• Title/Summary/Keyword: critical dimension

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Assessing the Success rate of e-Learning Systems Aadoption in Saudi Higher Education Institutions during COVID-19 Pandemic: Student Perspective

  • Aljuhani, Nouf;Matar, Zinah;Alzahrani, Asma;Saeedi, Kawther;Badri, Sahar;Fakieh, Bahjat
    • International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.77-88
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    • 2022
  • In response to the significant COVID-19 outbreak, countries have enforced the use of E-learning systems as an alternative to traditional learning; to contain the virus and minimize the infection rate while maintaining the continuity of the learning experience. However, the effective adoption of E-learning systems requires a well-understanding of critical factors, especially in times of crisis. In this regard, this study intends to assess the success of the E-learning system adoption by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) during the crisis of COVID-19 by utilizing the Information Systems Success (ISS) model. This study's adopted model consists of nine interdependent dimensions, namely: Technical System Quality, Information Quality, Service Quality, Learner Quality, Perceived Satisfaction, Perceived Usefulness, System Use, Intention to Use, and System Success. An electronic survey was distributed among higher education students from different universities in Saudi Arabia to explore each model's dimension. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) has been applied via SmartPLS software to test the causal relationships between dimensions. This study's main results revealed that students' Service Quality, Learner Quality, and the Intention to Use by students are essential drives for E-learning System Use during the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the Intention to Use the system is significantly influenced by Perceived Satisfaction and Perceived Usefulness dimensions. Further, Perceived Satisfaction, Perceived Usefulness, and System Use are interdependent, and all three have a significant positive impact on E-learning System Success.

Adapting the Community Readiness Model and Validating a Community Readiness Tool for Childhood Obesity Prevention Programs in Iran

  • Mahdieh Niknam;Nasrin Omidvar;Parisa Amiri;Hassan Eini-Zinab;Naser Kalantari
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.56 no.1
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    • pp.77-87
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    • 2023
  • Objectives: It is critical to assess community readiness (CR) when implementing childhood obesity prevention programs to ensure their eventual success and sustainability. Multiple tools have been developed based on various conceptions of readiness. One of the most widely used and flexible tools is based on the community readiness model (CRM). This study aimed to adapt the CRM and assess the validity of a community readiness tool (CRT) for childhood obesity prevention programs in Iran. Methods: A Delphi study that included 26 individuals with expertise in 8 different subject areas was conducted to adapt the CRM into a theoretical framework for developing a CRT. After linguistic validation was conducted for a 35-question CR interview guide, the modified interview guide was evaluated for its content and face validity. The quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed using Stata version 13 and MAXQDA 2010, respectively. Results: The Delphi panelists confirmed the necessity/appropriateness and adequacy of all 6 CRM dimensions. The Persian version of the interview guide was then modified based on the qualitative results of the Delphi study, and 2 more questions were added to the community climate dimension of the original CRT. All questions in the modified version had acceptable content and face validity. The final CR interview guide included 37 questions across 6 CRM dimensions. Conclusions: By adapting the CRM and confirming linguistic, content, and face validity, the present study devised a CRT for childhood obesity prevention programs that can be used in relevant studies in Iran.

Application of deep convolutional neural network for short-term precipitation forecasting using weather radar-based images

  • Le, Xuan-Hien;Jung, Sungho;Lee, Giha
    • Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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    • 2021.06a
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    • pp.136-136
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    • 2021
  • In this study, a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) model is proposed for short-term precipitation forecasting using weather radar-based images. The DCNN model is a combination of convolutional neural networks, autoencoder neural networks, and U-net architecture. The weather radar-based image data used here are retrieved from competition for rainfall forecasting in Korea (AI Contest for Rainfall Prediction of Hydroelectric Dam Using Public Data), organized by Dacon under the sponsorship of the Korean Water Resources Association in October 2020. This data is collected from rainy events during the rainy season (April - October) from 2010 to 2017. These images have undergone a preprocessing step to convert from weather radar data to grayscale image data before they are exploited for the competition. Accordingly, each of these gray images covers a spatial dimension of 120×120 pixels and has a corresponding temporal resolution of 10 minutes. Here, each pixel corresponds to a grid of size 4km×4km. The DCNN model is designed in this study to provide 10-minute predictive images in advance. Then, precipitation information can be obtained from these forecast images through empirical conversion formulas. Model performance is assessed by comparing the Score index, which is defined based on the ratio of MAE (mean absolute error) to CSI (critical success index) values. The competition results have demonstrated the impressive performance of the DCNN model, where the Score value is 0.530 compared to the best value from the competition of 0.500, ranking 16th out of 463 participating teams. This study's findings exhibit the potential of applying the DCNN model to short-term rainfall prediction using weather radar-based images. As a result, this model can be applied to other areas with different spatiotemporal resolutions.

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Calculation of Unit Hydrograph from Discharge Curve, Determination of Sluice Dimension and Tidal Computation for Determination of the Closure curve (단위유량도와 비수갑문 단면 및 방조제 축조곡선 결정을 위한 조속계산)

  • 최귀열
    • Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.861-876
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    • 1965
  • During my stay in the Netherlands, I have studied the following, primarily in relation to the Mokpo Yong-san project which had been studied by the NEDECO for a feasibility report. 1. Unit hydrograph at Naju There are many ways to make unit hydrograph, but I want explain here to make unit hydrograph from the- actual run of curve at Naju. A discharge curve made from one rain storm depends on rainfall intensity per houre After finriing hydrograph every two hours, we will get two-hour unit hydrograph to devide each ordinate of the two-hour hydrograph by the rainfall intensity. I have used one storm from June 24 to June 26, 1963, recording a rainfall intensity of average 9. 4 mm per hour for 12 hours. If several rain gage stations had already been established in the catchment area. above Naju prior to this storm, I could have gathered accurate data on rainfall intensity throughout the catchment area. As it was, I used I the automatic rain gage record of the Mokpo I moteorological station to determine the rainfall lntensity. In order. to develop the unit ~Ydrograph at Naju, I subtracted the basic flow from the total runoff flow. I also tried to keed the difference between the calculated discharge amount and the measured discharge less than 1O~ The discharge period. of an unit graph depends on the length of the catchment area. 2. Determination of sluice dimension Acoording to principles of design presently used in our country, a one-day storm with a frequency of 20 years must be discharged in 8 hours. These design criteria are not adequate, and several dams have washed out in the past years. The design of the spillway and sluice dimensions must be based on the maximun peak discharge flowing into the reservoir to avoid crop and structure damages. The total flow into the reservoir is the summation of flow described by the Mokpo hydrograph, the basic flow from all the catchment areas and the rainfall on the reservoir area. To calculate the amount of water discharged through the sluiceCper half hour), the average head during that interval must be known. This can be calculated from the known water level outside the sluiceCdetermined by the tide) and from an estimated water level inside the reservoir at the end of each time interval. The total amount of water discharged through the sluice can be calculated from this average head, the time interval and the cross-sectional area of' the sluice. From the inflow into the .reservoir and the outflow through the sluice gates I calculated the change in the volume of water stored in the reservoir at half-hour intervals. From the stored volume of water and the known storage capacity of the reservoir, I was able to calculate the water level in the reservoir. The Calculated water level in the reservoir must be the same as the estimated water level. Mean stand tide will be adequate to use for determining the sluice dimension because spring tide is worse case and neap tide is best condition for the I result of the calculatio 3. Tidal computation for determination of the closure curve. During the construction of a dam, whether by building up of a succession of horizontael layers or by building in from both sides, the velocity of the water flowinii through the closing gapwill increase, because of the gradual decrease in the cross sectional area of the gap. 1 calculated the . velocities in the closing gap during flood and ebb for the first mentioned method of construction until the cross-sectional area has been reduced to about 25% of the original area, the change in tidal movement within the reservoir being negligible. Up to that point, the increase of the velocity is more or less hyperbolic. During the closing of the last 25 % of the gap, less water can flow out of the reservoir. This causes a rise of the mean water level of the reservoir. The difference in hydraulic head is then no longer negligible and must be taken into account. When, during the course of construction. the submerged weir become a free weir the critical flow occurs. The critical flow is that point, during either ebb or flood, at which the velocity reaches a maximum. When the dam is raised further. the velocity decreases because of the decrease\ulcorner in the height of the water above the weir. The calculation of the currents and velocities for a stage in the closure of the final gap is done in the following manner; Using an average tide with a neglible daily quantity, I estimated the water level on the pustream side of. the dam (inner water level). I determined the current through the gap for each hour by multiplying the storage area by the increment of the rise in water level. The velocity at a given moment can be determined from the calcalated current in m3/sec, and the cross-sectional area at that moment. At the same time from the difference between inner water level and tidal level (outer water level) the velocity can be calculated with the formula $h= \frac{V^2}{2g}$ and must be equal to the velocity detertnined from the current. If there is a difference in velocity, a new estimate of the inner water level must be made and entire procedure should be repeated. When the higher water level is equal to or more than 2/3 times the difference between the lower water level and the crest of the dam, we speak of a "free weir." The flow over the weir is then dependent upon the higher water level and not on the difference between high and low water levels. When the weir is "submerged", that is, the higher water level is less than 2/3 times the difference between the lower water and the crest of the dam, the difference between the high and low levels being decisive. The free weir normally occurs first during ebb, and is due to. the fact that mean level in the estuary is higher than the mean level of . the tide in building dams with barges the maximum velocity in the closing gap may not be more than 3m/sec. As the maximum velocities are higher than this limit we must use other construction methods in closing the gap. This can be done by dump-cars from each side or by using a cable way.e or by using a cable way.

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The Political Views of Kogakuha(古學派) in Japanese Confucianism - Focused at the concept of 'For the People' of Ito-Jinsai(伊藤仁齋) and Ogyu-Sorai (荻生?徠) (일본 고학파(古學派)의 정치관 - 이등인재(伊藤仁齋)와 적생조래(荻生?徠)의 위민(爲民) 개념을 중심으로 -)

  • Lee, Yongsoo
    • The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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    • no.42
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    • pp.259-294
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    • 2014
  • The key concept of political thoughts of Confucianism is 'Tian(天)=the Heaven' and 'Ren(人)=the Human being'. In particular, the meaning of 'the Heaven(天)' is profoundly exclusive in Confucianism in comparison to the other concepts. It is because that 'the Heaven' is connected with 'Ri(理)' which explains the human being and the heaven metaphysically, and the discussions about those concepts have also been widening to the political field. And if the concept of 'the Heaven's nature(天命)' is excluded, it is difficult for us to discuss the essence of political thought of Confucianism. This paper argued how the politicalization of 'the Heaven' which was private dimension of monarch in the strict sense, changed to the public dimension of people in Japan in the early 18th century through some theories of the two famous philosopher, Ito-Jinsai(伊藤仁齋) and Ogyu-Sorai(荻生?徠) who belonged to the 'Kogakuha(古學派)'. The doctrines of Chu-tzu(朱子學) has hold absolute authority over the history of the oriental political thoughts. But the authority have gone through the stage of disorganization in a unique space called Eto(江戶) era of Japan. Therefore, the interpretations and concept establishments in a new dimension are naturally formed in that periods about 'Min(民)=People'. Based on discussions like this, the purpose of this paper is to study how those movements are emerged in what kinds of thinking and debating process. In part of Ito-Jinsai, this paper have reconsidered the concept of 'People' which Jinsai had thought and examined closely with critical mind about 'In(仁)=Mercy'. In case of Ogyu-Sorai, this paper have argued his political theory of 'the welfare of the people in the nation(安民天下)', in clarifying with the concept of 'the Roads of the Saint(先王의 道)' and the meaning about his declaration that "the Six Scripture(六經) is things(物)". The meaning of political view of this two philosopher is in the point to suggest some kinds of cure for problems of those days with the former days values. In the Jinsai's doctrine, that cure is 'the realization of the rule of right(王道)' based on new interpretation of 'Mersy'. And in case of Sorai, that is a form of independence of politics from morality based on 'the Roads of the Saint'.

The Cross-Cultural Study about Effects of Service Quality Dimensions on CS in Korea and China (할인점 서비스품질의 각 차원이 CS에 미치는 영향에 대한 한(韓).중(中)간 비교 문화적 연구)

  • Noh, Eun-Jeong;Seo, Yong-Goo
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.19 no.1
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    • pp.23-35
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    • 2009
  • A hypermarket as the one of the most globally standardized retailing format is also the type of store among various types of stores that the most active in expanding into other foreign markets. Recently, as several Korean retailing companies start to penetrate into Chinese market they differentiate themselves with modern facilities and customers service oriented high-end concept. China and Korea as Far East Asian countries share many common values, however precise and careful analysis should be carried out since there may also be critical differences in socio-economic aspects as well as in consumption patterns due to the level of development stages of retail industry among two countries. Even though precise and careful study is crucial on Chinese retailing market and consumers, none of researches and studies on 'how the quality of service dimensional structure is different between Korea and China', and 'what will be the most important and influential service dimensional factors for Chinese consuers compared to the hypermarkets customers in Korea' in order to improve the level of Chinese consumers satisfaction' have been fulfilled At this point of view, this study uses KD-SQS (Rho Eun Jung & Sir Yong Gu, 2008) which is a measure of Korean hypermarkets service quality to set up a hypothesis on Korean and Chinese consumers, and an empirical analysis is conducted. We try to get the answers about how the comparative importance of Service quality dimensions which decides the level of customer satisfaction is different depending on the cultural dimensions and socio-economic factors among two countries, Korea and China. Based upon the results, we try to give a valuable suggestion of what service dimensional factors should be reinforced to improve the level of CS in Chinese retailing market. Hypotheses for this study are as follows : H1. Each dimension of Service Quality significantly affects the level of CS H2. The effect of 'Basic Benefit' in service quality dimensions on the level of CS is greater in China than in Korea H3. The effect of 'Promotion' in service quality dimensions on the level of CS is greater in China than in Korea H4. The effect of 'Physical Aspects'in service quality dimensions on the level of CS is greater in Korea than in China. H5. The effect of 'Personal Interaction' in service quality dimensions on the level of CS is greater in China than in Korea H6. The effect of 'Policy' in service quality dimensions on the level of CS will be greater in Korean than in China H7. The effect of additional convenience in service quality dimensions on the level of CS will be greater in Korean than in China. More than 1,100 data were collected directly from the surveys of Chinese and Korean consumers in order to verify the hypotheses above. In Korea, stores which have floor space of over $9,000m^2$and opened later than year 2000 were selected for the samples, and thus Gayang, Wolgye, Sangbong, Eunpyeong, Suh-Suwon, Gojan stores and their customers were surveyed. In China, notable differences in the income levels and consumer behaviors between cities and regions were considered, and thus the research area was limited to the stores only in Shanghai. 6 stores which have the size of over $6,000m^2$ and opened later than 2000, such as Ruihong, Intu, Mudanjang, Sanrin, Raosimon, and Ranchao stores were selected for the survey. SPSS 12.0 and AMOS 7.0 were used as statistical tools, and exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and multi-group analysis were conducted. In order to carry out a multi group analysis that decides whether the structure variables which shows the different effects of 6 service dimensions in Korean and Chinese groups is statistically valid, configural invariance, metric invariance, and structural invariance are tested in order. At the results of the tests, 3 out of 7 hypotheses were supported and other 4 hypotheses were denied. According to the study, 4 dimensions (Basic Benefit, Physical Environment, Policy, and additional convenience) were positively correlated with CS in Korea, and 3 dimensions (i.e. basic benefit, policy, additional convenience) were significant in China. However, the significance of the service-dimensions was turned out to be partially different in Korea and China. The Basic Benefit is more influential in deciding the level of CS in china than Korea, however Physical Aspect is more important factor in Korea. 'Policy dimension' did not make significant difference between two countries. In the 'additional convenience dimension', the differences in 'socio-economic factors' than in'cultural background' were considered as more important in Chinese consumers than Korean. Overall, the improvement of Service quality will be crucial factors to increase the level of CS in Chinese market same as Korean market. In addition, more emphases need to be placed on the service qualities of 'Basic Benefit' and 'additional convenience' dimensions in China. In particular, 'low price' and 'product diversity' that constitute 'Basic Benefit' are proved to be comparatively disadvantageous and weak points of Korean companies compared to global players, and thus the prompt strengthening those dimensions would be urgent for Korean retailers. Moreover, additional conveniences such as various tenants and complex service and entertaining area will be more important in China than in Korea. Besides, Applying advanced Korean Hypermaret`s customer policy to Chinese consumers will help to get higher reliability and to differentiate themselves to other competitors. However, as personal interaction, physical aspect, promotions were proved as not significant for the level of CS in China, Korean companies need to reconsider the priority order of resource allocations when they tap into Chinese market.

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Multi-level Analysis of the Antecedents of Knowledge Transfer: Integration of Social Capital Theory and Social Network Theory (지식이전 선행요인에 관한 다차원 분석: 사회적 자본 이론과 사회연결망 이론의 결합)

  • Kang, Minhyung;Hau, Yong Sauk
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.75-97
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    • 2012
  • Knowledge residing in the heads of employees has always been regarded as one of the most critical resources within a firm. However, many tries to facilitate knowledge transfer among employees has been unsuccessful because of the motivational and cognitive problems between the knowledge source and the recipient. Social capital, which is defined as "the sum of the actual and potential resources embedded within, available through, derived from the network of relationships possessed by an individual or social unit [Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998]," is suggested to resolve these motivational and cognitive problems of knowledge transfer. In Social capital theory, there are two research streams. One insists that social capital strengthens group solidarity and brings up cooperative behaviors among group members, such as voluntary help to colleagues. Therefore, social capital can motivate an expert to transfer his/her knowledge to a colleague in need without any direct reward. The other stream insists that social capital provides an access to various resources that the owner of social capital doesn't possess directly. In knowledge transfer context, an employee with social capital can access and learn much knowledge from his/her colleagues. Therefore, social capital provides benefits to both the knowledge source and the recipient in different ways. However, prior research on knowledge transfer and social capital is mostly limited to either of the research stream of social capital and covered only the knowledge source's or the knowledge recipient's perspective. Social network theory which focuses on the structural dimension of social capital provides clear explanation about the in-depth mechanisms of social capital's two different benefits. 'Strong tie' builds up identification, trust, and emotional attachment between the knowledge source and the recipient; therefore, it motivates the knowledge source to transfer his/her knowledge to the recipient. On the other hand, 'weak tie' easily expands to 'diverse' knowledge sources because it does not take much effort to manage. Therefore, the real value of 'weak tie' comes from the 'diverse network structure,' not the 'weak tie' itself. It implies that the two different perspectives on strength of ties can co-exist. For example, an extroverted employee can manage many 'strong' ties with 'various' colleagues. In this regards, the individual-level structure of one's relationships as well as the dyadic-level relationship should be considered together to provide a holistic view of social capital. In addition, interaction effect between individual-level characteristics and dyadic-level characteristics can be examined, too. Based on these arguments, this study has following research questions. (1) How does the social capital of the knowledge source and the recipient influence knowledge transfer respectively? (2) How does the strength of ties between the knowledge source and the recipient influence knowledge transfer? (3) How does the social capital of the knowledge source and the recipient influence the effect of the strength of ties between the knowledge source and the recipient on knowledge transfer? Based on Social capital theory and Social network theory, a multi-level research model is developed to consider both the individual-level social capital of the knowledge source and the recipient and the dyadic-level strength of relationship between the knowledge source and the recipient. 'Cross-classified random effect model,' one of the multi-level analysis methods, is adopted to analyze the survey responses from 337 R&D employees. The results of analysis provide several findings. First, among three dimensions of the knowledge source's social capital, network centrality (i.e., structural dimension) shows the significant direct effect on knowledge transfer. On the other hand, the knowledge recipient's network centrality is not influential. Instead, it strengthens the influence of the strength of ties between the knowledge source and the recipient on knowledge transfer. It means that the knowledge source's network centrality does not directly increase knowledge transfer. Instead, by providing access to various knowledge sources, the network centrality provides only the context where the strong tie between the knowledge source and the recipient leads to effective knowledge transfer. In short, network centrality has indirect effect on knowledge transfer from the knowledge recipient's perspective, while it has direct effect from the knowledge source's perspective. This is the most important contribution of this research. In addition, contrary to the research hypothesis, company tenure of the knowledge recipient negatively influences knowledge transfer. It means that experienced employees do not look for new knowledge and stick to their own knowledge. This is also an interesting result. One of the possible reasons is the hierarchical culture of Korea, such as a fear of losing face in front of subordinates. In a research methodology perspective, multi-level analysis adopted in this study seems to be very promising in management research area which has a multi-level data structure, such as employee-team-department-company. In addition, social network analysis is also a promising research approach with an exploding availability of online social network data.

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A Study on the Relationships among Service Quality, Perceived Benefit, Value, and Behavioral Intention as Perceived by Franchise Snack Bar Restaurant Consumers - Application of Means-End Chain Theory - (수단-목적사슬이론을 적용한 프랜차이즈 분식점의 서비스 품질, 지각된 혜택, 가치 그리고 행동의도 간의 관계 분석)

  • Park, Hye-Bin;Lee, Soon-A;Yu, Seo Young
    • Culinary science and hospitality research
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.183-197
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    • 2016
  • This study was conducted to investigate the relationships among service quality, perceived benefit, perceived value and behavioral intention as perceived by franchise snack bars customers. The service quality of franchise snack bars' was tested in three sub-dimensions: environmental quality interaction quality, and outcome quality, which are based on Brady & Cronin's third-dimensional model. A total of 450 survey questionaires were distributed from March 9th to November 12th in 2015, of whi 411 questionnaires were deemed suitable for statistical analysis. SPSS 20.0 program was employed to conduct frequency analysis and reliability analysis, while AMOS 20.0 program was used to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that all three elements of service quality have a positive impact on perceived benefit. In particular, the outcome quality element had the greatest influence on perceived benefit. In sum, customers of a franchise snack bar considered outcome variables such as food taste, reasonable amount, and general quality of food as the most important factors to fulfill the benefit. This results suggest that Korean snack bar franchise companies need to consider improvements to outcome quality features, such as food quality. In addition, perceived benefit was a critical antecedent of perceived value, which was itself a significant predictor of behavioral intention. In conclusion, this study applied the means-end chain theory on franchise sank bar segmentation, as well as three dimension service quality model as developed by Brady and Cronin, and found results that will enable meaningful strategics for snack bar foodservice segmentation in pursuit of the development of efficient business plans, and that can be utilized as a theoretical data for future studies.

Mixed-mode simulation of transient characteristics of 4H-SiC DMOSFETs - Impact off the interface changes (Mixde-mode simulation을 이용한 4H-SiC DMOSFETs의 계면상태에서 포획된 전하에 따른 transient 특성 분석)

  • Kang, Min-Seok;Choe, Chang-Yong;Bang, Wook;Kim, Sang-Chul;Kim, Nam-Kyun;Koo, Sang-Mo
    • Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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    • 2009.11a
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    • pp.55-55
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    • 2009
  • Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a material with a wide bandgap (3.26eV), a high critical electric field (~2.3MV/cm), a and a high bulk electron mobility (${\sim}900cm^2/Vs$). These electronic properties allow high breakdown voltage, high frequency, and high temperature operation compared to Silicon devices. Although various SiC DMOSFET structures have been reported so far for optimizing performances. the effect of channel dimension on the switching performance of SiC DMOSFETs has not been extensively examined. In this paper, we report the effect of the interface states ($Q_s$) on the transient characteristics of SiC DMOSFETs. The key design parameters for SiC DMOSFETs have been optimized and a physics-based two-dimensional (2-D) mixed device and circuit simulator by Silvaco Inc. has been used to understand the relationship with the switching characteristics. To investigate transient characteristic of the device, mixed-mode simulation has been performed, where the solution of the basic transport equations for the 2-D device structures is directly embedded into the solution procedure for the circuit equations. The result is a low-loss transient characteristic at low $Q_s$. Based on the simulation results, the DMOSFETs exhibit the turn-on time of 10ns at short channel and 9ns at without the interface charges. By reducing $SiO_2/SiC$ interface charge, power losses and switching time also decreases, primarily due to the lowered channel mobilities. As high density interface states can result in increased carrier trapping, or recombination centers or scattering sites. Therefore, the quality of $SiO_2/SiC$ interfaces is important for both static and transient properties of SiC MOSFET devices.

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Plasma Etching Process based on Real-time Monitoring of Radical Density and Substrate Temperature

  • Takeda, K.;Fukunaga, Y.;Tsutsumi, T.;Ishikawa, K.;Kondo, H.;Sekine, M.;Hori, M.
    • Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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    • 2016.02a
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    • pp.93-93
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    • 2016
  • Large scale integrated circuits (LSIs) has been improved by the shrinkage of the circuit dimensions. The smaller chip sizes and increase in circuit density require the miniaturization of the line-width and space between metal interconnections. Therefore, an extreme precise control of the critical dimension and pattern profile is necessary to fabricate next generation nano-electronics devices. The pattern profile control of plasma etching with an accuracy of sub-nanometer must be achieved. To realize the etching process which achieves the problem, understanding of the etching mechanism and precise control of the process based on the real-time monitoring of internal plasma parameters such as etching species density, surface temperature of substrate, etc. are very important. For instance, it is known that the etched profiles of organic low dielectric (low-k) films are sensitive to the substrate temperature and density ratio of H and N atoms in the H2/N2 plasma [1]. In this study, we introduced a feedback control of actual substrate temperature and radical density ratio monitored in real time. And then the dependence of etch rates and profiles of organic films have been evaluated based on the substrate temperatures. In this study, organic low-k films were etched by a dual frequency capacitively coupled plasma employing the mixture of H2/N2 gases. A 100-MHz power was supplied to an upper electrode for plasma generation. The Si substrate was electrostatically chucked to a lower electrode biased by supplying a 2-MHz power. To investigate the effects of H and N radical on the etching profile of organic low-k films, absolute H and N atom densities were measured by vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy [2]. Moreover, using the optical fiber-type low-coherence interferometer [3], substrate temperature has been measured in real time during etching process. From the measurement results, the temperature raised rapidly just after plasma ignition and was gradually saturated. The temporal change of substrate temperature is a crucial issue to control of surface reactions of reactive species. Therefore, by the intervals of on-off of the plasma discharge, the substrate temperature was maintained within ${\pm}1.5^{\circ}C$ from the set value. As a result, the temperatures were kept within $3^{\circ}C$ during the etching process. Then, we etched organic films with line-and-space pattern using this system. The cross-sections of the organic films etched for 50 s with the substrate temperatures at $20^{\circ}C$ and $100^{\circ}C$ were observed by SEM. From the results, they were different in the sidewall profile. It suggests that the reactions on the sidewalls changed according to the substrate temperature. The precise substrate temperature control method with real-time temperature monitoring and intermittent plasma generation was suggested to contribute on realization of fine pattern etching.

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