• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.59-88
• /
• 2008

Digital Convergence means integration between industry, technology, and contents, and in marketing, it usually comes with creation of new types of product and service under the base of digital technology as digitalization progress in electro-communication industries including telecommunication, home appliance, and computer industries. One can see digital convergence not only in instruments such as PC, AV appliances, cellular phone, but also in contents, network, service that are required in production, modification, distribution, re-production of information. Convergence in contents started around 1990. Convergence in network and service begins as broadcasting and telecommunication integrates and DMB(digital multimedia broadcasting), born in May, 2005 is the symbolic icon in this trend. There are some positive and negative expectations about DMB. The reason why two opposite expectations exist is that DMB does not come out from customer's need but from technology development. Therefore, customers might have hard time to interpret the real meaning of DMB. Time is quite critical to a high tech product, like DMB because another product with same function from different technology can replace the existing product within short period of time. If DMB does not positioning well to customer's mind quickly, another products like Wibro, IPTV, or HSPDA could replace it before it even spreads out. Therefore, positioning strategy is critical for success of DMB product. To make correct positioning strategy, one needs to understand how consumer interprets DMB and how consumer's interpretation can be changed via communication strategy. In this study, we try to investigate how consumer perceives a new product, like DMB and how AD strategy change consumer's perception. More specifically, the paper segment consumers into sub-groups based on their DMB perceptions and compare their characteristics in order to understand how they perceive DMB. And, expose them different printed ADs that have messages guiding consumer think DMB in specific ways, either cellular phone or personal TV. Research Question 1: Segment consumers according to perceptions about DMB and compare characteristics of segmentations. Research Question 2: Compare perceptions about DMB after AD that induces categorization of DMB in direction for each segment. If one understand and predict a direction in which consumer perceive a new product, firm can select target customers easily. We segment consumers according to their perception and analyze characteristics in order to find some variables that can influence perceptions, like prior experience, usage, or habit. And then, marketing people can use this variables to identify target customers and predict their perceptions. If one knows how customer's perception is changed via AD message, communication strategy could be constructed properly. Specially, information from segmented customers helps to develop efficient AD strategy for segment who has prior perception. Research framework consists of two measurements and one treatment, O1 X O2. First observation is for collecting information about consumer's perception and their characteristics. Based on first observation, the paper segment consumers into two groups, one group perceives DMB similar to Cellular phone and the other group perceives DMB similar to TV. And compare characteristics of two segments in order to find reason why they perceive DMB differently. Next, we expose two kinds of AD to subjects. One AD describes DMB as Cellular phone and the other Ad describes DMB as personal TV. When two ADs are exposed to subjects, consumers don't know their prior perception of DMB, in other words, which subject belongs 'similar-to-Cellular phone' segment or 'similar-to-TV' segment? However, we analyze the AD's effect differently for each segment. In research design, final observation is for investigating AD effect. Perception before AD is compared with perception after AD. Comparisons are made for each segment and for each AD. For the segment who perceives DMB similar to TV, AD that describes DMB as cellular phone could change the prior perception. And AD that describes DMB as personal TV, could enforce the prior perception. For data collection, subjects are selected from undergraduate students because they have basic knowledge about most digital equipments and have open attitude about a new product and media. Total number of subjects is 240. In order to measure perception about DMB, we use indirect measurement, comparison with other similar digital products. To select similar digital products, we pre-survey students and then finally select PDA, Car-TV, Cellular Phone, MP3 player, TV, and PSP. Quasi experiment is done at several classes under instructor's allowance. After brief introduction, prior knowledge, awareness, and usage about DMB as well as other digital instruments is asked and their similarities and perceived characteristics are measured. And then, two kinds of manipulated color-printed AD are distributed and similarities and perceived characteristics for DMB are re-measured. Finally purchase intension, AD attitude, manipulation check, and demographic variables are asked. Subjects are given small gift for participation. Stimuli are color-printed advertising. Their actual size is A4 and made after several pre-test from AD professionals and students. As results, consumers are segmented into two subgroups based on their perceptions of DMB. Similarity measure between DMB and cellular phone and similarity measure between DMB and TV are used to classify consumers. If subject whose first measure is less than the second measure, she is classified into segment A and segment A is characterized as they perceive DMB like TV. Otherwise, they are classified as segment B, who perceives DMB like cellular phone. Discriminant analysis on these groups with their characteristics of usage and attitude shows that Segment A knows much about DMB and uses a lot of digital instrument. Segment B, who thinks DMB as cellular phone doesn't know well about DMB and not familiar with other digital instruments. So, consumers with higher knowledge perceive DMB similar to TV because launching DMB advertising lead consumer think DMB as TV. Consumers with less interest on digital products don't know well about DMB AD and then think DMB as cellular phone. In order to investigate perceptions of DMB as well as other digital instruments, we apply Proxscal analysis, Multidimensional Scaling technique at SPSS statistical package. At first step, subjects are presented 21 pairs of 7 digital instruments and evaluate similarity judgments on 7 point scale. And for each segment, their similarity judgments are averaged and similarity matrix is made. Secondly, Proxscal analysis of segment A and B are done. At third stage, get similarity judgment between DMB and other digital instruments after AD exposure. Lastly, similarity judgments of group A-1, A-2, B-1, and B-2 are named as 'after DMB' and put them into matrix made at the first stage. Then apply Proxscal analysis on these matrixes and check the positional difference of DMB and after DMB. The results show that map of segment A, who perceives DMB similar as TV, shows that DMB position closer to TV than to Cellular phone as expected. Map of segment B, who perceive DMB similar as cellular phone shows that DMB position closer to Cellular phone than to TV as expected. Stress value and R-square is acceptable. And, change results after stimuli, manipulated Advertising show that AD makes DMB perception bent toward Cellular phone when Cellular phone-like AD is exposed, and that DMB positioning move towards Car-TV which is more personalized one when TV-like AD is exposed. It is true for both segment, A and B, consistently. Furthermore, the paper apply correspondence analysis to the same data and find almost the same results. The paper answers two main research questions. The first one is that perception about a new product is made mainly from prior experience. And the second one is that AD is effective in changing and enforcing perception. In addition to above, we extend perception change to purchase intention. Purchase intention is high when AD enforces original perception. AD that shows DMB like TV makes worst intention. This paper has limitations and issues to be pursed in near future. Methodologically, current methodology can't provide statistical test on the perceptual change, since classical MDS models, like Proxscal and correspondence analysis are not probability models. So, a new probability MDS model for testing hypothesis about configuration needs to be developed. Next, advertising message needs to be developed more rigorously from theoretical and managerial perspective. Also experimental procedure could be improved for more realistic data collection. For example, web-based experiment and real product stimuli and multimedia presentation could be employed. Or, one can display products together in simulated shop. In addition, demand and social desirability threats of internal validity could influence on the results. In order to handle the threats, results of the model-intended advertising and other "pseudo" advertising could be compared. Furthermore, one can try various level of innovativeness in order to check whether it make any different results (cf. Moon 2006). In addition, if one can create hypothetical product that is really innovative and new for research, it helps to make a vacant impression status and then to study how to form impression in more rigorous way.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.69-98
• /
• 2009

We investigated what factors motivate gamers to participate in a guild and why they continue to be engaged as members of the guild. We find that, based on the result of focus group interviews with MMORPG gamers, social support and self-esteem factors play important roles. Considering both prior research and the focus group interviews we have conducted, we define social support and character control as independent variables. Character identity, guild identity, and self-esteem are proposed as mediating variables while guild flow and game loyalty as dependent variables. Accordingly, we develop the research model and hypotheses, and verify them empirically. Based on our experiences of playing the WoW game, we proposed a research model and conducted focus-group interviews (FGIs). FGIs involve formulating a hypothesis and then collecting some relevant data. FGIs were conducted face-to-face with students of C University in Korea. We formulated structured interview schedules, and the questions were based on our research variables and personal experiences. The questions for the interviews encompassed the following areas: (a) the demographic characteristics of the focus group; (b) the number of years for which respondents had played online games; (c) the motive for starting a game; (d) the number of game-characters assumed by each gamer; (e) the type of game played; and (f) other issues such as the reasons for involvement in the play, the willingness to reuse the game in case new versions were released, etc. On average, it took two hours to interview each of three groups. A primary set of FGIs was conducted with three groups on the premise that there would be some differences caused by character race (Horde vs. Alliance) or by playable server (Normal vs. Combat). With respect to the manner of playing, we found that guild members shared information, felt a sense of belonging, and played computer games for quite a long time through the guild; however, they did not undergo these experiences when playing alone. Gamers who belonged to a specific guild helped other players without expecting compensation for that, freely shared information about the game, gave away items for free, and more generous with other members who made mistakes. The guild members were aware of the existence other members and experienced a sense of belonging through interactions with, and evaluations from, other players. It was clear that social support was shown within the guild and that it played an important role as a major research variable. Based on the results of the first FGIs, a second set of in-depth FGIs was carried out with a focus on the psychology of the individual within the guild and the social community of the guild. The second set of FGIs also focused on the guild's offline meetings. Gamers, over all, recognize the necessity of joining a community, not only off-line but also online world of the guild. They admit that the guild is important for them to easily and conveniently enjoy playing online computer games. The active behavior and positive attitudes of existing guild members can motivate new members of the guild to adapt themselves to the guild environment. They then adopt the same behaviors and attitudes of established guild members. In this manner, the new members of the guild strengthen the bonds with other gamers while feeling a sense of belonging, and developing social identity, thereby. It was discovered that the interaction among guild members and the social support encouraged new gamers to quickly develop a sense of social identity and increase their self-esteem. The guild seemed to play the role of socializing gamers. Sometimes, even in the real world, the guild members helped one another; therefore, the features of the guild also spilled over to the offline environment. We intend to use self-esteem, which was found through the second set of FGIs, as an important research variable. To collect data, an online survey was designed with a questionnaire to be completed by WoW gamers, who belong to a guild. The survey was registered on the best three domestic game-sites: 'WoW playforum,' 'WoW gamemeca,' and 'Wow invent.' The selected items to be measured in the questionnaire were decided based on prior research and data from FGIs. To verify the content of the questionnaire, we carried out a pilot test with the same participants to point out ambiguous questions as a way to ensure maximum accuracy of the survey result. A total of 244 responses were analyzed from the 250 completed questionnaires. The SEM analysis was used to test goodness-of-fit of the model. As a result, we found important results as follows: First, according to the statistics, social support had statistically significant impacts on character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Second, character control had significant effects on character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Third, character identity shows its clear impact on self-esteem and game loyalty. Fourth, guild identity affected self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Fifth, self-esteem had a positive influence on the guild flow. These days, the number of virtual community is rising along with its significance largely because of the nature of the online games. Accordingly, this study is designed to clarify the psychological relationship between gamers within the guild that has been generally established by gamers to play online games together. This study focuses on the relationships in which social support influences guild flow or game loyalty through character control, character identity, guild identity, and self-esteem, which are present within a guild in the MMORPG game environment. The study results are as follows. First, the effects of social support on character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem are proven to be statistically significant. It was found that character control improves character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Among the seven variables, social support, which is derived from FGIs, plays an important role in this study. With the active support of other guild members, gamers can improve their ability to develop good characters and to control them. Second, character identity has a positive effect on self-esteem and game loyalty, while guild identity has a significant effect on self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Self-esteem affects guild flow. It was found that the higher the character and guild identities become, the greater the self-esteem is established. Contrary to the findings of prior research, our study results indicate that the relationship between character identity and guild flow is not significant. Rather, it was found that character identity directly affects game players' loyalty. Even though the character identity had no direct effect on increasing guild flow, it has indirectly affected guild flow through self-esteem. The significant relationship between self-esteem and guild flow indicates that gamers achieve flow, i.e., a feeling of pleasure and excitement through social support. Several important implications of this study should be noted. First, both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to conduct this study. Through FGIs, it was observed that both social support and self-esteem are important variables. Second, because guilds had been rarely studied, this research is expected to play an important role in the online community. Third, according to the result, six hypotheses (H1, H5, H6, H7, H8, and H11) setup based on FGIs, were statistically significant; thus, we can suggest the corresponding relationships among the variables as a guideline for follow-up research. Our research is significant as it has following implications: first, the social support of the guild members is important when establishing character control, character identity, guildidentity and self-esteem. It is also a major variable that affects guild flow and game loyalty. Second, character control when improved by social support shows notable influence on the development of character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Third, character identity and guild identity are major factors to help establish gamers' own self-esteem. Fourth, character identity affects guild flow through self-esteem and game loyalty. The gamers usually express themselves through characters; the higher character identity is, the more loyalty a gamer has. Fifth, guild identity, established within the guild, has clear effects on self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Sixth, qualitative and quantitative methods are employed to conduct this study. Based on the results of focus group interviews and SEM analysis, we find that the social support by guild members and psychological factors are significant in strengthening the flow of guild and loyalty to the game. As such, game developers should provide some extra functions for guild community, through which gamers can play online games in collaboration with one another. Also, we suggest that positive self-esteem which is built up through social support can help gamers achieve higher level of flow and satisfaction, which will consequently contribute to minimizing the possibility for the players to develop negative attitude toward the guild they belong to.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.140-152
• /
• 1998

Background: Prone position improves oxygenation in patients with ARDS probably by reducing shunt Reduction of shunt in prone position is thought to be effected by lowering of the critical opening pressure (COP) of the dorsal lung because the pleural pressure becomes less positive in prone position compared to supine position. It can then be assumed that prone position would bring about greater improvement in oxygenation when PEEP applied in supine position is just beneath COP than when PEEP is above COP. Hemodynamically, prone position is expected to attenuate the lifting of cardiac fossa induced by PEEP. Based on these backgrounds, we investigated whether the effect of prone position on oxygenation differs in magnitude according to the level of PEEP applied in supine position, and whether impaired cardiac output in supine position by PEEP can be restored in prone position. Methods: In seven mongrel dogs, $PaO_2/F_1O_2$(P/F) was measured in supine position and at prone position 30 min. Cardiac output (CO), stroke volume (SV), pulse rate (PR), and pulmonary artery occlusion pressure (PAOP) were measured in supine position, at prone position 5 min, and at prone position 30 min. After ARDS was established with warmed saline lavage(P/F ratio $134{\pm}72$ mm Hg), inflection point was measured by constant flow method($6.6{\pm}1.4cm$ $H_2O$), and the above variables were measured in supine and prone positions under the application of Low PEEP($5.0{\pm}1.2cm$ $H_2O$), and Optimal PEEP($9.0{\pm}1.2cm$ $H_2O$)(2 cm $H_2O$ below and above the inflection point, respectively) consecutively. Results : P/F ratio in supine position was $195{\pm}112$ mm Hg at Low PEEP and $466{\pm}63$ mm Hg at Optimal PEEP(p=0.003). Net increase of P/F ratio at prone position 30 min, however, was far greater at Low PEEP($205{\pm}90$ mm Hg) than at Optimal PEEP($33{\pm}33$ mm Hg)(p=0.009). Compared to CO in supine position at Optimal PEEP($2.4{\pm}0.5$ L/min), CO in prone improved to $3.4{\pm}0.6$ L/min at prone position 5 min (p=0.0180) and $3.6{\pm}0.7$ L/min at prone position 30 min (p=0.0180). Improvement in CO was attributable to the increase in SV: $14{\pm}2$ ml in supine position, $20{\pm}2$ ml at prone position 5 min (p=0.0180), and $21{\pm}2$ ml at prone position 30 min (p=0.0180), but not to change in PR or PAOP. When the dogs were turned to supine position again, MAP ($92{\pm}23$ mm Hg, p=0.009), CO ($2.4{\pm}0.5$ L/min, p=0.0277) and SV ($14{\pm}1$ ml, p=0.0277) were all decreased compared to prone position 30 min. Conclusion: Prone position in a dog with saline-lavaged acute lung injury appeared to augment the effect of relatively low PEEP on oxygenation, and also attenuate the adverse hemodynamic effect of relatively high PEEP. These findings suggest that a PEEP lower than Optimal PEEP can be adopted in prone position to achieve the goal of alveolar recruitment in ARDS avoiding the hemodynamic complications of a higher PEEP at the same time.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
• /
• v.36 no.5
• /
• pp.407-428
• /
• 1991

The eastern coastal area having variability of climate is located within Taebaek mountain range and the east coast of Korea. It is therefore ease to cause the wind damages in paddy field during rice growing season. The wind damages to rice plant in this area were mainly caused by the Fohn wind (dry and hot wind) blowing over the Taebaek mountain range and the cold humid wind from the coast. The dry wind cause such as the white head, broken leaves, cut-leaves, dried leaves, shattering of grain, glume discolouration and lodging, On the other hand the cold humid wind derived from Ootsuku air mass in summer cause such symptom as the poor rice growth, degeneration of rachis brenches and poor ripening. To minimize the wind damages and utilize as a preparatory data for wind injury of rice in future, several experiments such as the selection of wind resistant variety to wind damage, determination of optimum transplanting date, improvement of fertilizer application methods, improvement of soils and effect of wind break net were carried out for 8 years from 1982 to 1989 in the eastern coastal area. The results obtained are summarized as follows. 1. According to available statisical data from Korean meteorological services (1954-1989) it is apperent that cold humid winds frequently cause damage to rice fields from August 10th to September 10th, it is therefore advisable to plan rice cultivation in such a way that the heading date should not be later than August 10th. 2. During the rice production season, two winds cause severe damage to the rice fields in eastern coastal area of Korea. One is the Fohn winds blowing over the Taebaek mountain range and the other is the cold humid wind form the coast. The frequency of occurrence of each wind was 25%. 3. To avoid damage caused by typhoon winds three different varieties of rice were planted at various areas. 4. In the eastern coastal area of Korea, the optimum ripening temperature for rice was about 22.2$^{\circ}C$ and the optimum heading date wad August 10th. The optimum transplanting time for the earily maturity variety was June 10th., medium maturity variety was May 20th and that of late maturity was May 10th by means of growing days degree (GDD) from transplanting date to heading date. 5.38% of this coastal area is sandy loamy soil while 28% is high humus soil. These soil types are very poor for rice cultivation. In this coastal area, the water table is high, the drainage is poor and the water temperature is low. The low water temperature makes it difficult for urea to dissolve, as a result rice growth was delayed, and the rice plant became sterile. But over application of urea resulted in blast disease in rice plants. It is therefore advise that Ammonium sulphate is used in this area instead of urea. 6. The low temperature of the soil inhibits activities of microorganism for phosphorus utilization so the rice plant could not easily absorb the phosphorus in the soil. Therefore phosphorus should be applied in splits from transplanting to panicle initiation rather than based application. 7. Wind damage was severe in the sandy loamy soil as compared to clay soils. With the application of silicate. compost and soil from mointain area. the sand loamy soil was improved for rice grain colour and ripening. 8. The use of wind break nets created a mocro-climate such as increased air. soil and water temperature as well as the reduction of wind velocity by 30%. This hastened rice growth, reduced white head and glume discolouration. improved rice quality and increased yield. 9. Two meter high wind break net was used around the rice experimental fields and the top of it. The material was polyethylene sheets. The optimum spacing was 0.5Cm x 0.5Cm. and that of setting up the wind break net was before panicle initiation. With this set up, the field was avoided off th cold humid wind and the Fohn. The yield in the treatment was 20% higher than the control. 10. After typhoon, paddy field was irrigated deeply and water was sprayed to reduce white head, glume discolouration, so rice yield was increased because of increasing ripening ratio and 1, 000 grain weight.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.32-34
• /
• 1974

The important results which have been obtained in the investigation can be recapitulated as follows. 1. As demonstrated by the experimental results and analyses concerning their effects in the on-ground type mushroom house, the constructions in relation to the side wall and ceiling of the experimental house showed a sufficient heat insulation on effect to protect insides of the house from outside climatic conditions. 2. As the effect on the solar type experimental mushroom house which was constructed in a half basement has been shown by the experimental results and analyses, it has been proved to be effective for making use of solar heat. However there were found two problems to be improved for putting solar house to practical use in the farm mushroom growing: (1) the construction of the roof and ceiling should be the same as for the on ground type house, and (2) the solar heat generating system should be reconstructed properly. 3. Among several ventilation systems which have been studied in the experiments, the underground earthen pipe and ceiling ventilation, and vertical side wall and ceiling ventilation systems have been proved to be most effective for natural ventilation. 4. The experimental results have shown that ventilation systems such as the vertical side wall and underground ventilation systems are suitable to put to practical use as natural ventilation systems for farm mushroom house. These ventilation systems can remarkably improve the temperature of fresh air which is introduced into the house by heat transfers within the ventilation passages, so as to approach to the desired temperature of the house without any cooling or heating operation. For example, if it is assuming that X is the outside temperature and Y is the amount of temperature adjustment made by the influence of the ventilation system, the relationships that exist between X and Y can be expressed by the following regression lines. Underground iron pipe ventilation system. Y=0.9X-12.8 Underground earthen pipe ventilation system. Y=0.96X-15.11 Vertical side wall ventilation system. Y=0.94X-17.57 5. The experimental results have 8hown that the relationships existing between the admitted and expelled air and the $CO_2$ concentration can be described with experimental regression lines or an exponent equation as follows: 5.1 If it is assumed that X is an air speed cm/sec. and Y is an expelled air speed in cm/sec. in a natural ventilation system, since the Y is a function of the X, the relationships that exist between X and Y can be expressed by the regression lines shown below: 5.2 If it IS assumed that X is an admitted volume of air in $m^3$/hr. and Y is an expelled volume of air in $m^3$/hr. in a natural ventilation system, since the Y is a function of the X, the relationships that exist between X and Y can be expressed by the regression lines shown below. 5.3 If it is assumed that expelled air speed in emisec. and replacement air speed in cm/sec. at the bed surface in a natural ventilation system are shown as X and Y. respectively, since the Y is a function of the X. the relationships that exist between X and Y can be expressed by the following regression line: GE(100%)-CV (50%) ventilation system. Y=-0.54X+0.84 5.4 If it is assumed that the replacement air speed in cm/sec. at the bed surface is shown as X, and $CO_2$ concentration which is expressed by multiplying 1000 times the actual value of $CO_2$ % is shown as Y, in a natural ventilation system, since the Y is a function of the X, the relationships that exist between X and Y can be expressed by the following regression line: GE(100%)-CV(50%) ventilation system. Y=114.53-6.42X 5.5 If it is assumed that the expelled volume of air is shown as X and the $CO_2$ concencration which is expressed by multiplying 1000 times the actual of $CO_2$% is shown as Y in a natural ventilation system, since the Y is a function of the X, the relationships that exist between X and Y can be expressed by the following exponent equation: GE(100%)-CV(50%) ventilation system. Y=$127.18{\times}1.0093^{-x}$ 5.6 The experimental results have shown that the ratios of the cross sectional area of the GE and CV vent to the total cubic capacity of the house, required for providing an adequate amount of air in a natural ventilation system, can be estimated as follows: GE(admitting vent of the underground ventilation) 0.3-0.5% (controllable) CV(expelling vent of the ceiling ventilation) 0.8-1.0% (controllable) 6. Among several heating devices which were studied in the experiments, the hot-water boilor which wasmodified to be fitted both as hot-water boiler and as a pressureless steam-water was found most suitable for farm mushroom growing.

• Korean small business review
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.103-120
• /
• 2009

As business incubation centers (BICs) have been operating for more than 10 years in Korea, many early stage startups tend to use the services provided by the incubating centers. BICs in Korea have accumulated the knowledge and experience in the past ten years and their services have been considerably improved. The business incubating service has three facets : (1) business infrastructure service, (2) direct service, and (3) indirect service. The mission of BICs is to provide the early stage entrepreneurs with the incubating service in a limited period time to help them grow strong enough to survive the fierce competition after graduating from the incubation. However, the incubating services sometimes fail to foster the independence of new startup companies, and raise the dependence of many companies on BICs. Thus, the dependence on BICs is a very important factor to understand the survival of the incubated startup companies after graduation from BICs. The purpose of this study is to identify the main factors that influence the firm's dependence on BICs and to characterize the relationships among the identified factors. The business incubating service is a core construct of this study. It includes various activities and resources, such as offering the physical facilities, legal service, and connecting them with outside organizations. These services are extensive and take various forms. They are provided by BICs directly or indirectly. Past studies have identified various incubating services and classify them in different ways. Based on the past studies, we classify the business incubating service into three categories as mentioned above : (1) business infrastructure support, (2) direct support, and (3) networking support. The business infrastructure support is to provide the essential resources to start the business, such as physical facilities. The direct support is to offer the business resources available in the BICs, such as human, technical, and administrational resources. Finally, the indirect service was to support the resource in the outside of business incubation center. Dependence is generally defined as the degree to which a client firm needs the resources provided by the service provider in order to achieve its goals. Dependence is generated when a firm recognizes the benefits of interacting with its counterpart. Hence, the more positive outcomes a firm derives from its relationship with the partner, the more dependent on the partner the firm must inevitably become. In business incubating, as a resident firm is incubated in longer period, we can predict that her dependence on BICs would be stronger. In order to foster the independence of the incubated firms, BICs have to be able to manipulate the provision of their services to control the firms' dependence on BICs. Based on the above discussion, the research model for relationships between dependence and its affecting factors was developed. We surveyed the companies residing in BICs to test our research model. The instrument of our study was modified, in part, on the basis of previous relevant studies. For the purposes of testing reliability and validity, preliminary testing was conducted with firms that were residing in BICs and incubated by the BICs in the region of Gwangju and Jeonnam. The questionnaire was modified in accordance with the pre-test feedback. We mailed to all of the firms that had been incubated by the BICs with the help of business incubating managers of each BIC. The survey was conducted over a three week period. Gifts (of approximately ₩10,000 value) were offered to all actively participating respondents. The incubating period was reported by the business incubating managers, and it was transformed using natural logarithms. A total of 180 firms participated in the survey. However, we excluded 4 cases due to a lack of consistency using reversed items in the answers of the companies, and 176 cases were used for the analysis. We acknowledge that 176 samples may not be sufficient to conduct regression analyses with 5 research variables in our study. Each variable was measured through multiple items. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis to assess their unidimensionality. In an effort to test the construct validity of the instruments, a principal component factor analysis was conducted with Varimax rotation. The items correspond well to each singular factor, demonstrating a high degree of convergent validity. As the factor loadings for a variable (or factor) are higher than the factor loadings for the other variables, the instrument's discriminant validity is shown to be clear. Each factor was extracted as expected, which explained 70.97, 66.321, and 52.97 percent, respectively, of the total variance each with eigen values greater than 1.000. The internal consistency reliability of the variables was evaluated by computing Cronbach's alphas. The Cronbach's alpha values of the variables, which ranged from 0.717 to 0.950, were all securely over 0.700, which is satisfactory. The reliability and validity of the research variables are all, therefore, considered acceptable. The effects of dependence were assessed using a regression analysis. The Pearson correlations were calculated for the variables, measured by interval or ratio scales. Potential multicollinearity among the antecedents was evaluated prior to the multiple regression analysis, as some of the variables were significantly correlated with others (e.g., direct service and indirect service). Although several variables show the evidence of significant correlations, their tolerance values range between 0.334 and 0.613, thereby demonstrating that multicollinearity is not a likely threat to the parameter estimates. Checking some basic assumptions for the regression analyses, we decided to conduct multiple regression analyses and moderated regression analyses to test the given hypotheses. The results of the regression analyses indicate that the regression model is significant at p < 0.001 (F = 44.260), and that the predictors of the research model explain 42.6 percent of the total variance. Hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 address the relationships between the dependence of the incubated firms and the business incubating services. Business infrastructure service, direct service, and indirect service are all significantly related with dependence (β = 0.300, p < 0.001; β = 0.230, p < 0.001; β = 0.226, p < 0.001), thus supporting Hypotheses 1, 2, and 3. When the incubating period is the moderator and dependence is the dependent variable, the addition of the interaction terms with the antecedents to the regression equation yielded a significant increase in R2 (F change = 2.789, p < 0.05). In particular, direct service and indirect service exert different effects on dependence. Hence, the results support Hypotheses 5 and 6. This study provides several strategies and specific calls to action for BICs, based on our empirical findings. Business infrastructure service has more effect on the firm's dependence than the other two services. The introduction of an additional high charge rate for a graduated but allowed to stay in the BIC is a basic and legitimate condition for the BIC to control the firm's dependence. We detected the differential effects of direct and indirect services on the firm's dependence. The firms with long incubating period are more sensitive to indirect service positively, and more sensitive to direct service negatively, when assessing their levels of dependence. This implies that BICs must develop a strategy on the basis of a firm's incubating period. Last but not least, it would be valuable to discover other important variables that influence the firm's dependence in the future studies. Moreover, future studies to explain the independence of startup companies in BICs would also be valuable.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.31-64
• /
• 2015

The Chicago Convention and Annexes have become the basis of aviation safety regulations for every contracting state. Generally, aviation safety regulations refer to the SARPs provided in the Annexes of the Chicago Convention. In order to properly reflect international aviation safety regulations, constant studies of the aviation fields are of paramount importance. Treaties duly concluded and promulgated under the Constitution and the generally recognized rules of international law shall have the same effect as the domestic laws of the Republic of Korea. Each contracting state to the Chicago Convention should meet ICAO SARPs about AOC and FAOC. According to ICAO SARPs, Civil Aviation Authorities shall issue AOC to air carriers of the state, but don't require to issue for foreign air carrier. However some contracting states of the Chicago Convention issue FAOC and/or Operations Specifications for the foreign operators. This FAOC is being expanded from USA to the other contracting states. Foreign operators have doubly burden to implement AOC of the ICAO SARPs because FAOC is an additional requirement other than that prescribed by the ICAO SARPs In Article 33, the Chicago Convention stipulates that each contracting state shall recognize the validity of the certificates of airworthiness and licenses issued by other contracting states as long as they are equal to or above the minimum standards of the ICAO. In ICAO Annex 6, each contracting state shall recognize as valid an air operator certificate issued by another contracting state, provided that the requirements under which the certificate was issued are at least equal to the applicable Standards specified in this Annex. States shall establish a programme with procedures for the surveillance of operations in their territory by a foreign operator and for taking appropriate action when necessary to preserve safety. Consequently, it is submitted that the unilateral action of the states issuing the FAOC to the foreign air carriers of other states is against the Convention. Hence, I make some proposals on the FAOC as an example of comprehensive problem solving after comparative study with ICAO SARPs and the contracting state's regulations. Some issues must be improved and I have made amendment proposals to meet ICAO SARPs and to strengthen aviation development. Operators should be approved by FAOC at most 190 if all states require FAOC. Hence, it is highly recommended to eliminate the FAOC or reduce the restrictions it imposes. In certain compliance-related issues, delayed process shall not be permitted to flight operations. In addition, it is necessary for the ICAO to provide more unified and standardized guidelines in order to avoid confusion or bias regarding the arbitrary expansion of the FAOC. For all the issue mentioned above, I have studied the ICAO SARPs and some state's regulation regarding FAOC, and suggested some proposals on the FAOC as an example of comprehensive problem solving. I hope that this paper is 1) to help understanding about the international issue, 2) to help the improvement of korean aviation regulations, 3) to help compliance with international standards and to contribute to the promotion of aviation safety, in addition.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.44 no.5
• /
• pp.1105-1113
• /
• 1997

Background : Prone position improves oxygenation in some patients with ARDS. According to some authors, prone position can also improve the deteriorated hemodynamics induced by PEEP. But these respiratory and hemodynamic effects of prone position has not yet been fully established. Methods : Twentythree consequtive patients with ARDS(M : F= 11 : 12, $62.1{\pm}20.8yrs$) were the subjects for this study. ABGA, static compliance of the respiratory system, mean arterial pressure and pulse rate were obtained in supine position and at 5min, 0.5h and 2h of prone position. Positive respiratory response was defined as 20mmHg or more increase in $PaO_2/FIO_2$ within 2h of prone position. Early of late respiratory responses were defined if the positive response was observed within of after 3 day of ARDS onset, respectively. Positive hemodynamic response was defined as 10mmHg or more increase in mean arterial pressure at 5min of prone position. Results : Fifteen patients (65%) showed positive respiratory response. In the respiratory responders, $PaO_2$ was $69.8{\pm}17.6mmHg$ in supine position, $83.2{\pm}22.6mmHg$ in prone position 0.5h, $96.8{\pm}22.7mmHg$ in prone position 2h(p<0.001), and $PaO_2/FIO_2$ was $108{\pm}41mmHg$, $137{\pm}57mmHg$, $158{\pm}50mmHg$, respectively(p=0.001). Age, sex, cause of ARDS, supine $PaO_2$ and $PaO_2/FIO_2$ were not different between the respiratory responders and the nonresponders. The respiratory responders, however, showed higher mean arterial pressure than the nonresponders($91.1{\pm}13.1mmHg$ vs. $76.0{\pm}18.7mmHg$, p=0.035), and tendency of higher survival rate(9/15 vs. 2/8, p=0.074). Static compliance of the respiratory system was decreased in prone position 0.5h($28.4{\pm}7.9ml/cm$ $H_2O$ vs. $23.8{\pm}7.6ml/cm$ $H_2O$, p=0.007). The overall rate of early response(n=23) and late response(n=11) were similar(14/23 vs. 7/11, p>0.05). But patient without early response showed late response only in 25%(1/4), while patient with early response showed late response in 85.7%(6/7)(p=0.072). Five patients(22%) showed positive hemodynamic response, two of them being respiratory nonresponders. There were no differences in the baseline mean arterial pressure or the level of PEEP applied in supine between the hemodynamic responders and the hemodynamic nonresponders. Conclusions : Prone position either improved oxygenation or increased arterial pressure in significant proportion of patients with ARDS. And the respiratory response to prone position was thought to be determined in the early stage of ARDS.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.122-127
• /
• 2010

Purpose: The Xpress3.$cardiac^{TM}$ which is a kind of wide beam reconstruction (WBR) method developed by UltraSPECT (Haifa, Israel) enables the acquisition of at quarter time while maintaining image quality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the usefulness of WBR method for decreasing scan times and to compare to it with filtered back projection (FBP), which is the method routinely used. Materials and Methods: Phantom and clinical studies were performed. The anthropomorphic torso phantom was made on an equality with counts from patient's body. The Tl-201 concentrations in the compartments were 74 kBq (2 ${\mu}Ci$)/cc in myocardium, 11.1 kBq (0.3 ${\mu}Ci$)/cc in soft tissue, and 2.59 kBq (0.07 ${\mu}Ci$)/cc in lung. The non-gated Tl-201 myocardial perfusion SPECT data were acquired with the phantom. The former study was scanned for 50 seconds per frame with FBP method, and the latter study was acquired for 13 seconds per frame with WBR method. Using the Xeleris ver. 2.0551, full width at half maximum (FWHM) and average image contrast were compared. In clinical studies, we analyzed the 30 patients who were examined by Tl-201 gated myocardial perfusion SPECT in department of nuclear medicine at Asan Medical Center from January to April 2010. The patients were imaged at full time (50 second per frame) with FBP algorithm and again quarter-time (13 second per frame) with the WBR algorithm. Using the 4D MSPECT (4DM), Quantitative Perfusion SPECT (QPS), and Quantitative Gated SPECT (QGS) software, the summed stress score (SSS), summed rest score (SRS), summed difference score, end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV) and ejection fraction (EF) were analyzed for their correlations and statistical comparison by paired t-test. Results: As a result of the phantom study, the WBR method improved FWHM more than about 30% compared with FBP method (WBR data 5.47 mm, FBP data 7.07 mm). And the WBR method's average image contrast was also higher than FBP method's. However, in result of quantitative indices, SSS, SDS, SRS, EDV, ESV, EF, there were statistically significant differences from WBR and FBP(p<0.01). In the correlation of SSS, SDS, SRS, there were significant differences for WBR and FBP (0.18, 0.34, 0.08). But EDV, ESV, EF showed good correlation with WBR and FBP (0.88, 0.89, 0.71). Conclusion: From phantom study results, we confirmed that the WBR method reduces an acquisition time while improving an image quality compared with FBP method. However, we should consider significant differences in quantitative indices. And it needs to take an evaluation test to apply clinical study to find a cause of differences out between phantom and clinical results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.113-120
• /
• 2013

Nowadays, the medical system towards patients changes into the medical services. As the human rights are improved and the capitalism is enlarged, the rights and needs of patients are gradually increasing. Also, based on this change, several systems in hospitals are revised according to the convenience and needs of patients. Thus, the cases of mobile portable among examinations are getting augmented. Because the number of mobile portable examinations in patient's room, intensive care unit, operating room and recovery room increases, neighboring patients are unnecessarily exposed to radiation so that the examination is legally regulated. Hospitals have to specify that "In case that the examination is taken out of the operating room, emergency room or intensive care units, the portable medical X-ray protective blocks should be set" in accordance with the standards of radiation protective facility in diagnostic radiological system. Some keep this regulation well, but mostly they do not keep. In this study, we shielded around the Collimator where the radiation is detected and then checked the change of dose regarding that of angles in portable tube and collimator before and after shielding. Moreover, we tried to figure out the effects of shielding on dose according to the distance change between patients' beds. As a result, the neighboring areas around the collimator are affected by the shielding. After shielding, the radiation is blocked 20% more than doing nothing. When doing the portable examination, the exposure doses are increased $0^{\circ}C$, $90^{\circ}C$ and $45^{\circ}C$ in order. At the time when the angle is set, the change of doses around the collimator decline after shielding. In addition, the exposure doses related to the distance of beds are less at 1m than 0.5m. In consideration of the shielding effects, putting the beds as far as possible is the best way to block the radiation, which is close to 100%. Next thing is shielding the collimator and its effect is about 20%, and it is more or less 10% by controlling the angles. When taking the portable examination, it is better to keep the patients and guardians far enough away to reduce the exposure doses. However, in case that the bed is fixed and the patient cannot move, it is suggested to shield around the collimator. Furthermore, $90^{\circ}C$ of collimator and tube is recommended. If it is not possible, the examination should be taken at $0^{\circ}C$ and $45^{\circ}C$ is better to be disallowed. The radiation-related workers should be aware of above results, and apply them to themselves in practice. Also, it is recommended to carry out researches and try hard to figure out the ways of reducing the exposure doses and shielding the radiation effectively.