• Information Systems Review
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.1-25
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• 2017

Despite high uncertainty on financial return, firms have continuously increased their investment on technologies because they recognize the potential value of technology investment in terms of enhancing operational efficiency and sustaining competitive advantage. Notably, an individual technology investment pattern or strategy within an industry may ultimately lead to significant differences in business performance. Hence, we first categorized technology investment into traditional research and development investment and information technology investment. Afterward, we examined the effects of each pattern with combination of the two types of technology investment on business performance according to firm size and position in the supply chain through fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Data collected from 562 manufacturing firms in Korea were used in the analysis. Results showed that large-sized firms were slightly affected with microscopic patterns in their technology investments, whereas small firms were highly affected with their technology investment patterns and their positions in the supply chain. The findings implied that a small enterprise requires an appropriate technology investment strategy to achieve successful business outcomes.

• The Korean Journal of Coaching Psychology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.109-125
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• 2023

This study aimed to investigate the influence of power distance on organizational outcome variables from the perspective of employee-organizational fit. Through cluster analysis, we sought to identify the subgroups that exist based on the combination of employees' power distance and organizational power distance. Additionally, we examined whether differences exist among these subgroups in terms of positive and negative organizational outcomes. A total of 398 participants were included in the study, and three distinct clusters were identified through cluster analysis. Cluster 1 comprised individuals with low power distance among employees and high power distance within the organization(LH), Cluster 2 consisted of individuals with high power distance in both employees and organizations(HH), and Cluster 3 represented individuals with significantly higher power distance among employees compared to their respective organizations(HL). When analyzing the differences between these three subgroups in relation to organizational outcomes, no significant differences were found in positive work affects. Overall, the LH group exhibited the most favorable organizational results, while the HH group displayed the most negative organizational outcomes. In light of these findings, we discussed the academic and practical implications of this study, as well as its limitations.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2024

This study explored computer vision methods using the OpenCV open-source library to characterize the phenotypes of various horticultural crops. In the case of tomatoes, image color was examined to assess ripeness, while support vector machine (SVM) and histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) methods effectively identified ripe tomatoes. For sweet pepper, we visualized the color distribution and used the Gaussian mixture model for clustering to analyze its post-harvest color characteristics. For the quality assessment of netted melons, the LAB (lightness, a, b) color space, binary images, and depth mapping were used to measure the net patterns of the melon. In addition, a combination of depth and color data proved successful in identifying flowers of different sizes and distances in cucumber greenhouses. This study highlights the effectiveness of these computer vision strategies in monitoring the growth and development, ripening, and quality assessment of fruits and vegetables. For broader applications in agriculture, future researchers and developers should enhance these techniques with plant physiological indicators to promote their adoption in both research and practical agricultural settings.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.102-107
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• 2009

In clinical pediatric dentistry, we have many chances to encounter the white spot like incipient enamel lesions on the mesial surfaces of the 1st molars with direct vision, especially just after the 2nd primary molars were exfoliated. But it was thought highly desirable to assess if these lesions are properly and effectively managed yet. This study aims at surveying the prevalence of incipient lesions on the mesial surfaces of the 1st molars in children through direct observation and examining the suitability of adhesive sealing on them as a pilot trial in searching for their proper management. 1. Among the 124 mesial surfaces of the 1st molars examined, 34% were sound, 53% had incipient carious lesions and 13% had cavitated lesions. 2. In the sectional views of the specimens, 20% showed microleakage after thermo-cycling and it was thought not recommendable as a permanent method. Therefore in order to effectively fight against the incipient caries lesions in children‘s permanent teeth, it was thought proper not to rely on any one method, but to perform reinforcing oral hygiene and promotion of remineralization in combination with therapeutic sealing which is stronger in short-term sealing effect. Although therapeutic sealing has been considered as the core in minimally invasive concept to treat the white spot lesions, its long-term clinical trials have not been suggested. Continuous research is strongly required for making this approach to acquire permanent nature, especially in regards of proper pretreatment and high molecular materials deeply penetrable into enamel.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.175-209
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• 2019

The bundled discounting which the dominant undertakings engage in is problematic in terms of competition restraint. Bundled discounts generally benefit not only buyers but also sellers. Specifically, bundled discounts usually costs a firm less to sell multiple products. In addition, Bundled discounts always provide some immediate consumer benefit in the form of lower prices. Therefore, competition authorities and courts should not be too quick to condemn bundled discounts and apply the neutral and objective standard in bundled discounting cases. Cascade Health v. Peacehealth decision starts ruling from this prerequisite. This decision pointed out that the dominant undertaking can exclude rivals through bundled discounting without pricing its products below its cost when rivals do not sell as great a number of product lines. So bundled discounting may have the anticompetitive impact by excluding less diversified but more efficient producers. This decision did not adopt Lepage case's standard which does not require the court to consider whether the competitor was at least as efficient of a producer as the bundled discounter. Instead of that, based on cost based approach, this decision said that the exclusionary element can not be satisfied unless the discounts result in prices that are below an appropriate measures of the defendant's costs. By adopting a discount attribution standard, this decision said that the full amount of the discounts should be allocated to the competitive products. As the seller can easily ascertain its own prices and costs of production and calculate whether its discounting practices exclude competitors, not the competitor's costs but the dominant undertaking's costs should be considered in applying discount attribution standard. This case deals with bundled discounting practice of multiple healthcare services by the dominant undertaking in healthcare market. Under the Korean healthcare system and public health insurance system, the price competition primarily exists in non-medical care benefits because public healthcare insurance in Korea is in combination with the compulsory medical care institution system. The cases that Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Law deals with, such as cartel and the abuse of monopoly power, also mainly exist in non-medical care benefits. The dominant undertaking's exclusionary bundled discounting in Korean healthcare markets may be practiced in the contracts between the dominant undertaking and private insurance companies with regards to non-medical care benefits.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2010

According to the capacity design concept which forms the basis of the current steel seismic codes, the braces in concentrically braced frames (CBFs) should dissipate seismic energy through cyclic tension yielding and cyclic compression buckling while the beams and the columns should remain elastic. Brace buckling in inverted V-braced frames induces unbalanced vertical forces which, in turn, impose the additional beam moments and column axial forces. However, due to difficulty in predicting the location of buckling stories, the most conservative approach implied in the design code is to estimate the column axial forces by adding all the unbalanced vertical forces in the upper stories. One alternative approach, less conservative and recommended by the current code, is to estimate the column axial forces based on the amplified seismic load expected at the mechanism-level response. Both are either too conservative or lacking technical foundation. In this paper, three combination rules for a rational estimation of the column axial forces were proposed. The idea central to the three methods is to detect the stories of high buckling potential based on pushover analysis and dynamic behavior. The unbalanced vertical forces in the stories detected as high buckling potential are summed in a linear manner while those in other stories are combined by following the SRSS(square root of sum of squares) rule. The accuracy and design advantage of the three methods were validated by comparing extensive inelastic dynamic analysis results. The mode-shape based method(MSBM), which is both simple and accurate, is recommended as the method of choice for practicing engineers among the three.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.749-755
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• 1998

Background: Twelve patients with acyanotic tetralogy of Fallot(TOF), characterized by the combination of a malaligned ventricular septal defect(VSD) and infundibular pulmonic stenosis with the clinical finding of acyanosis at rest, underwent surgical correction between January 1988 and July 1997. Materials and methods: 9.92% of patients with the diagnosis of TOF were acyanotic TOF in the same period. Ages ranged from 12 to 42 months(mean 25.2 months). 2D-echocardiographic studies, cardiac catheterization, and angiocardiograms were performed in all patients before operation. The preoperative mean systemic arterial oxygen saturation was 93.5%. According to the 2D-echocardiographic analysis, there was Lt-to-Rt shunt through VSD in 4 patients, bidirectional shunt in 2 patients, and no shunt in 6 patients. Results: The preoperative mean right ventricle to pulmonary artery(RV-PA) pressure gradients were 52.3 mmHg on 2D- echocardiogram and 48.4 mmHg on cardiac catheterization. The repair of ventricular septal defect was performed through a right atrial approach and the hypertrophic infundibular muscle bundles were resected by the transatrial and transpulmonary approach. Six patients(50%) received a transannular patch. The mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was 135.0 minutes, and the aortic crossclamp time was 87.8 minutes. Postoperative complications included bleeding necessitating reentry in one and chylothorax in one. No patient died after operation and there were no late deaths. Postoperative 2D-echocardiograms revealed tiny patch dehiscence in 5 cases and a moderate RV-PA pressure gradients(mean 15.3 mmHg). All patients were in New York Heart Association functional class 1 after operation. Conclusions: acyanotic TOF is the uncommon form of TOF, and acyanotic TOF can be repaired with a good outcome.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.79-112
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• 2000

This study was focused on the contrasting pattern of part-time employment between Japan and Taiwan where the environments are similar in terms of expanding service industries and increasing flexibility of labor. In Japan, the expansion of part-time employment and its feminization have occurred, whereas they have not at all in Taiwan. The purpose of this study was to examine the reasons behind this phenomena, and to explore what relations they might have with the supply of women\`s labor in each country. Data analysis showed the following results. First, when the phenomena of part-time employment in Japan and Taiwan are summarized as \`active\` and \`inactive\` models, the difference could be explained by a structure-oriented approach rather than an individual-oriented approach. In other words, the difference between the two countries is mainly because of the structural characteristics of the labor market. a combination of capitalism and patriarchy, and an effect of state welfare and family policies rather than a \`voluntaristic choice\` due tn household work and child rearing. In light of this. the labor market segmentation and flexibility of labor theory in particular provided a useful frame for explanation. Second, with regard to the supply of women\`s labor, the difference between Japan and Taiwan could be found in the structure of the labor market and in family response strategies. The large corporation-oriented and strictly divided labor market structure in Japan activated part-time employment and its feminization, whereas, the small family-oriented businesses and less divided labor market in Taiwan supported the continuity of full-time employment of married women. There was also a room for informal employment in Taiwan which made part-time employment unnecessary. This study showed that even within similar environments of expanding service industry and pursuing flexibility of labor different measures and adaptations were possible. The case of Taiwan in particular, showed the significance of an informal labor market which was a part of industrialization process and a strategy of producing various products through a subcontracting network.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.4 s.273
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• pp.288-291
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• 2007

Background: Myxoma makes up close to 50% of adult primary cardiac tumors, and this mainly occurs in the left atrium, and rarely in the right atrium or ventricle. The patients clinically present with symptoms of hemodynamic obstruction, embolization or constitutional changes. Diagnosis is currently established most appropriately with 2-D echocardiography. Surgical resection of myxoma is a safe and effective treatment, Material and Method: We reviewed our clinical experience in the diagnosis and management of 57 cases of cardiac myxoma that were seen over a 20-year period from July 1984 to July 2004. Result: The mean age of the patients was $53.5{\pm}14.0$ years (range: 12 to 76 years). There were 38 (67%) females and 19 (33%) males. The preoperative symptoms included dyspnea on exertion in 27 patients, palpitation in 4, chest pain in 9 and syncopal episode in 4. The diagnosis was made by echocardiography alone in 51, and by combination of echocardiography, CT and angiography in 6. The tumor attachment sites were the interatrial septum in 50, the mital valve annulus in 3 and the left atrial wall in cases, The tumor was excised successfully via biatriotomy in 33 (58%), left atriotomy in 15 (26%), the septal approach via right atriotomy in 3, Inverted T incision in 3 and the extended septal approach in 3. The follow-up time ranged from 1 to 229 months (mean follow-up: $84.0{\pm}71.3$ months). There were no early and late deaths and no recurrence during the follow-up period except for follow-up loss in 5 patients. Conclusion: It's concluded that excision of cardiac myxoma is curative and the long-term survival is excellent. Immediate surgical treatment was indicated because of the high risk of embolization or of sudden cardiac death. Radical tumor excision may prevent recurrences.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.498-506
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• 1999

Background : The causes of solitary pulmonary nodule are many, but the main concern is whether the nodule is benign or malignant. Because a solitary pulmonary nodule is the initial manifestation of the majority of lung cancer, accurate clinical and radiologic interpretation is important. Bayes' theorem is a simple method of combining clinical and radiologic findings to estimate the probability that a nodule in an individual patients is malignant. We estimated the probability of malignancy of solitary pulmonary nodules with a specific combination of features by Bayesian approach. Method : One hundred and eighty patients with solitary pulmonary nodules were identified from multi-center analysis. The hospital records of these patients were reviewed and patient age, smoking history, original radiologic findings, and diagnosis of the solitary pulmonary nodules were recorded. The diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodule was established pathologically in all patients. We used to Bayes' theorem to devise a simple scheme for estimating the likelihood that a solitary pulmonary nodule is malignant based on radiological and clinical characteristics. Results : In patients characteristics, the probability of malignancy increases with advancing age, peaking in patients older than 66 year of age(LR : 3.64), and higher in patients with smoking history more than 46 pack years(LR : 8.38). In radiological features, the likelihood ratios were increased with increasing size of the nodule and nodule with lobulated or spiculated margin. Conclusion : In conclusion, the likelihood ratios of malignancy may improve the accuracy of the probability of malignancy, and can be a guide of management of solitary pulmonary nodule.