• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.73-85
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• 2019

Since the beginning of a new century, many Korean construction and engineering companies are facing a very dynamic and fast changing business environment which includes severe competition, higher risk, economic depression, declining revenues and profits, etc. In order to cope with these challenges, they need to secure special capabilities to actively adapt to the paradigm changes. One of those capabilities could be project management capability which allows us to manage organizational resources dynamically and integratively based on project portfolio management concept. The objective of this study is to investigate how the dynamic capability of a project-based organization to control the resource affects the firm performance and the competitive advantages. Data was collected from the construction and engineering companies in South Korea by using survey questionnaire, and analyzed for empirical tests by using statistical methods such as structural equation modelling and path analysis. The results showed that the organizational resources, if they had the VRIN characteristics, would have positive impacts on creating the dynamic capabilities for project organization. In turn, the dynamic capabilities of a project organization would have impacts on improving business performance and creating competitive advantages. Also, it was found that the organizational resources may have direct impact on business performance and competitive advantages. The academic contribution of this study is that it attempts to integrate resource based view and the dynamic capability theory about creating competitive advantages for project based organization. This study also provided practical implications to the companies in construction industry by showing how to use organizational resources strategically to create competitive advantages.

• Journal of International Area Studies (JIAS)
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.157-204
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• 2015

This paper explores firm-specific internal and external determinants of the sustainability of "the social innovative enterprise(SIE)" by conducting a case research on Fragrant People Co. In doing so, some business and policy implications have been produced concerning the components and determinants of the sustainability of the SIE. First, entrepreneurship is a necessary factor for the survival and growth of the SIE. A social entrepreneur does manage effectively social and economic opportunities for making economic and social values interact dynamically beyond their trade-off relationship and creating new market chances. Second, the SIE also needs competitive advantages as commercial enterprises do. Valuable resources to be used for taking opportunities and avoiding threats, rare resources not to be possessed by other firms, and resources not to be easily imitated by competitors are extremely necessary for achieving objectives of the SIE. In addition, a firm must be well organized for those valuable, rare, and not easily imitated resources. Economic performance achieved by the SIE gives a birth to its financial independence, contributing to the realization of symmetric social performance. Third, the SIEs will be allowed to seek symmetrically economic and social performance only when they use sufficiently competitive advantage resources with entrepreneurship, which is composed of innovativeness, proactiveness, agility and risk-taking attitudes. In doing so, financial assistance from central or local governments may not ensure the sustainability of the SIEs. In addition, vision & value sharing(person-organization fit) can ensure the sustainability of the SIEs only when it is connected with the organizational commitment.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.11-26
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• 2013

This study examined the applicability of robust decision making (RDM) over standard decision making (SDM) by comparing each result of water supply planning under climate change uncertainties for a Korean dam case. RDM determines the rank of alternatives using the regret criterion which derives less fluctuating alternatives under the risk level regardless of scenarios. RDM and SDM methods were applied to assess hypothetic scenarios of water supply planning for the Andong dam and Imha dam basins. After generating various climate change scenarios and six assumed alternatives, the rank of alternatives was estimated by RDM and SDM respectively. As a result, the average difference in the rank of alternatives between RDM and SDM methods is 0.33~1.33 even though the same scenarios and alternatives were used to be ranked by both of RDM and SDM. This study has significance in terms of an attempt to assess a new approach to decision making for responding to climate change uncertainties in Korea. The effectiveness of RDM under more various conditions should be verified in the future.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.95-104
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• 2013

Average cumulative precipitation in summer have increased by 350 mm compared with 1980s. As precipitation is expected to increase, the risk of landslides by heavy rainfall also is expected to rise. Therefore, establishment of adaptation plan for landslides is urgently needed. In 2011, Korea Ministry of Environment(KME) conducted vulnerability assessment to support establishment of adaptation plan for local governments. However, the result of vulnerability assessment had three limitations. First, KME didn't use standard scenario of Korea Meteorological Administration(KMA). Second, They conducted same standardization method for all variables. Third, They derived relative vulnerability which is not quantitative. The purpose of this study is to improve the limitations of existing vulnerability assessment and identify quantitative criteria to ensure scientific reliability. To achieve this purpose, we carried out three ways of advancement. First, application of new climate scenario, which is RCP 8.5 from KMA. Second, improvement of variables of vulnerability assessment. Third, derivation of quantitative criteria of vulnerability. The findings can support establishment of adaptation plan for local governments more effectively.

• Asian Spine Journal
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.1043-1052
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• 2018

Study Design: Level III retrospective cross-sectional study. Purpose: To define and characterize the presentation, symptom duration, and patient/surgical risk factors associated with 'post-decompressive neuropathy (PDN).' Overview of Literature: PDN is characterized by lower extremity radicular pain that is 'different' from pre-surgical radiculopathy or claudication pain. Although it is a common constellation of postoperative symptoms, PDN is incompletely characterized and poorly understood. We hypothesize that PDN is caused by an intraoperative neuropraxic event and may develop early (within 30 days following the procedure) or late (after 30 days following the procedure) within the postoperative period. Methods: Patients who consented to undergo lumbar laminectomy with or without an instrumented fusion for degenerative lumbar spine disease were followed up prospectively from July 2013 to December 2014. Relevant data were extracted from the charts of the eligible patients. Patient demographics and surgical factors were identified. Patients completed postoperative questionnaires 3 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postoperatively. Questions were designed to characterize the postoperative pain that differed from preoperative pain. A diagnosis of PDN was established if the patient exhibited the following characteristics: pain different from preoperative pain, leg pain worse than back pain, a non-dermatomal pain pattern, and nocturnal pain that often disrupted sleep. A Visual Analog Scale was used to monitor the pain, and patients documented the effectiveness of the prescribed pain management modalities. Patients for whom more than one follow-up survey was missed were excluded from analysis. Results: Of the 164 eligible patients, 118 (72.0%) completed at least one follow-up survey at each time interval. Of these eligible patients, 91 (77.1%) described symptoms consistent with PDN. Additionally, 75 patients (82.4%) described early-onset symptoms, whereas 16 reported symptoms consistent with late-onset PDN. Significantly more female patients reported PDN symptoms (87% vs. 69%, p=0.03). Patients with both early and late development of PDN described their leg pain as an intermittent, constant, burning, sharp/stabbing, or dull ache. Early PDN was categorized more commonly as a dull ache than late-onset PDN (60% vs. 31%, p=0.052); however, the difference did not reach statistical significance. Opioids were significantly more effective for patients with early-onset PDN than for those with late-onset PDN (85% vs. 44%, p=0.001). Gabapentin was most commonly prescribed to patients who cited no resolution of symptoms (70% vs. 31%, p=0.003). Time to symptom resolution ranged from within 1 month to 1 year. Patients' symptoms were considered unresolved if symptoms persisted for more than 1 year postoperatively. In total, 81% of the patients with early-onset PDN reported complete symptom resolution 1 year postoperatively compared with 63% of patients with late-onset PDN (p=0.11). Conclusions: PDN is a discrete postoperative pain phenomenon that occurred in 77% of the patients who underwent lumbar laminectomy with or without instrumented fusion. Attention must be paid to the constellation and natural history of symptoms unique to PDN to effectively manage a self-limiting postoperative issue.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.374-379
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• 2019

This study developed predictive growth models of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium on lettuce washed with chlorine (100~300 ppm) and ultrasound (US, 37 kHz, 380 W) treatment and stored at different temperatures ($10{\sim}25^{\circ}C$) using a polynomial equation. The primary model of specific growth rate (SGR) and lag time (LT) showed a good fit ($R^2{\geq}0.92$) with a Gompertz equation. A secondary model was obtained using a quadratic polynomial equation. The appropriateness of the secondary SGR and LT model was verified by coefficient of determination ($R^2=0.98{\sim}0.99$ for internal validation, 0.97~0.98 for external validation), mean square error (MSE=-0.0071~0.0057 for internal validation, -0.0118~0.0176 for external validation), bias factor ($B_f=0.9918{\sim}1.0066$ for internal validation, 0.9865~1.0205 for external validation), and accuracy factor ($A_f=0.9935{\sim}1.0082$ for internal validation, 0.9799~1.0137 for external validation). The newly developed models for S. Typhimurium could be incorporated into a tertiary modeling program to predict the growth of S. Typhimurium as a function of combined chlorine and US during the storage. These new models may also be useful to predict potential S. Typhimurium growth on lettuce, which is important for food safety purposes during the overall supply chain of lettuce from farm to table. Finally, the models may offer reliable and useful information of growth kinetics for the quantification microbial risk assessment of S. Typhimurium on washed lettuce.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.352-362
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• 2019

The study investigates one of the long-standing, but still controversial issues in modern finance from the international and domestic perspectives. That is, financial components and differences on corporate profitability are identified and compared under the primary hypotheses. Empirical research settings include the sample data as KOSPI-listed chaebol firms, time reference covering the post-era of the global financial turmoil and two differently defined profitability indices measured by the market- and the book-value bases. A majority of total 7 explanatory variables except firm size and leverage ratio reveal their statistically significant power to explain profitability indices for the chaebol firms in the first hypothesis. The results are generally compatible with those obtained from their counterparts of non-chaebol firms. In the second hypothesis applying multinomial logistic model, the chaebol firms are classified into three groups according to the level of profitability. It is then confirmed that variables to represent the market-valued debt ratio, business risk and growth potential are financially discriminating factors among the three groups. The study may provide a new vision to identify financial factors of corporate profitability for Korean chaebol firms after the global financial crisis, which can enhance the benefits of interested parties at the government or corporate level in a virtuous cycle.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.413-416
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• 2019

Alstroemeria (Alstroemeriaceae) is one of the most important cut flowers in international market. Especially, characteristics like long vase-life, various colors, tolerance to low temperature and a low energy requirement during cultivation have stimulated this success. Because of its characteristics such as low multiplication rates, time-consuming process and high risk of carrying viral disease, in vitro propagation techniques based on rhizome meristems culture have been developing nowadays. The callus induction has various cultivation sites compared with the direct plant generation method, and if the callus is maintained well, the plant differentiation can be performed simultaneously while maintaining the callus, so that it can be used for mass proliferation. In this study, we tested various hormones and cultivars for efficient callus induction. As a result of culturing between the nodes and the internodes, the callus began to be formed after 8 weeks, and the calli incidence in the nodes was higher than that between the internodes. Also, in the comparison of 2,4-D and picloram, the callus incidence rate was up to 2 times higher in the medium treated with 2,4-D. Using these results, it is thought that it will help establish the system of mass propagation system of Alstroemeria and cultivate new varieties.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.194-201
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• 2019

This cohort study aimed to identify the effects of daily PM10 exposure on the hospital admission of patients with respiratory diseases, during the nine-year period (2002-2010), in Seoul, Korea. The research subjects were 13,974 patients who had been hospitalized with respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and pneumonia. During the follow-up period, an increase of 10 ug/m3 in PM10 under the threshold of 50 ug/m3 of PM10 led to hospital admission in 1.38% of the age group younger than 15 years, 1.62% in those 65 years or older, 2.87% in patients 75 years or older and in 1.50% of pneumonia patients, 1.51% of COPD patients, and 1.55% of pneumonia and asthma patients. Under the threshold of 80 ug/m3 of PM10, there was a 3.71% increase in new patients admitted in the age group 65 years or older and 4.25% in those at least 75 years old. Our study found that high PM10 was associated with increased risk of admission of respiratory patients, especially in the elderly. People who already have a respiratory disease should refrain from exposure to particulate matter when there is a high concentration of PM10, especially older patients.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.249-256
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• 2021

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease. There are many factors including genetic and environmental factors that influence asthma. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is involved in maintaining the T helper cells 1 and 2 (Th1/Th2) balance and plays an important role in the development of asthma. In this study, the correlation between the NDFIP2 gene that regulates the MAPK pathway and asthma was analyzed. The genetic polymorphism of the NDFIP2 gene was analyzed between 193 asthma patients and 3,228 healthy controls in Korea. As a result, 4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showed a significant correlation (P<0.05) and high relative risk with asthma. Among them, rs2783122 of NDFIP2 showed a statistically significant association with asthma (P-value=9.76×10^-6, odds ratio (OR)=1.67, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.33~2.10). In the SNP imputation on the NDFIP2, 16 SNPs were discovered, and all of them showed significant correlation with asthma and high odds ratio. The genotype-based mRNA expression analysis revealed that the group of minor alleles of rs1408049 showed increased mRNA expression. Increased NDFIP2 expression causes the activation of the MAPK pathway, and this may influence the development of asthma. In conclusion, the polymorphisms of NDFIP2 are associated with asthma development and this can provide the basis for new guidelines for the management of asthma in the Korean population.