• Title/Summary/Keyword: productivity measurement

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A Study on the Moderating Effect of Perceived Voluntariness in the Organizational Information System Usage and Performance (정보시스템 사용과 성과에 있어서 자발성의 조절효과에 관한 연구)

  • Lee, Seung-Chang;Lee, Ho-Geun;Jung, Chang-Wook;Chung, Nam-Ho;Suh, Eung-Kyo
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.19 no.2
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    • pp.195-221
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    • 2009
  • According to an industry report, a large number of organizations have invested in Organizational Information System(OIS) in the past few years. Several research results indicate that successful investments in OIS lead to productivity enhancement, while failed ones result in undesirable consequences such as financial losses and dissatisfaction among employees. In spite of huge investments, however, many organizations have failed in achieving the hoped-for returns from OIS. Thus, understanding user acceptance, adoption, and usage of new IS(Information Systems) is an important issue for IS practitioners. Indeed, study of the user acceptance of new information system has been one of the most important research topics in the contemporary IS literature. Several theoretical models are tested to examine 'user acceptance' and 'usage behavior' in IS context. While many research models incorporate 'ease of use' or 'usefulness' as important factors in explaining user acceptance, Technology Acceptance Model(TAM) has been one of the most widely applied models in user acceptance and usage behavior. Even in recent IS studies that employ theories of innovation diffusion in the area of IS implementation, a major focus has been on the user's perception of information technologies. In this research, we study 'voluntariness' as an important factor in IS acceptance by users. Voluntariness is defined as "the degree to which the use of the innovation is perceived as being voluntary, or of free will" When examining the diffusion of accepting OIS, a thoughtful consideration should be given to 'perceived voluntariness.' Current article has following research questions: 1) What models are appropriate to explain the success of OIS? and 2) How does the 'voluntariness' affect the success of OIS? In order to answer these questions, a research model is proposed to describe the detailed nature of association among three independent variables (IT usage level, task interdependency, and organizational support), a mediating variable (IS usage), a dependent variable (perceived performance), and a moderating variable(perceived voluntariness). The central claim of this article is that organizations hardly realize expected returns from OIS investments unless perceived voluntariness is effectively managed after operating OIS. As an example of OIS in this study we have selected the Intranet of Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF). ROKAF has implemented the Intranet in an attempt to improve communication and coordination within the organization. To test our research model and hypotheses, survey questionnaires were first sent out to 400 Intranet users. With the assistance of ROKAF, Intranet users were initially identified among its members, and subjects were randomly drawn from the pool. 377 survey responses were finally returned. The unit of measurement and analysis in this research is a personal level. Path analysis based on structural equation modeling was used to test research hypotheses. Construct validity represents accordance between the theoretical base concept of constructs and its measurement items. Tests for the reliability and discriminant validity are accepted, thus verifying our survey instrument. In this research, we have proposed a conceptual framework to highlight the importance of perceived voluntariness after organization deploys OIS. The results of our analysis present several key finding. First, all three independent variables (IT usage level, task interdependency, and organizational support) have significant effects on IS usage, which will eventually improve performance. Thus, IS usage plays a mediating role between antecedent variables (IT usage level. task interdependency, and organizational support) and performance improvement. Second, the effect of the task dependency was the highest for IS usage among the three antecedent variables. This is highly plausible since one of the Intranet's major capabilities is to facilitate communication among members within an organization. Accordingly, we conclude that the higher the task dependency, the higher Intranet usage. The effect of user's IT usage level was the second, while the effect of the organizational support was the third. Finally, the perceived voluntariness plays a pivotal role in enhancing perceived performance in personal level after launching the Intranet. Relationships among investigated variables were significantly different between groups with a high level and a low level of voluntariness. The impact of the Intranet usage on the performance was greater in the higher level voluntariness group than in the lower one. For the lower level voluntariness group, the user's IT usage had the highest effect on the Intranet usage among the three antecedent variables. In short, our study suggests that the higher the perceived voluntariness is the more IS usage will be. Perceived voluntariness was found to have a moderating effect on the relationships among user IT usage level, task interdependency, IS usage, and perceived performance, supporting all the hypotheses on the moderating effect. Most of all, user IT usage level has the strongest influence on IS usage, indicating that users with superior IT usage are more likely to enjoy a high level of perceived performance.

What happens after IT adoption?: Role of habits, confirmation, and computer self-efficacy formed by the experiences of use (정보기술 수용 후 주관적 지각 형성: 사용 경험에서 형성된 습관, 기대일치, 자기효능감의 역할)

  • Kim, Yong-Young;Oh, Sang-Jo;Ahn, Joong-Ho;Jahng, Jung-Joo
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.25-51
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    • 2008
  • Researchers have been continuously interested in the adoption of information technology (IT) since it is of great importance to the information systems success and it is also an important stage to the success. Adoption alone, however, does not ensure information systems success because it does not necessarily lead to achieving organizational or individual objectives. When an organization or an individual decide to adopt certain information technologies, they have objectives to accomplish by using those technologies. Adoption itself is not the ultimate goal. The period after adoption is when users continue to use IT and intended objectives can be accomplished. Therefore, continued IT use in the post-adoption period accounts more for the accomplishment of the objectives and thus information systems success. Previous studies also suggest that continued IT use in the post-adoption period is one of the important factors to improve long-term productivity. Despite the importance there are few empirical studies focusing on the user behavior of continued IT use in the post-adoption period. User behavior in the post-adoption period is different from that in the pre-adoption period. According to the technology acceptance model, which explains well about the IT adoption, users decide to adopt IT assessing the usefulness and the ease of use. After adoption, users are exposed to new experiences and they shape new beliefs different from the thoughts they had before. Users come to make decisions based on their experiences of IT use whether they will continue to use it or not. Most theories about the user behaviors in the pre-adoption period are limited in describing them after adoption since they do not consider user's experiences of using the adopted IT and the beliefs formed by those experiences. Therefore, in this study, we explore user's experiences and beliefs in the post-adoption period and examine how they affect user's intention to continue to use IT. Through deep literature reviews on the construction of subjective beliefs by experiences, we draw three meaningful constructs which theoretically have great impacts on the continued use of IT: perceived habit, confirmation, and computer self-efficacy. Then, we examine the role of the subjective beliefs on the cognitive/affective attitudes and intention to continue to use that IT. We set up a research model and conducted survey research. Since IT use implies interactions among a user, IT, and a task, we carefully selected the sample of users using same/similar IT to perform same/similar tasks, to exclude unwanted influences of other factors than subjective beliefs on the IT use. We also considered that the sample of users were able to make decisions to continue to use IT volitionally or at least quasi-volitionally. For each construct, we used measurement items recognized for reliability and widely used in the previous research. We slightly modified some items proper to the research context and a pilot test was carried out for forty users of a portal service in a university. We performed a full-scale survey after verifying the reliability of the measurement. The results show that the intention to continue to use IT is strongly influenced by cognitive/affective attitudes, perceived habits, and computer self-efficacy. Confirmation affects the intention to continue indirectly through cognitive/affective attitudes. All the constructs representing the subjective beliefs built by the experiences of IT use have direct and/or indirect impacts on the intention of users. The results also show that the attitudes in the post-adoption period are formed, at least partly, by the experiences of IT use and newly shaped beliefs after adoption. The findings suggest that subjective beliefs built by the experiences have deep impacts on the continued use. The results of the study signify that while experiencing IT in the post-adoption period users form new beliefs, attitudes, and intentions which may be different from those of the pre-adoption period. The results of this study partly demonstrate that the beliefs shaped by the behaviors, those are the experiences of IT use, influence users' attitudes and intention. The results also suggest that behaviors (experiences) also change attitudes while attitudes shape behaviors. If we combine the findings of this study with the results of the previous research on IT adoption, we can propose a cycle of IT adoption and use where behavior shapes attitude, the attitude forms new behavior, and that behavior shapes new attitude. Different from the previous research, the study focused on the user experience after IT adoption and empirically demonstrated the strong influence of the subjective beliefs formed in the post-adoption period on the continued use. This partly confirms the differences between attitudes in the pre-adoption and in the post-adoption period. Users continuously change their attitudes and intentions while experiencing (using) IT. Therefore, to make users adopt IT and to make them use IT after adoption is a different problem. To encourage users to use IT after adoption, experiential variables such as perceived habit, confirmation, and computer self-efficacy should be managed properly.

Carcass Characteristics and Primal Cut Yields of Hanwoo as Affected by Sex (한우의 성별에 따른 도체특성과 부분육 생산수율 조사)

  • Seo, Hyun-Woo;Ba, Hoa Van;Kim, Yoon-Seok;Kang, Sun-Moon;Seol, Kuk-Hwan;Seong, Pil-Nam;Moon, Sung-Sil;Kim, Jin-Hyoung;Cho, Soo-Hyun
    • Journal of agriculture & life science
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    • v.53 no.4
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    • pp.77-92
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    • 2019
  • The purpose of this study was to investigate the carcass characteristics and the primal cut yields from carcasses according to the sex of Hanwoo. Experimental animals comprised of 80 cows, 29 bulls, and 71 steers. After slaughtering, they were evaluated to estimate the productivity of carcass components by market weight, and to predict the beef carcass yield. The average of fasting weight of cow, bull and steer were 634.75 kg, 721.86 kg, and 754.10 kg respectively. Market weight of Hanwoo at cold carcass weight, primal lean cut weight, sub-primal lean cut weight, bone weight and fat weight were 381.01~467.60 kg, 240.79~310.36 kg, 208.27~276.47 kg, 57.23~76.28 kg and 89.19~138.97 kg respectively. Body measurement traits had side length, hindquarter length, cervical vertebrae length, lumbar vertebrae length, sacral vertebrae length, 6th lumbar vertebrae~heel length, 5~6th thoracic vertebrae breadth, 4~5th lumbar vertebrae breadth, 5th sacral vertebrae breadth, 7~8th thoracic vertebrae girth and 7~8th thoracic vertebrae thick were highest length in steer. Carcass weight (CW) were significantly (p<0.05) affected by sex and live weight. The lean meat percentage, fat percentage and bone percentage based on the weight of cold carcasses were significantly different (p<0.05) between sex groups. The primal cuts rate for deungsim, moksim, abdari, udun, suldo, yangjee and satae were higher in bulls than those of the caws and steers. The carcass by-product weight rate in steer had lower oxtail and rib cartilage than cow and bull, while cow showed lower beef leg bones and jappyeo than bull steer (p<0.05). Body measurement traits was always important for primal cut weight estimates.

Transition of Rice Culture Practices during Chosun Dynasty through Old References IV. Preparation of Seeds and Land (주요 고농서를 통한 조성시대의 도작기술 발전 과정 영구 IV. 조선시대의 비곡종 및 경지관리)

  • Lee, Sung-Kyum;Guh, Ja-Ok;Lee, Eun-Woong;Lee, Hong-Suk
    • KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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    • v.36 no.6
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    • pp.576-585
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    • 1991
  • General procedures of seed preparation as conventional guide had been established in China before most of Korean literature documented them. ‘Chwijongbeob’ (method of seed select) was to select good quality of seeds and to discard the rest. In ‘Seonjongbeob’ (method of seed grading) although China employed only ‘Sooseonbeob’ (method of seed select with water), but seeds were selected in order of selection of seeds by winds, selection of seeds by sieve and selection of seed with water in Korea. As compared with the recent techniques, those methods were perfect techniques for selection of good quality seeds of rice, except for method of seed selection by salt water was developed. The method for measurement of seed moisture, and for measurement of melted snow, spoiled urine and extracted juice by boiling water with the bone of livestock were originated from ancient China. The farming books in Korea were more or less followed the above methods. However, these techniques were complicated and impractical interms of validity and rationality. Also, it is judged that these tchniques are more appropriate in dry areas and alkaline soil of China rather than in Korean conditions. The plowing is a work to begin farming, and is operated for air ventilation between atmosphere and earth. Also, this techniques was adopted in the farming books from the early to the late Chosun dynasty without changes. Fields were deep-plowed in the first, in fall (or in spring) and for cultivation, and were shallow -plowed in the second, in spring (or in summer) and in intertillage. The former was for water reserve and land preparation, and the later was for weed control with intertillage. However, plowing in fall which was different from fallowing in dry areas, was recommended in Korea (Jikseol). but was not practiced in Sejongsilrok. This was changed with time, and plowing for cultivation in Korea was interrelated with use of green manure crops, method of plowing of upseting plough, method of manure practice and sometimes dry plowing. In addition, until the 15th century method of using a kind of plowing-tool made of log as farm tools was created to support reclamation for enlargement of farm land in mountaineous and coastal areas. For desolate farm lands by many internal and external disturbances, one tried to recover yield ability by increasing labor productivity from the 17th or 18th century. To do this, ‘Banjongbeob’ (culture method by upset plowing weed control) and ‘Hwanubeob’(culture method by firing weed control) which were cultural methods of ancient China were readapoted but the results were not clearly informed. Also, the reality of those was reexamined in the end of the Chosun dynasty.

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Effects of firm strategies on customer acquisition of Software as a Service (SaaS) providers: A mediating and moderating role of SaaS technology maturity (SaaS 기업의 차별화 및 가격전략이 고객획득성과에 미치는 영향: SaaS 기술성숙도 수준의 매개효과 및 조절효과를 중심으로)

  • Chae, SeongWook;Park, Sungbum
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.151-171
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    • 2014
  • Firms today have sought management effectiveness and efficiency utilizing information technologies (IT). Numerous firms are outsourcing specific information systems functions to cope with their short of information resources or IT experts, or to reduce their capital cost. Recently, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) as a new type of information system has become one of the powerful outsourcing alternatives. SaaS is software deployed as a hosted and accessed over the internet. It is regarded as the idea of on-demand, pay-per-use, and utility computing and is now being applied to support the core competencies of clients in areas ranging from the individual productivity area to the vertical industry and e-commerce area. In this study, therefore, we seek to quantify the value that SaaS has on business performance by examining the relationships among firm strategies, SaaS technology maturity, and business performance of SaaS providers. We begin by drawing from prior literature on SaaS, technology maturity and firm strategy. SaaS technology maturity is classified into three different phases such as application service providing (ASP), Web-native application, and Web-service application. Firm strategies are manipulated by the low-cost strategy and differentiation strategy. Finally, we considered customer acquisition as a business performance. In this sense, specific objectives of this study are as follows. First, we examine the relationships between customer acquisition performance and both low-cost strategy and differentiation strategy of SaaS providers. Secondly, we investigate the mediating and moderating effects of SaaS technology maturity on those relationships. For this purpose, study collects data from the SaaS providers, and their line of applications registered in the database in CNK (Commerce net Korea) in Korea using a questionnaire method by the professional research institution. The unit of analysis in this study is the SBUs (strategic business unit) in the software provider. A total of 199 SBUs is used for analyzing and testing our hypotheses. With regards to the measurement of firm strategy, we take three measurement items for differentiation strategy such as the application uniqueness (referring an application aims to differentiate within just one or a small number of target industry), supply channel diversification (regarding whether SaaS vendor had diversified supply chain) as well as the number of specialized expertise and take two items for low cost strategy like subscription fee and initial set-up fee. We employ a hierarchical regression analysis technique for testing moderation effects of SaaS technology maturity and follow the Baron and Kenny's procedure for determining if firm strategies affect customer acquisition through technology maturity. Empirical results revealed that, firstly, when differentiation strategy is applied to attain business performance like customer acquisition, the effects of the strategy is moderated by the technology maturity level of SaaS providers. In other words, securing higher level of SaaS technology maturity is essential for higher business performance. For instance, given that firms implement application uniqueness or a distribution channel diversification as a differentiation strategy, they can acquire more customers when their level of SaaS technology maturity is higher rather than lower. Secondly, results indicate that pursuing differentiation strategy or low cost strategy effectively works for SaaS providers' obtaining customer, which means that continuously differentiating their service from others or making their service fee (subscription fee or initial set-up fee) lower are helpful for their business success in terms of acquiring their customers. Lastly, results show that the level of SaaS technology maturity mediates the relationships between low cost strategy and customer acquisition. That is, based on our research design, customers usually perceive the real value of the low subscription fee or initial set-up fee only through the SaaS service provide by vender and, in turn, this will affect their decision making whether subscribe or not.

The Relationships among Patient's Perception, Patient's Satisfaction of Nursing Service Quality and Revisiting intention (간호서비스 질에 대한 환자의 인식과 만족도 및 재방문의도와의 관계)

  • Lee, Sun-Ah
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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    • v.4 no.2
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    • pp.307-319
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    • 1998
  • This study is an empirical investigation and study on the measurement of nursing service quality as perceived by patients. A series of H1. H2. H3 alternative hypotheses were tested using a sample of 250 patients in Taegu City. Korea. HI hypothese were tested for application of five component of service quality (SERVQlTAL and SE RPERF : tangiblity. reliability. responsiveness. accessibility. understandability) in Taegu area Hospitals. Validity test - the five components of service quality were rearranged into two components of service quality (personal factor. nonpersonal factor). Although SERVQUAL was verified in USA. application for five components of service quality in Korea indicated that it need more analytical studies. Nobody can deny the fact that the recent growth of the nursing service quality is one of the most important driving forces of hospital management. In many hospitals. the nursing quality charges more than 50% of the medical service quality. As a result. many hospital managers should be enormous interests in the investment potentiality of the nursing service. However. doesn't many researchers invest their time and effort on the research of the quality control in nursing service. Nursing service management is the process to satisfy customer's desires and expectations through the various service activities. Presently nursing service are being faced with three Common tasks of improving quality of nursing service. competitively differential advantage and productivity because of quantitative expansion of Nursing service. Such a phenomenon is also found in our medical service industry. resulting from increasing demands for medical service owing to national medical insurance policy and consumer's attitude change emphasizing prevention of illness. excessiveness of medical facilities in large cities and increasing medical lawsuits due to influence of consumerism. Therefore. under such circumstances. this research on nursing service is conducted from nursing managements to improve the nursing service quality problems faced by medical institutions. The results of this theoretical/empirical research are as follows: 1. Nursing service Quality is regarded as patients' perceived quality and evaluated on the basis (5 dimension) of technical and functional quality. 2. Nursing service Quality is a concept of patients evaluation on the measurable multi-dimensions intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of service. 3. Nursing service Quality is conceptually defined as the difference between the perceived service and the expected service. 4. Korean consumers trend to evaluate nursing service quality based on such dimensions as responsiveness and reliability. understandability. accessibility. tangibility. 5. After analyzing whether or not there are some differences in respective medical institution. it was found that there are significant difference on understandability. reliability. communicability. courtesy. competence. 6. After analyzing the difference between the expected nursing service and the nursing perceived service, it was found that the expected nursing service is higher than the perceived service in every medical institution. 7. HI hypothesis was tested with regard to the validity test between SERVQUAL and SERVPERF in nursing service quality. The result of validity test between SERVQUAL and SERVPERF was found to have differential result. That is the R2 of SERVPERF is higher than that of SERVQUAL. Therefore. HI was verified in nursing management. H2. H3 hypotheses were tested whether or not the nursing service quality and patient satisfaction is the preceding variable. The result of H2 hypothes is that the nursing service quality is the preceding variable of patient satisfaction and the patient satisfaction is that of revisiting intention. After analyzing whether or not there is any differences on the demographic variable of five nursing service quality factor. it was found that there are statistically significant differences on communicability and courtesy at the sex. understand ability. accessibility and tangibility at the age. understandability at the academic background respectively.

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Ecosysteme de I′Etang de Berre (Mediterranee nord-occidentale) : Caracteres Generales Physiques, Chimiques et Biologiques

  • Kim, Ki-Tai
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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    • v.22 no.2
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    • pp.247-258
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    • 2004
  • Climatological, hydrological and planktonical research studies, measurements of primary production and photosynthetic efficiency from December 1976 to December 1978 have been carried out in two brackish lakes: Lake Etang de Berre and Lake Etang de Vaine located in the French Mediterranean coast, in the region of Carry-le-Rouet located on the north-west Mediterranean near Marseilles, and in fresh water inflows from 4 Rivers (Touloubre, Durance, Arc, Durancole) to Lake Etang de Berre. Physico-chemical parameters were measured for this study: water temperature, salinity, density, pH, alcalinity, dissolved oxygen (% saturation), phosphate, nitrate, nitrite, silicate etc. Diverse biological parameters were also studied: photosynthetic pigments, phaeopigments, specific composition and biomass of phytoplankton, primary pelagic production etc. Climatical factors were studied: air-temperature, solar-radiation, evaporation, direction (including strength) of winds, precipitation and freshwater volume of the four rivers. The changes in Lake ‘Etang de Berre’ ecosystem depend on the quality of the water in the Durance River, and on the effects of seawater near the entrance of the Caronte Canal. The water quality of the lake varies horizontally and vertically as a result of atmospheric phenomena, maritime currents and tides. The distribution of water temperatures is generally heterogeneous. Southeasterly winds and the Northeasterly Mistral wind are important in the origins of circulated and mixed water masses. These winds are both frequent and strong. They have, as a result, a great effect on the water environment of Lake Etang de Berre. In theory, the annual precipitation in this region is well over eight times the water mass of the lake. The water of the Durance River flows into Lake Etang de Berre through the EDF Canal, amounting to 90% of the precipitation. However, reduction of rainfall in dry seasons has a serious effect on the hydrological characteristics of the lake. The temperature in the winter is partially caused by the low temperature of fresh water, particularly that of the Durance River. The hydrological season of fresh and brackish water is about one month ahead of the hydrological season of sea water in its vicinity. The salinity of Lake Etang de Berre runs approximately 3$\textperthousand$, except at lower levels and near the entrance to the Caronte Canal. However, when the volume of the Durance River water is reduced in the summer and fall, the salinity rises to 15$\textperthousand$. In the lake, the ratio of fresh water to sea water is six to one (6:1). The large quantities of seston conveyed by rivers, particularly the Durance diversion, strongly reduce the transparency in the brackish waters. Although the amount of sunshine is also notable, transparency is slight because of the large amount of seston, carried chiefly by Tripton in the fresh water of the Durance River. Therefore, photosynthesis generally occurs only in the surface layer. The transparency progressively increases from freshwater to open seawater, as mineral particles sink to the bottom (about 1.7kg $m^{-2}a^{-1}$ on the average in brackish lakes). The concentration of dissolved oxygen and the rate of oxygen saturation in seawater (Carry-le-Rouet) ranged from 5.0 to 6.0 $m\ell$ㆍ.$1^{-1}$, and from 95 to 105%, respectively. The amount of dissolved oxygen in Etang de Berre oscillated between 2.9 and 268.3%. The monographs of phosphate, nitrate, nitrite and silicate were published as a part of a study on the ecology of phytoplankton in these environments. Horizontal and vertical distributions of these nutriments were studied in detail. The recent diversion of the Durance River into Lake Etang de Berre has effected a fundamental change in this formerly marine environment, which has had a great impact in its plankton populations. A total of 182 taxa were identified, including 111 Bacillariophyceae, 44 Chlorophyceae, and 15 Cyanophyceae. The most abundant species are small freshwater algae, mainly Chlorophyceae. The average density is about $10^{8}$ cells $1^{-1}$ in Lake Etang de Berre, and about double that amount in Lake Etang de Vaine. Differences in phytoplankton abundance and composition at the various stations or at various depths are slight. Cell biovolume V (equivalent to true biomass), plasma volume VP (‘useful’ biomass) and, simultaneously. the cell surface area S and S/V ratio through the measurement of cell dimensions were computed as the parameters of phytoplankton productivity and metabolism. Pigment concentrations are generally very high on account of phytoplankton blooms by Cyanophyceae, Chlorophyceae and Cryptophyceae. On the other hand, in freshwaters and marine waters, pigment concentrations are comparatively low and stable, showing slight annual variation. The variations of ATP concentration were closely related to those of chlorophyll a and phytoplankton blooms only in marine waters. The carbon uptake rates ranged between 38 and 1091 mg$Cm^{-2}d^{-1}$, with an average surface value of 256 mg; water-column carbon-uptake rates ranged between 240 and 2310 mg$Cm^{-2}d^{-1}$, with an average of 810, representing 290 mg$Cm^{-2}$, per year 45 000 tons per year of photosynthetized carbon for the whole lake. Gross photosynthetic production measured by the method of Ryther was studied over a 2-year period. The values obtained from marine water(Carry-le-Rouet) ranged from 23 to 2 337 mg$Cm^{-2}d^{-1}$, with a weighted average of 319, representing about 110 gCm$^{-2}$ per year. The values in brakish water (Etang de Berre) ranged from 14 to 1778 mg$Cm^{-2}d^{-1}$, with a weighted average of 682, representing 250 mg$Cm^{-2}$ per year and 38 400 tons per year of photosynthesized carbon for the whole lake.

A Study on Relationships Between Environment, Organizational Structure, and Organizational Effectiveness of Public Health Centers in Korea (보건소의 환경, 조직구조와 조직유효성과의 관계)

  • Yun, Soon-Nyoung
    • Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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    • v.6 no.1
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    • pp.5-33
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    • 1995
  • The objective of the study are two-fold: one is to explore the relationship between environment, organizational structure, and organizational effectiveness of public health centers in Korea, and the other is to examine the validity of contingency theory for improving the organizational structure of public health care agencies, with special emphasis on public health nursing administration. Accordingly, the conceptual model of the study consisted of three different concepts: environment, organizational structure, and organizational effectiveness, which were built up from the contingency theory. Data were collected during the period from 1st of May through 30th of June, 1990. From the total of 249 health centers in the country, one hundred and five centers were sampled non proportionally, according to the geopolitical distribution. Out of 105, 73 health centers responded to mailed questionnaire. The health centers were the unit of the study, and a various statistical analysis techniques were used: Reliability analysis(Cronbach's Alpha) for 4 measurement tools; Shapiro-Wilk statistic for normality test of measured scores of 6 variables: ANOVA, Pearson Correlaion analysis, regressional analysis, and canonical correlation analysis for the test of the relationships and differences between the variables. The results were. as follows : 1. No significant differences between forma lization, decision-making authority and environmental complexity were found(F=1.383, P=.24 ; F=.801, P=.37). 2. Negative relationships between formalization and decision-making authority for both urban and rural health centers were found(r=-.470, P=.002 ; r=-.348, P=.46). 3. No significant relationship between formalization and job satisfaction for both urban and rural health centers were found (r=-.242, P=.132, r=-.060, P=.739). 4. Significant positive relationship between decision - making authority and job satisfaction were found in urban health centers (r=.504, P=.0009), but no such relationship was observed in rural health centers. Regression coefficient between them was statistically significant($\beta=1.535$, P=.0002), and accuracy of regression line was accepted (W=.975, P= .420). 5. No significant relationships among formalization and family planning services, maternal health services, and tuberculosis control services for both urban and rural health centers were found. 6. Among decision-making authority and family planning services, maternal health services, and tuberculosis control services, significant positive relationship was found between de cision-making authority and family planning services(r=.286, P=.73). 7. A significant difference was found in maternal health services by the type of health centers (F=5.13, P=.026) but no difference was found in tuberculosis control services by the type of health centers, formalization, and decision-making authority. 8. A significant positive relationships were found between family planning services and maternal health services and tuberculosis control services, and between maternal health services and tuberculosis control services (r=-.499, P=.001 ; r=.457, P=.004 ; r=.495, P=.002) in case of urban health centers. In case of rural health centers, relationships between family planning services and tuberculosis control services, and between maternal health services and tuberculosis control services were statistically significant (r=.534, P=.002 ; r=.389, P=.027). No significant relationship was found between family planning and maternal health services. 9. A significant positive canonical correlation was found between the group of independent variables consisted of formalization and de cision-making authority and the group of dependent variables consisted of family planning services, maternal health services and tuberculosis control services(Rc=.455, P=.02). In case of urban health centers, no significant canonical correlation was found between them, but significant canoncial correlation was found in rural health centers(Rc=.578, P=.069), 10. Relationships between job satisfaction and health care productivity was not found significant. Through these results, the assumed relationship between environment and organizational structure was not supported in health centers. Therefore, the relationship between the organizational effectiveness and the congruence between environment and organizational structure that contingency theory proposes to exist was not able to be tested. However decision-making authority was found as an important variable of organizational structure affecting family planning services and job satisfaction in urban health centers. Thus it was suggested that decentralized decision making among health professionals would be a valuable strategy for improvement of organizational effectiveness in public health centers. It is also recommended that further studies to test contingency theory would use variability and uncertainty to define environment of public health centers instead of complexity.

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Development of simple tools for algal bloom diagnosis in agricultural lakes (농업용 호소의 조류 발생 진단을 위한 간편 도구의 개발)

  • Nam, Gui-Sook;Lee, Seung-Heon;Jo, Hyun-Jung;Park, Joo-Hyun;Cho, Young-Cheol
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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    • v.37 no.3
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    • pp.433-445
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    • 2019
  • This study was designed to develop simple tools to easily and efficiently predict the occurrence of algal bloom in agricultural lakes. Physicochemical water quality parameters were examined to reflect the phytoplankton productivity in 182 samples collected from 15 agricultural lakes from April to October 2018. Total phytoplankton abundance was significantly correlated with chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) (r=0.666) and Secchi depth (SD) (r= -0.351). The abundances of cyanobacteria and harmful cyanobacteria were also correlated with Chl-a (r=0.664, r=0.353) and SD (r= -0.340, r= -0.338), respectively, but not with total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). The Chl-a concentration was correlated with SD (r= -0.434), showing a higher similarity than phytoplankton abundance. Therefore, Chl-a and SD were selected as diagnostic factors for algal bloom prediction, instead of analyzing the standing crop of harmful cyanobacteria used in algae alarm systems. Specifically, accurate diagnoses were made using realtime SD measurements. The algal bloom diagnostic tool is an inverse cone-shaped container with an algal bloom diagnosis chart that modified SD and turbidity measurement methods. Lake water was collected to observe the number of rings visible in the container or the number indicated in each ring, depending on the degree of algal bloom,and to determine the final stage of algal blooming by comparison to the colorimetric level on the diagnosis chart. For an accurate diagnosis, we presented 4-step diagnostic criteria based on the concentration of Chl-a and the number of rings and a fan-shaped algal bloom diagnosis chart with Hexa code names. This tool eliminated the variables and errors of previous methods and the results were easily interpreted. This study is expected to facilitate the diagnosis of algal bloom in agricultural lakes and the establishment of an efficient algal bloom management plan.

Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Yellowfin Sole Skin Gelatin in a Continuous Hollow Fiber Membrane Reactor (연속식 중공사막 반응기를 이용한 각시가자미피 젤라틴의 가수분해)

  • KIM Se-Kwon;BYUN Hee-Guk;KANG Tae-Jung;SONG Dae-Jin
    • Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.26 no.2
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    • pp.120-132
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    • 1993
  • A continuous hollow fiber membrane reactor(CHFMR) was developed and optimized for the production of yellowfin sole(Limanda aspera) skin gelatin hydrolysates using trypsin. The results were summerized as follows: The $K_m$ value of the CHFMR was 2.4 times higher than that of the batch reactor, indicating reduced enzyme affinity for the substrate. The $K_2$ value of the CHFMR was 8.5 times lower than that of the batch process, showing a significant reduction in trypsin activity in the CHFMR. The optimum operating conditions for the CHFMR process were $55^{\circ}C$, pH 9.0, flux 7.79 ml/min, residence time 77min, and trypsin to substrate ratio, 0.01(w/w) After operating for 60min under the above conditions, $79\%$ of the total amount of initial gelatin was hydrolysed. Enzyme leakage was observed through the 10,000 MWCO membrane after the 20min of reactor operation, while none occurred after 5hr. Total enzyme leakage was about $12.95\%$ at $55^{\circ}C$ for 5hrs. However, there was no apparent correlation between enzyme leakage and substrate hydrolysis. The membrane has a significant effect on trypsin activity loss for 60min of the CHFMR operation. The CHFMR operating with the membrane lost $34\%$ of the initial activity versus a $23\%$ loss of activity after 3hr in the continuous reactor lacking the hollow fiber membrane. The measurement of fouling property showed that relative flux reduction was $91\%$ and flux recover rate was $92\%$ at $10\%$ substrate solution. The productivity(378.85mg product/mg enzyme) of the CHFMR was more than 4 times higher than that of the batch reactor at $55^{\circ}C$.

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