced supply of crops: the price of crops has been unstable and at one point the price went up so high that the word Agflation(agriculture+ inflation) was coined. Korea, in particular, is a small-sized country and needs to secure the stable supply of crops by investing in the produce importation at a national level. Investment in foreign produce importation is becoming more important as a measure for sufficient supply of crops, limited supply of domestic crops, weakened farming conditions worldwide, as well as recent changes in the use of crops due to the development of bio-fuels, influence of carbon emission on crops, the price increase in crops, and influx of foreign hot money. However, there are many problems with investing in foreign produce importation: lack of support from the government; lack of farming information and technology; difficulty in securing the capital; no immediate pay-off from the investment and insufficient management. Although foreign produce is originally more price-competitive than domestic produce, it loses its competiveness in the process of importation (due to high tariffs) and poor distribution system, which makes it difficult to sell in Korea. Therefore, investment in foreign produce importation is being questioned for feasibility; to make it possible, foreign produce must maintain the price-competitiveness. Especially, harvest of agricultural products depends on natural and geographical conditions of each country and those products have indigenous properties, so distribution system according to import and export of agricultural products should be treated more carefully than that of other industries. Distribution costs are differentiated into each item and include cost of sorting and wrapping, cost of wrapping materials, cost of domestic transport, cost of international transport and cost of clearing customs for import and export. So transporting and storing agricultural products generates considerable costs compared with other products. Also, due to upgrade of dietary life, needs for stability, taste and visible quality toward food including agricultural products are being raised and wrong way of storage causes decomposition of food and loss of freshness, making the storage more difficult than that in room temperature, so storage and transport in distribution of agricultural products needs specialty. In addition, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. However, existing distribution system of agricultural products is exposed to various problems including problems in distribution channel, making distribution and strategy for distribution and those problems are as follows. First, in case of investment in overseas agricultural industry, stable supply of the products is difficult because areas of production are dispersed widely and influenced by outer factors due to including overseas distribution channels. Also, at the aspect of quality, standardization of products is difficult, distribution system is quite complicated and unreasonable due to long distribution channels according to international trade and financial and institutional support is not enough. Especially, there are quite a lot of ineffective factors including multi level distribution process, dramatic gap between production cost and customer's cost, lack of physical distribution facilities and difficulties in storage and transport due to lack of wrapping containers. Besides, because import and export of agricultural products has been manages under the company's own distribution according to transaction contract between manufacturers and exporting company, efficiency is low due to excessive investment in fixed costs and lack of specialty in dealing with agricultural products causes fall of value of products, showing the limit to lose price-competitiveness. Especially, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. Second, among tangible and intangible services which promote the efficiency of the whole distribution, a function building distribution environment which includes distribution information, system for standard and inspection, distribution finance, system for diversification of risks, education and training, distribution administration and tax system is wanted. In general, such a function building distribution environment is difficult to be changed and supplement innovatively because its effect compared with investment does not appear immediately despite of its necessity. Especially, in case of distribution of agricultural products, as a function of collecting and distributing is performed individually through various channels, the importance of distribution information and standardization is getting more focus due to the problem of repetition of work and lack of specialty. Also, efficient management of distribution is quite difficult due to lack of professionals in distribution, so support to professional education is needed. Third, though effort to keep self-sufficiency ratio of staple food, rice is regarded as important at the government level, level of dependency on overseas of others crops is high. Therefore, plan for stable securing food resources aside from staple food is also necessary. Especially, governmental organizations of agricultural products distribution in Korea are production-centered and have unreasonable structure whose function at the aspect of distribution and consumption is quite insufficient. And development of new distribution channels which can deal with changes in distribution environment and they do not achieve actual results of strategy for distribution due to non-positive strategy for price distribution. That is, it implies the possibility that base for supply will become vulnerable because it does not mediate appropriate interests on total distribution channels such as manufacturers, wholesale dealers and vendors by emphasizing consumer protection excessively in the distribution of agricultural products. Therefore, this study examined fundamental concept and actual situation for our investment to overseas agriculture, drew necessities, considerations, problems, etc. of overseas agricultural investment and suggested improvements at the level of distribution for price competitiveness of agricultural products cultivated in overseas under five aspects; government's indirect support, distribution's modernization and distribution information function's strengthening, government's political support for distribution facility, transportation route, load and unloading works' improvement, price competitiveness' securing, professional manpower's cultivation by education and training, etc. Here are some suggestions for foreign produce importation. First, the government should conduct a survey on the current distribution channels and analyze the situation to establish a measure for long-term development plans. By providing each agricultural area with a guideline for planning appropriate production of crops, the government can help farmers be ready for importation, and prevent them from producing same crops all at the same time. Government can sign an MOU with the foreign government and promote the importation so that the development of agricultural resources can be stable and steady. Second, the government can establish a strategy for an effective distribution system by providing farmers and agriculture-related workers with the distribution information such as price, production, demand, market structure and location, feature of each crop, and etc. In order for such distribution system to become feasible, the government needs to reconstruct the current distribution system, designate a public organization for providing distribution information and set the criteria for level of produce quality, trade units, and package units. Third, the government should provide financial support and a policy to seek an efficient distribution channel for foreign produce to be delivered fresh: the government should expand distribution facilities (for selecting, packaging, storing, and processing) and transportation vehicles while modernizing old facilities. There should be another policy to improve the efficiency of unloading, and to lower the cost of distribution. Fourth, it is necessary to enact a new law covering exceptional cases for importing produce in order to maintain the price competitiveness; currently the high tariffs is keeping the imported produce from being distributed domestically. However, the new adjustment should be made carefully within the WTO regulations since it can create a problem from giving preferential tariffs. The government can also simplify the distribution channels in order to reduce the cost in the distribution process. Fifth, the government should educate distributors to raise the efficiency and to modernize the distribution system. It is necessary to develop human resources by educating people regarding the foreign agricultural environment, the produce quality, management skills, and by introducing some successful cases in advanced countries.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-28
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• 1974

The writers have conducted the investigation to assess the nutritional status of young rural Korean children aged from 0 to 4 years old in August 1971. The survey areas were Kaejong-myon. Daeya-myon, Okku-gun, Jeonra-bukdo, Korea. These survey areas were typical agricultural plain areas. The total numbers of children examined were 2,706 comprising 1,394 male and 1,312 female. The weight, height, and chest circumference of children were measured and means and standard deviations. were calculated for each measurement. In addition, the nutritional status of each child was classified by the four levels of malnutrition and the Gomez classification, The examination of red blood cell count, haematocrit value, and intestinal parasite infection were carried out at the same time. In general, recent work tend to suggest that environmental influences, especially nutrition, are of great importance than genetic background or other biological factors for physical growth and development. Certainly the physical dimensions of the body are much influenced by nutrition, particularly in the rapidly growing period of early childhood. Selected body measurements can therefore give valuable information concerning protein-calory malnutrition. Growth can also be affected by bacterial, viral, and parasitic infection. For the field workers in a developing country, therefore, nutritional anthropometry appears to be of greatest value in the assessment of growth failure and undernutrition, principally from lack of protein and calories. In order to compare and evaluate the data obtained, the optimal data of growth from the off-spring of the true well-fed, medically and socially protected are needed. So-called 'Standards' that have been compiled for preschool children in Korea, however, are based on measurement of children from middle or lower socio-economic groups, who are, in fact, usually undernourished from six months of age onwards and continuously exposed to a succession of infective and parasitic diseases. So that, the Harvard Standards which is one of the international reference standards was used as the reference standards in this study. Findings of the survey were as follows: A. Anthropometric data: 1) Comparing the mean values for body weight obtained with the Korean standard weight of the same age, the rural Korean children were slightly haevier than the Korean standard values in both sexes. Comparing with the Japanese children values, the rural Korean children were slightly haevier in male and in the infant period of female but lighter in female of the period of 1 to 4 years old than Japanese children. 2) Comparing the mean values for height obtained with the Korean standard height of the same age, the rural Korean children were taller than the Korean standard values except the second half of infatn period in both sexes. Comparing with the Japanese children, the rural Korean children were slightly smaller than Japanese children except the first half of infant peroid in both sexes. 3) Mear values of chest circumference of rural Korean children obtained were less than the Korean standard values of the same ages in both sexes. B. Prevalence of Protein-Calory Malnutrition: Children examined were devided into two groups, i. e., infant(up to the first birthday) and toddler (1 to 4 fears old). 1) Percentages of four levels of malnutrition: a) When the nutrtional status of each child was classified (1) by body weight value, the percentages for male and female of children attained standard growth were 52.8%(infant 83.3%, toddler 44.4%) and 39.7% (infant 74.5%. toddler 30.5%), the first level of malnutrition were 31.9%(infant 13.7%, toddler 36.9%) and 31.7%(infant 15.3%, toddler 36,0%), the second level of malnutrition were 12.3%(infant 1.7%, toddler 15.3%) and 23.3% (infant 7.7%, fodder 27.5%), the third level of malnutrition were 2.7%(infant 0.7%, toddler 3.2%) and 4.6%(infant 1.8%, toddler 5.3%) the fourth level of malnutrition were 0.3% (infant 0.7%, toddler 0.2%) and 0.7% (0.7% for infant and toddler) respectively. (2) by height value, the percentages for male and female of children attained standard growth were 80.3% (infant 97.3%, toddler 75.6%) and 75.1% (infant 96.4%, toddler 69.5), the first level of malnutrition were 17.9% (infant 2.0%, toddler 22.3%) and 23.6% (infants 3.6%, toddler 28.8%), the second level of malnutrition were 1.2% (infant 0.3%, toddler 1.5%) and 1.1% (infant 0%, toddler 1.4%), the third level of malnutrition were 0.4%(infant 0.3%, toddler 0.5%) and 0.2%(infant 0%, toddler 0.3%), the fourth level of malnutrition were 0.1%(infant 0%, toddler 0.1%) and 0% respectively. (3) by body weight in relation to height, the percentages for male and female of children attained standard growth were 87.9% (infant 77.6%, toddler 87.9%) and 78.2% (infant 77.4%, toddler 78.2%), the first level of malnutrition were 12.2% (infant 18.4%, toddler 10.6%) and 18.2% (infant 17.9%, toddler 18.3%), the second level of malnutrition were 1.9%(infant 3.3%, toddler 1.5%) and 3.0%(infant 3.3%, toddler 2.9%), the third level of malnutrition were 0.1%(infant 0%. toddler 0.1%) and 0.5% (infant 0%, toddler 0.6%), the fourth level of malnutrition were 0.1%(infant 0.7%, toddler 0%) and 0.3% (infant 1.5%, toddler 0%) respectively. b) When the nutritional status of each child according to the mother's age at perturition, i. e., young aged mother (up to 30 years old), middle aged mother (31 to 40 years old) and old aged mother (41 years or above) was classified (1) by body weight, among infants and toddlers, at each year of age, with increasing the mother's age, there was an increase in percentage of subjects underweight. This tendency of increasing percentage of underweight was more significant in the infant period than the toddler period. (2) by height value, no significant differences between each mother's age group were found. c) When the nutritional status of each child according to the birth rank, i. e., lower birth rank (first to third) and higher birth rank (fourth or above) was classified (1) by weight value, children of higher birth rank were slightly more often underweight than those of lower birth rank, but not significant. (2) by height value, no differences were found between children of lower and higher birth rank. 2) Gomez Classification: When the nutritional status of each child was classified a) by body weight value, the percentages for male and female of children. attained standard growth were 53.1% (infant 82.6%, toddler 44.9%) and 39.2% (infant 73.4%, toddler 30.1%), the first degree of malnutrition were 39.4% (infant 14.7%, toddler 46.2%) and 47.1% (infant 21.9%, toddler 53.8%), the second degree of malnutrition were 7.3%(infant 2.3%, toddler 8.6%) and 12.9% (infant 4.0%, toddler 15.2%). and the third degree of malnutrition were 0.2%. (infant 0.3%, toddler 0.2%) and 0.8% (infant 0.7%, toddler 0.9%) respectively. b) by height value, the percentages for male and female of children attained standard growth were 80.8% (infant 97.0%, toddler 76.3%) and 73.8%(infant 95.6%, toddler 68.0%), the first degree of malnutrition were 18.5% (infant 2.7%, toddler 22.9%) and 24.6% (infant 4.4%, toddler 30.0%), the second degree of malnutrition were 0.6%(infant 0.3%, toddler 0.7%) and 0.5% (infant 0.1%, toddler 0.7%), and the third degree of malnutrition were 0.1%(infant 0%, toddler 0.1%) and 1.1% (infant 0%, toddler 1.3%) respectively. C. Results of clinical laboratory examination: 1) Red blood cells: The ranges of mean red blood cell counts for male and female were $3,538,000/mm^3\;to\;4,403,000/mm^3\;and\;3,576,000/mm^3\;to\;4,483,000/mm^3$ respectively. The lowest red cell counts were seen at the age of 0-3 months for male and 1-2 months for female. 2) Haematocrit value : The ranges of haematocrit value of male and female were 35.1% to 38.8% and 34.7% to 38.8% respectively. The lowest haematocrit values were seen at the age of 2-3 months for male and 1-2, months for female. 3) The prevalence rates of intestinal parasites for male and female children with Ascaris lumbricoides were 34.1% (infant 18.8%, toddler 38.1%) and 36.0%(infant 18.4%, toddler 40.7%), with Trichocephalus trichiuris were 6.8% (infant 2.9%, toddler 7.9%) and 9.0% (infant 3.0%, toddler 10.6%), with Hookworm were 0.3% (infant 0.5%, toddler 0.2%) and 0.3% (infant 0.5%, toddler 0.3%), with Clonorchis sinensis were 0.4%(infant 0%, toddler 0.5%) and 0.1%(infant 0%, toddler 0.1%) respectively.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.42 no.8
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• pp.770-783
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• 2009

The school foodservice was quantitatively extended by policy of government all the while. There was carried out the survey of customer satisfaction about school foodservice by the ministry of education, science, and technology since 2006 years. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to grasp an improvement of the scores of school foodservice' quality attributes and satisfaction as compared with the preceding year by respondents and school type (elementary school, middle school, and high school). An annual survey was practiced to respondents (students, parents, and faculty) on september 2007 years and 2008 years in 16 cities and provinces. The statistics was analyzed to descriptive analysis and t-test for SPSS 12.0. The scores of school foodservice' quality attributes and overall customer satisfaction were almost increased to students, parents, and faculty and especially, big elevation in middle school. There was big increased the quality attributes such as 'providing information on foodservice', 'pleasant foodservice environment', 'kindness offered by employee' in elementary school, middle school, and high school to total respondents. An overall satisfaction in school foodservice was improved from 69.2 score to 71.9 score. On students, scores of overall satisfaction was increased from 72.9 to 74.0 as students of elementary school and from 61.5 to 65.8 as students of middle school (p < .001). Therefore, for improvement and development of school foodservice, there should be a necessary for an operator of school foodservice and an office of education to make an effort.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.199-207
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• 2010

For us, there is virtually no distinction between being a responsible citizen and a successful business... they are one and the same for Wal-Mart today." ~ Lee Scott, al-Mart CEO after the 2005 Katrina disaster; cited in Green to Gold (Esty and Winston 2006). Lee Scott's statement signaled a new era in sustainability as manufacturers and retailers around the globe watched the world's largest mass merchandiser confirm its intentions with respect to sustainability. For decades, the environmental movement has grown, slowly bleeding over into the corporate world. Companies have been born, products have been created, academic journals have been launched, and government initiatives have been undertaken - all in the pursuit of sustainability (Peattie and Crane 2005). While progress has been admittedly slower than some may desire, the emergence and entrance of environmentally concerned mass merchandisers has done much to help with sustainable efforts. To better understand this movement, we incorporate the perspectives of both executives and consumers involved in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. This research relies on three underlying themes: (1) Conceptual and anecdotal evidence suggests that companies undertake sustainability initiatives for a plethora of reasons, (2) The number of sustainability initiatives continues to increase in the consumer packaged goods industries, and (3) That it is, therefore, necessary to explore the role that sustainability plays in the minds of consumers. In light of these themes, surveys were administered to and completed by 143 college students and 101 business executives to assess a number of variables in regards to sustainability including willingness-to-pay, behavioral intentions, attitudes, willingness-to-pay, and preferences. Survey results indicate that the top three reasons why executives believe sustainability to be important include (1) the opportunity for profitability, (2) the fulfillment of an obligation to the environment, and (3) a responsibility to customers and shareholders. College students identified the top three reasons as (1) a responsibility to the environment, (2) an indebtedness to future generations, and (3) an effective management of resources. While the rationale for supporting sustainability efforts differed between college students and executives, the executives and consumers reported similar responses for the majority of the remaining sustainability issues. Furthermore, when we asked consumers to assess the importance of six key issues (healthcare, economy, education, crime, government spending, and environment) previously identified as important to consumers by Gallup Poll, protecting the environment only ranked fourth out of the six (Carlson 2005). While all six of these issues were identified as important, the top three that emerged as most important were (1) improvements in education, (2) the economy, and (3) health care. As the pursuit and incorporation of sustainability continues to evolve, so too will the expected outcomes. New definitions of performance that reflect the social/business benefits as well as the lengthened implementation period are relevant and warranted (Ehrenfeld 2005; Hitchcock and Willard 2006). We identified three primary categories of outcomes based on a literature review of both anecdotal and conceptual expectations of sustainability: (1) improvements in constituent satisfaction, (2) differentiation opportunities, and (3) financial rewards. Within each of these categories, several specific outcomes were identified resulting in eleven different outcomes arising from sustainability initiatives. Our survey results indicate that the top five most likely outcomes for companies that pursue sustainability are: (1) green consumers will be more satisfied, (2) company image will be better, (3) corporate responsibility will be enhanced, (4) energy costs will be reduced, and (5) products will be more innovative. Additionally, to better understand the interesting intersection between the environmental "identity" of a consumer and the willingness to manifest that identity with marketplace purchases, we extended prior research developed by Experian Research (2008). Accordingly, respondents were categorized as one of four types of green consumers (Behavioral Greens, Think Greens, Potential Greens, or True Browns) to garner a better understanding of the green consumer in addition to assisting with a more effective interpretation of results. We assessed these consumers' willingness to engage in eco-friendly behavior by evaluating three options: (1) shopping at retailers that support environmental initiatives, (2) paying more for products that protect the environment, and (3) paying higher taxes so the government can support environmental initiatives. Think Greens expressed the greatest willingness to change, followed by Behavioral Greens, Potential Greens, and True Browns. These differences were all significant at p<.01. Further Conclusions and Implications We have undertaken a descriptive study which seeks to enhance our understanding of the strategic domain of sustainability. Specifically, this research fills a gap in the literature by comparing and contrasting the sustainability views of business executives and consumers with specific regard to preferences, intentions, willingness-to-pay, behavior, and attitudes. For practitioners, much can be gained from a strategic standpoint. In addition to the many results already reported, respondents also reported than willing to pay more for products that protect the environment. Other specific results indicate that female respondents consistently communicate a stronger willingness than males to pay more for these products and to shop at eco-friendly retailers. Knowing this additional information, practitioners can now have a more specific market in which to target and communicate their sustainability efforts. While this research is only an initial step towards understanding similarities and differences among practitioners and consumers regarding sustainability, it presents original findings that contribute to both practice and research. Future research should be directed toward examining other variables affecting this relationship, as well as other specific industries.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 1999

The optimum sampling area which can be applied to the benthic community study is estimated from large survey data in the Songdo tidal flat and subtidal zone of Youngil Bay, Korea. A total of 250 samples by 0.02 $m^2$ box corer for the benthic fauna in Songdo tidal flat and 50 samples by 0.1 $m^2$ van Veen grab in Youngil Bay were taken from the total sampling area of 5 $m^2$. It was assumed that the sampling area could contain sufficient information on sediment fauna, if cumulative number of species, ecological indices, and similarity index by cluster analysis reflect the similarity level of 75% to those found at total sampling area (5 $m^2$). A total of 56 and 60 species occurred from Songdo tidal flat and Youngil Bay, respectively. The cumulative curve of the species number ($N_{sp}$) as a function of the sampling area (A in $m^2$ ) was fitted as $N_{sp}=37.379A^{0.257}$ ($r^2=0.99$) for intertidal fauna and $N_{sp}=40.895A^{0.257}$ ($r^2=0.98$) for subtidal fauna. Based on these curves and 75% of similarity to the total sampling area (5 $m^2$), the optimum sampling area was proposed as 1.6 $m^2$ for the intertidal and 1.5 $m^2$ for the subtidal fauna. Ecological indices (species diversity, richness, evenness and dominance indices) were again calculated on the basis of species composition in differently simulated sample sizes. Changes in ecological indices with these sample sizes indicated that samplings could be done by collecting fauna from < 0.5 $m^2$-1.5 $m^2$ on the Songdo tidal flat and from < 0.5 $m^2$-1.2 $m^2$ in Youngil Bay. Changes in similarity level of all units of each simulated sample size showed that sampling area of 0.3 $m^2$ (Songdo tidal flat) and 0.6 $m^2$ (Youngil Bay) should be taken to obtain a similarity level of 75%. In conclusion, sampling area which was determined by cumulative number of species, ecological indices and similarity index by cluster analysis could be determined as 1.5 $m^2$ (0.02 $m^2$ box corer, n=75) for Songdo tidal flat and 1.2 $m^2$ (0.1 $m^2$ van Veen grab, n=12) for Youngil Bay. If these sampling areas could be covered in the field survey, population densities of seven dominant species comprising 68% of the total faunal abundance occurring on Songdo tidal flat and six species comprising 90% in Youngil Bay can be estimated at the precision level of P=0.2.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.14-25
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• 2001

Purpose : To determine whether there exist gender differences in pain in Korean cancer patients and whether the depression and performance that are often expressed differently between men and women with cancer interact with pain. Method : The results of survey were collected from 140 in- and out-patients (78 male and 62 female) who had cancer treatment at one of the university hospital in Seoul for four months from February of 1999. The severity and interference of pain were examined with the self-reported survey based on Korean version of Brief Pain Inventory (BPI-K). Demographic and clinical information for all patient were compiled by reviewing their medical records, and the level of depression was examined with the Korean version of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-K). Usual statistical methods, e.g., frequences, means and SDs were used to characterize the sample. The chi-square tests for categorical data and t-test for numerical data were used for group comparison. And the correlation between variables were performed using Pearson correlation coefficient. Resuts : 1) The mean scores of the worst pain for last 24-hours measured with the pain severity of BPI-K were 5.77 in male and 6.45 in female. The pain interference of BPI-K in men was in the order of mood (5.49), enjoy (5.36), and work (5.00), and in women were work (7.48), enjoy (7.16), and mood (6.53). 2) In pain severity, significant difference was found between men and women in the average pain for last 24-hours (t=-2.130, P=.035). In pain interference, significant difference was found between men and women in activity (t=-2.450, P=.015), mood (t=-2,321, P=.022), walk (t=-2.762, P=.007), work (t=-4.946, P=.000), relate (t=-2.595, P=.010), sleep (t=-2.071, P=.040), enjoy (t=-3.198, P=.001). 3) It was found that the items of pain and depression are significantly correlated in men but not in women. Men also exhibited higher correlation in the items of pain and performance status than women. Conclusions : Women report significantly greater average pain for last 24-hours and for all items of pain interference than men. Pain and depression are significantly correlated in men. The results of this study suggest that gender differences in pain should be considered for planning effective pain management program.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.65-75
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• 2004

Objectives: Immunizations have been one of the most effective measures preventing from infectious diseases. It is quite important national infectious disease prevention policy to keep the immunizations rate high and monitor the immunizations rate continuously. To do this, Korean CDC introduced the National Immunization Registry Program(NIRP) which has been implementing since 2000 at the Public Health Centers(PHC). The National Immunization Registry Program will be near completed after sharing, connecting and transfering vaccination data between public and private sector. The aims of this study was to evaluate the immunization module of non-chart system in private clinic with health information system of public health center(made by POSDATA Co., LTD) and immunization registry program(made by BIT Computer Co., LTD). Methods: The analysis and survey were done by specialists in medical, health field, and health information fields from 2001. November to 2002. January. We made the analysis and recommendation about the immunization module of non-chart system in private clinic. Results and Conclusions: To make improvement on immunization module, the system will be revised on various function like receipt and registration, preliminary medical examination, reference and inquiry, registration of vaccine, print-out various sheet, function of transfer vaccination data, issue function of vaccination certification, function of reminder and recall, function of statistical calculation, and management of vaccine stock. There are needs of an accurate assessment of current immunization module on each private non-chart system. And further studies will be necessary to make it an accurate system under changing health policy related national immunization program. We hope that the result of this study may contribute to establish the National Immunization Registry Program.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.191-204
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• 2015

According to the '2013 Performance Assessment Report on the Financial Program' from the National Assembly Budget Office, the unfilled recruitment ratio of Software(SW) Developers in South Korea was 25% in the 2012 fiscal year. Moreover, the unfilled recruitment ratio of highly-qualified SW developers reaches almost 80%. This phenomenon is intensified in small and medium enterprises consisting of less than 300 employees. Young job-seekers in South Korea are increasingly avoiding becoming a SW developer and even the current SW developers want to change careers, which hinders the national development of IT industries. The Korean government has recently realized the problem and implemented policies to foster young SW developers. Due to this effort, it has become easier to find young SW developers at the beginning-level. However, it is still hard to recruit highly-qualified SW developers for many IT companies. This is because in order to become a SW developing expert, having a long term experiences are important. Thus, improving job continuity intentions of current SW developers is more important than fostering new SW developers. Therefore, this study surveyed the job continuity intentions of SW developers and analyzed the factors associated with them. As a method, we carried out a survey from September 2014 to October 2014, which was targeted on 130 SW developers who were working in IT industries in South Korea. We gathered the demographic information and characteristics of the respondents, work environments of a SW industry, and social positions for SW developers. Afterward, a regression analysis and a decision tree method were performed to analyze the data. These two methods are widely used data mining techniques, which have explanation ability and are mutually complementary. We first performed a linear regression method to find the important factors assaociated with a job continuity intension of SW developers. The result showed that an 'expected age' to work as a SW developer were the most significant factor associated with the job continuity intention. We supposed that the major cause of this phenomenon is the structural problem of IT industries in South Korea, which requires SW developers to change the work field from developing area to management as they are promoted. Also, a 'motivation' to become a SW developer and a 'personality (introverted tendency)' of a SW developer are highly importantly factors associated with the job continuity intention. Next, the decision tree method was performed to extract the characteristics of highly motivated developers and the low motivated ones. We used well-known C4.5 algorithm for decision tree analysis. The results showed that 'motivation', 'personality', and 'expected age' were also important factors influencing the job continuity intentions, which was similar to the results of the regression analysis. In addition to that, the 'ability to learn' new technology was a crucial factor for the decision rules of job continuity. In other words, a person with high ability to learn new technology tends to work as a SW developer for a longer period of time. The decision rule also showed that a 'social position' of SW developers and a 'prospect' of SW industry were minor factors influencing job continuity intensions. On the other hand, 'type of an employment (regular position/ non-regular position)' and 'type of company (ordering company/ service providing company)' did not affect the job continuity intension in both methods. In this research, we demonstrated the job continuity intentions of SW developers, who were actually working at IT companies in South Korea, and we analyzed the factors associated with them. These results can be used for human resource management in many IT companies when recruiting or fostering highly-qualified SW experts. It can also help to build SW developer fostering policy and to solve the problem of unfilled recruitment of SW Developers in South Korea.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.27-55
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• 2008

Due to the increasing and intensifying competition in the Internet shopping market, it has been recognized as very important to develop an effective policy and strategy for acquiring loyal customers. For this reason, web site designers need to know if a new Internet shopping mall(ISM) will be accepted. Researchers have been working on identifying factors for explaining and predicting user acceptance of an ISM. Some studies, however, revealed inconsistent findings on the antecedents of user acceptance of a website. Lack of consideration for individual differences in user ability is believed to be one of the key reasons for the mixed findings. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and several studies have suggested that individual differences in ability plays an moderating role on the relationship between the antecedents and user acceptance. Despite the critical role of user ability, little research has examined the role of user ability in the Internet shopping mall context. The purpose of this study is to develop a user acceptance model that consider the moderating role of user ability in the context of Internet shopping. This study was initiated to see the ability of the technology acceptance model(TAM) to explain the acceptance of a specific ISM. According to TAM. which is one of the most influential models for explaining user acceptance of IT, an intention to use IT is determined by usefulness and ease of use. Given that interaction between user and website takes place through web interface, the decisions to accept and continue using an ISM depend on these beliefs. However, TAM neglects to consider the fact that many users would not stick to an ISM until they trust it although they may think it useful and easy to use. The importance of trust for user acceptance of ISM has been raised by the relational views. The relational view emphasizes the trust-building process between the user and ISM, and user's trust on the website is a major determinant of user acceptance. The proposed model extends and integrates the TAM and relational views on user acceptance of ISM by incorporating usefulness, ease of use, and trust. User acceptance is defined as a user's intention to reuse a specific ISM. And user ability is introduced into the model as moderating variable. Here, the user ability is defined as a degree of experiences, knowledge and skills regarding Internet shopping sites. The research model proposes that the ease of use, usefulness and trust of ISM are key determinants of user acceptance. In addition, this paper hypothesizes that the effects of the antecedents(i.e., ease of use, usefulness, and trust) on user acceptance may differ among users. In particular, this paper proposes a moderating effect of a user's ability on the relationship between antecedents with user's intention to reuse. The research model with eleven hypotheses was derived and tested through a survey that involved 470 university students. For each research variable, this paper used measurement items recognized for reliability and widely used in previous research. We slightly modified some items proper to the research context. The reliability and validity of the research variables were tested using the Crobnach's alpha and internal consistency reliability (ICR) values, standard factor loadings of the confirmative factor analysis, and average variance extracted (AVE) values. A LISREL method was used to test the suitability of the research model and its relating six hypotheses. Key findings of the results are summarized in the following. First, TAM's two constructs, ease of use and usefulness directly affect user acceptance. In addition, ease of use indirectly influences user acceptance by affecting trust. This implies that users tend to trust a shopping site and visit repeatedly when they perceive a specific ISM easy to use. Accordingly, designing a shopping site that allows users to navigate with heuristic and minimal clicks for finding information and products within the site is important for improving the site's trust and acceptance. Usefulness, however, was not found to influence trust. Second, among the three belief constructs(ease of use, usefulness, and trust), trust was empirically supported as the most important determinants of user acceptance. This implies that users require trustworthiness from an Internet shopping site to be repeat visitors of an ISM. Providing a sense of safety and eliminating the anxiety of online shoppers in relation to privacy, security, delivery, and product returns are critically important conditions for acquiring repeat visitors. Hence, in addition to usefulness and ease of use as in TAM, trust should be a fundamental determinants of user acceptance in the context of internet shopping. Third, the user's ability on using an Internet shopping site played a moderating role. For users with low ability, ease of use was found to be a more important factors in deciding to reuse the shopping mall, whereas usefulness and trust had more effects on users with high ability. Applying the EML theory to these findings, we can suggest that experienced and knowledgeable ISM users tend to elaborate on such usefulness aspects as efficient and effective shopping performance and trust factors as ability, benevolence, integrity, and predictability of a shopping site before they become repeat visitors of the site. In contrast, novice users tend to rely on the low elaborating features, such as the perceived ease of use. The existence of moderating effects suggests the fact that different individuals evaluate an ISM from different perspectives. The expert users are more interested in the outcome of the visit(usefulness) and trustworthiness(trust) than those novice visitors. The latter evaluate the ISM in a more superficial manner focusing on the novelty of the site and on other instrumental beliefs(ease of use). This is consistent with the insights proposed by the Heuristic-Systematic model. According to the Heuristic-Systematic model. a users act on the principle of minimum effort. Thus, the user considers an ISM heuristically, focusing on those aspects that are easy to process and evaluate(ease of use). When the user has sufficient experience and skills, the user will change to systematic processing, where they will evaluate more complex aspects of the site(its usefulness and trustworthiness). This implies that an ISM has to provide a minimum level of ease of use to make it possible for a user to evaluate its usefulness and trustworthiness. Ease of use is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the acceptance and use of an ISM. Overall, the empirical results generally support the proposed model and identify the moderating effect of the effects of user ability. More detailed interpretations and implications of the findings are discussed. The limitations of this study are also discussed to provide directions for future research.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.153-169
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• 2012

Exhibitions have played a key role of effective marketing activity which directly informs services and products to current and potential customers. Through participating in exhibitions, exhibitors have got the opportunity to make face-to-face contact so that they can secure the market share and improve their corporate images. According to this economic importance of exhibitions, show organizers try to adopt a new IT technology for improving their performance, and researchers have also studied services which can improve the satisfaction of visitors through analyzing visit patterns of visitors. Especially, as smart technologies make them monitor activities of visitors in real-time, they have considered booth recommender systems which infer preference of visitors and recommender proper service to them like on-line environment. However, while there are many studies which can improve their performance in the side of new technological development, they have not considered the choice factor of visitors for booth recommender systems. That is, studies for factors which can influence the development direction and effective diffusion of these systems are insufficient. Most of prior studies for the acceptance of new technologies and the continuous intention of use have adopted Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Extended Technology Acceptance Model (ETAM). Booth recommender systems may not be new technology because they are similar with commercial recommender systems such as book recommender systems, in the smart exhibition environment, they can be considered new technology. However, for considering the smart exhibition environment beyond TAM, measurements for the intention of reuse should focus on how booth recommender systems can provide correct information to visitors. In this study, through literature reviews, we draw factors which can influence the satisfaction and reuse intention of visitors for booth recommender systems, and design a model to forecast adaptation of visitors for booth recommendation in the exhibition environment. For these purposes, we conduct a survey for visitors who attended DMC Culture Open in November 2011 and experienced booth recommender systems using own smart phone, and examine hypothesis by regression analysis. As a result, factors which can influence the satisfaction of visitors for booth recommender systems are the effectiveness, perceived ease of use, argument quality, serendipity, and so on. Moreover, the satisfaction for booth recommender systems has a positive relationship with the development of reuse intention. For these results, we have some insights for booth recommender systems in the smart exhibition environment. First, this study gives shape to important factors which are considered when they establish strategies which induce visitors to consistently use booth recommender systems. Recently, although show organizers try to improve their performances using new IT technologies, their visitors have not felt the satisfaction from these efforts. At this point, this study can help them to provide services which can improve the satisfaction of visitors and make them last relationship with visitors. On the other hands, this study suggests that they managers along the using time of booth recommender systems. For example, in the early stage of the adoption, they should focus on the argument quality, perceived ease of use, and serendipity, so that improve the acceptance of booth recommender systems. After these stages, they should bridge the differences between expectation and perception for booth recommender systems, and lead continuous uses of visitors. However, this study has some limitations. We only use four factors which can influence the satisfaction of visitors. Therefore, we should development our model to consider important additional factors. And the exhibition in our experiments has small number of booths so that visitors may not need to booth recommender systems. In the future study, we will conduct experiments in the exhibition environment which has a larger scale.