Background: The improvements in endoscopic equipment and surgical robots has encouraged the performance of minimally invasive cardiac operations. Yet only a few Korean studies have compared this procedure with the sternotomy approach. Material and Method: Between December 2005 and July 2007, 48 patients (group A) underwent minimally invasive cardiac surgery with AESOP through a small right thoracotomy. During the same period, 50 patients (group B) underwent conventional surgery. We compared the operative time, the operative results, the post-operative pain and the recovery of both groups. Result: There was no hospital mortality and there were no significant differences in the incidence of operative complications between the two groups. The operative
As an official journal of the Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies (AAAP), the Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences (AJAS) was born in February 1987 and the first issue (Volume 1, Number 1) was published in March 1988 under the Editorship of Professor In K. Han (Korea). By the end of 2001, a total of 84 issues in 14 volumes and 1,761 papers in 11,462 pages had been published. In addition to these 14 volumes, a special issue entitled "Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition" (April, 2000) and 3 supplements entitled "Proceedings of the 9th AAAP Animal Science Congress" (July, 2000) were also published. Publication frequency has steadily increased from 4 issues in 1988, to 6 issues in 1997 and to 12 issues in 2000. The total number of pages per volume and the number of original or review papers published also increased. Some significant milestones in the history of the AJAS include that (1) it became a Science Citation Index (SCI) journal in 1997, (2) the impact factor of the journal improved from 0.257 in 1999 to 0.446 in 2000, (3) it became a monthly journal (12 issues per volume) in 2000, (4) it adopted an English editing system in 1999, and (5) it has been covered in "Current Contents/Agriculture, Biology and Environmental Science since 2000. The AJAS is subscribed by 842 individuals or institutions. Annual subscription fees of US$ 50 (Category B) or US$ 70 (Category A) for individuals and US$ 70 (Category B) or US$ 120 (Category A) for institutions are much less than the actual production costs of US$ 130. A list of the 1,761 papers published in AJAS, listed according to subject area, may be found in the AJAS homepage (http://www.ajas.snu.ac.kr) and a very well prepared "Editorial Policy with Guide for Authors" is available in the Appendix of this paper. With regard to the submission status of manuscripts from AAAP member countries, India (235), Korea (235) and Japan (198) have submitted the most manuscripts. On the other hand, Mongolia, Nepal, and Papua New Guinea have never submitted any articles. The average time required from submission of a manuscript to printing in the AJAS has been reduced from 11 months in 1997-2000 to 7.8 months in 2001. The average rejection rate of manuscripts was 35.3%, a percentage slightly higher than most leading animal science journals. The total number of scientific papers published in the AJAS by AAAP member countries during a 14-year period (1988-2001) was 1,333 papers (75.7%) and that by non- AAAP member countries was 428 papers (24.3%). Japanese animal scientists have published the largest number of papers (397), followed by Korea (275), India (160), Bangladesh (111), Pakistan (85), Australia (71), Malaysia (59), China (53), Thailand (53), and Indonesia (34). It is regrettable that the Philippines (15), Vietnam (10), New Zealand (8), Nepal (2), Mongolia (0) and Papua New Guinea (0) have not actively participated in publishing papers in the AJAS. It is also interesting to note that the top 5 countries (Bangladesh, India, Japan, Korea and Pakistan) have published 1,028 papers in total indicating 77% of the total papers being published by AAAP animal scientists from Vol. 1 to 14 of the AJAS. The largest number of papers were published in the ruminant nutrition section (591 papers-44.3%), followed by the non-ruminant nutrition section (251 papers-18.8%), the animal reproduction section (153 papers-11.5%) and the animal breeding section (115 papers-8.6%). The largest portion of AJAS manuscripts was reviewed by Korean editors (44.3%), followed by Japanese editors (18.1%), Australian editors (6.0%) and Chinese editors (5.6%). Editors from the rest of the AAAP member countries have reviewed slightly less than 5% of the total AJAS manuscripts. It was regrettably noticed that editorial members representing Nepal (66.7%), Mongolia (50.0%), India (35.7%), Pakistan (25.0%), Papua New Guinea (25.0%), Malaysia (22.8%) and New Zealand (21.5%) have failed to return many of the manuscripts requested to be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief. Financial records show that Korea has contributed the largest portion of production costs (68.5%), followed by Japan (17.3%), China (8.3%), and Australia (3.5%). It was found that 6 AAAP member countries have contributed less than 1% of the total production costs (Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Thailand), and another 6 AAAP member countries (Mongolia, Nepal and Pakistan, Philippine and Vietnam) have never provided any financial contribution in the form of subscriptions, page charges or reprints. It should be pointed out that most AAAP member countries have published more papers than their financial input with the exception of Korea and China. For example, Japan has published 29.8% of the total papers published in AJAS by AAAP member countries. However, Japan has contributed only 17.3% of total income. Similar trends could also be found in the case of Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. A total of 12 Asian young animal scientists (under 40 years of age) have been awarded the AJAS-Purina Outstanding Research Award which was initiated in 1990 with a donation of US$ 2,000-3,000 by Mr. K. Y. Kim, President of Agribrands Purina Korea Inc. In order to improve the impact factor (citation frequency) and the financial structure of the AJAS, (1) submission of more manuscripts of good quality should be encouraged, (2) subscription rate of all AAAP member countries, especially Category B member countries should be dramatically increased, (3) a page charge policy and reprint ordering system should be applied to all AAAP member countries, and (4) all AAAP countries, especially Category A member countries should share more of the financial burden (advertisement revenue or support from public or private sector).
Seongjusa Temple was founded in Boryeong in Chungcheongnam-do Province by Monk Muyeom (800-888), better known as Nanghye Hwasang. After returning from studying in China, Muyeom stayed in the Silla capital city of Gyeongju for a period. He later settled in a temple that was managed by the descendants of Kim In-mun (629-694). He then restored a burned-out temple and opened it in 847 as a Seon (Zen) temple named Seongjusa. It prospered and grew to become a large-scale temple with several halls within its domains. The influence of Seongjusa in the region can be seen in the Historical Record of Seongjusa Temple on Sungamsan Mountain, which relates that there were seventy-three rooms within the domains of the temple. What is most notable in the record is that the temple is referred to as "栴檀林九間," which means either "a structure with nine rooms built with Chinese juniper wood" or "a place that houses Chinese juniper wood and has nine rooms." Regardless of the interpretation, Seongjusa Temple had a large amount of juniper wood. Around this time, the term "juniper" referred to the olibanum tree (Boswellia sacra) native to the islands of Java and Sumatra in Southeast Asia. It is presumed that at some point after the death of Jang Bogo, the maritime forces that controlled the southwestern coast of Korea may have acquired a large amount of Southeast Asian olibanum wood and offered it to Seongjusa Temple. During the reign of King Munseong, Kim Yang (808-857) patronized Seongjusa Temple and its head monk Muyeom, who enjoyed a lofty reputation in the region. He sought to strengthen his own position as a member of the royal lineage of King Muyeol and create a bridge between the royal family and Seongjusan Buddhist sect. The court of King Wonseong designated Seongjusa Temple as a regional base for the support of royal authority in an area where anti-royal sentiment remained strong. Monk Muyeom is believed to have created an iron Buddha to protect the temple, enlighten the people, and promote regional stability. Given that the Seongjusa community had expanded to include more than 2,000 followers, the iron Buddha at Seongjusa Temple would have been perceived as an image that rallied the local residents. It is assumed that there were two iron Buddhas at Seongjusa Temple. The surviving parts of these Buddhas and the size of their pedestals suggest that they were respectively enshrined in the Geumdang Main Hall and the Samcheonbuljeon Hall of Three Thousand Buddhas. It is presumed that the first iron Buddha in Geumdang was a large statue over two meters in height and the second one was medium-sized with the height over one meter. The Historical Record of Seongjusa Temple on Sungamsan Mountain contains the phrase "改創選法堂五層重閣" which indicates that a multistoried Geumdang was newly built to enshrine a large Buddha sculpture like the first iron Buddha when Seongjusa Temple was founded. Also, according to the Stele of Seongjusa Temple and the surviving finger fragments, the first Buddha was making the fear-not and wish-granting (abhayavarada) mudras. The main Buddha of Seongjusa Temple is possibly Nosana Buddha, just like the main Buddhas at the contemporaneous temples Silsangsa, Borimsa, and Samhwasa. Given that Monk Muyeom studied Hwaeom teachings in his early years and received royal patronage upon his return, it is believed that the retro tendencies of the Hwaeom school, centered on the royal family of the Silla Dynasty, were reflected in Seongjusa temple.
This study examined the Korean folklore "Borrowed Fortune from Heaven" from the perspective of Analytical Psychology, considering it a manifestation of the human psyche, and tried to gain a deeper understanding of what happens in our mind. Through the exploration, the researcher was able to re-identify the ongoing psychological process operating in the depths of our mind, pertaining to the emergence of a new dimension of consciousness. Particularly the researcher was able to gain some insights into how the potential psychic elements for the new consciousness are prepared in the unconscious, how they get integrated into the conscious life, and what is essential for the accomplishment of the process. The tale begins with a poor woodcutter who, in order to escape from poverty, starts gathering twice as much firewood. However, the newly acquired amount disappears overnight, so the woodcutter gets perplexed and curious about where it goes and who is taking it. He seeks to find out the truth, which leads him to an unexpected journey to Heaven. There he learns the truth concerning his very tiny amount of fortune, and discovers another big fortune for an unborn person. By pleading with the ruler of Heaven, the woodcutter borrows that grand fortune, on the condition that he must return it to the owner when the time comes. After that, the woodcutter's life undergoes a series of changes, in which he finally becomes a wealthy farmer, but gradually is reminded more and more that the destined time is approaching. In the end, the fortune is completely transferred to the original owner, resulting in a dramatic twist and the creation of a new life circumstances. The overall plot can be understood as a reflection of the psychological process aiming at the evolution of consciousness through renewal. In this context, the woodcutter can be considered a psychic element that undergoes a continuous transformation in preparation for participating in the upcoming new consciousness. In other words, the changes brought about by this figure can be interpreted as a gradual and increasingly detailed foreshadowing of what the forthcoming new consciousness would be like. Interestingly, as the destined time approaches, the protagonist's anguish in conflict reaches its climax, despite his good performance in his role until then. This effectively portrays the difficulty of achieving a new dimension of consciousness, which requires moving past the last step. All the events in the story ultimately converge at this point. After all, the resolution occurs when the protagonist lets go of everything he has and follows the will of Heaven. This implies what is essential for the renewal of consciousness. Only by completely complying with the entire mind, the potential constituents of the new consciousness that should play important roles in a renewal and evolution of consciousness through experiencing, can participate in the ultimate outcome. As long as they remain trapped in any intermediate stage, the totality of the psyche would develop another detour aiming at the final destination, which means the beginning of another period of suffering carrying a purposeful meaning. The tale suggests that this truth will be applied everywhere that renewal of consciousness is directed, whether for an individual or a society.
Background : In sleep apnea syndrome, arterial oxygen saturation(
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relations between financial constraints and dividend smoothing of innovative small and medium sized enterprises(SMEs) listed on Korea Securities Market and Kosdaq Market of Korea Exchange. The innovative SMEs is defined as the firms with high level of R&D intensity which is measured by (R&D investment/total sales) ratio, according to Chauvin and Hirschey (1993). The R&D investment plays an important role as the innovative driver that can increase the future growth opportunity and profitability of the firms. Therefore, the R&D investment have large, positive, and consistent influences on the market value of the firm. In this point of view, we expect that the innovative SMEs can adjust dividend payment faster than the noninnovative SMEs, on the ground of their future growth opportunity and profitability. And also, we expect that the financial unconstrained firms can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms, on the ground of their financing ability of investment funds through the market accessibility. Aivazian et al.(2006) exert that the financial unconstrained firms with the high accessibility to capital market can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms. We collect the sample firms among the total SMEs listed on Korea Securities Market and Kosdaq Market of Korea Exchange during the periods from January 1999 to December 2007 from the KIS Value Library database. The total number of firm-year observations of the total sample firms throughout the entire period is 5,544, the number of firm-year observations of the dividend firms is 2,919, and the number of firm-year observations of the non-dividend firms is 2,625. About 53%(or 2,919) of these total 5,544 observations involve firms that make a dividend payment. The dividend firms are divided into two groups according to the R&D intensity, such as the innovative SMEs with larger than median of R&D intensity and the noninnovative SMEs with smaller than median of R&D intensity. The number of firm-year observations of the innovative SMEs is 1,506, and the number of firm-year observations of the noninnovative SMEs is 1,413. Furthermore, the innovative SMEs are divided into two groups according to level of financial constraints, such as the financial unconstrained firms and the financial constrained firms. The number of firm-year observations of the former is 894, and the number of firm-year observations of the latter is 612. Although all available firm-year observations of the dividend firms are collected, deletions are made in the case of financial industries such as banks, securities company, insurance company, and other financial services company, because their capital structure and business style are widely different from the general manufacturing firms. The stock repurchase was involved in dividend payment because Grullon and Michaely (2002) examined the substitution hypothesis between dividends and stock repurchases. However, our data structure is an unbalanced panel data since there is no requirement that the firm-year observations data are all available for each firms during the entire periods from January 1999 to December 2007 from the KIS Value Library database. We firstly estimate the classic Lintner(1956) dividend adjustment model, where the decision to smooth dividend or to adopt a residual dividend policy depends on financial constraints measured by market accessibility. Lintner model indicates that firms maintain stable and long run target payout ratio, and that firms adjust partially the gap between current payout rato and target payout ratio each year. In the Lintner model, dependent variable is the current dividend per share(DPSt), and independent variables are the past dividend per share(DPSt-1) and the current earnings per share(EPSt). We hypothesized that firms adjust partially the gap between the current dividend per share(DPSt) and the target payout ratio(Ω) each year, when the past dividend per share(DPSt-1) deviate from the target payout ratio(Ω). We secondly estimate the expansion model that extend the Lintner model by including the determinants suggested by the major theories of dividend, namely, residual dividend theory, dividend signaling theory, agency theory, catering theory, and transactions cost theory. In the expansion model, dependent variable is the current dividend per share(DPSt), explanatory variables are the past dividend per share(DPSt-1) and the current earnings per share(EPSt), and control variables are the current capital expenditure ratio(CEAt), the current leverage ratio(LEVt), the current operating return on assets(ROAt), the current business risk(RISKt), the current trading volume turnover ratio(TURNt), and the current dividend premium(DPREMt). In these control variables, CEAt, LEVt, and ROAt are the determinants suggested by the residual dividend theory and the agency theory, ROAt and RISKt are the determinants suggested by the dividend signaling theory, TURNt is the determinant suggested by the transactions cost theory, and DPREMt is the determinant suggested by the catering theory. Furthermore, we thirdly estimate the Lintner model and the expansion model by using the panel data of the financial unconstrained firms and the financial constrained firms, that are divided into two groups according to level of financial constraints. We expect that the financial unconstrained firms can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms, because the former can finance more easily the investment funds through the market accessibility than the latter. We analyzed descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and median to delete the outliers from the panel data, conducted one way analysis of variance to check up the industry-specfic effects, and conducted difference test of firms characteristic variables between innovative SMEs and noninnovative SMEs as well as difference test of firms characteristic variables between financial unconstrained firms and financial constrained firms. We also conducted the correlation analysis and the variance inflation factors analysis to detect any multicollinearity among the independent variables. Both of the correlation coefficients and the variance inflation factors are roughly low to the extent that may be ignored the multicollinearity among the independent variables. Furthermore, we estimate both of the Lintner model and the expansion model using the panel regression analysis. We firstly test the time-specific effects and the firm-specific effects may be involved in our panel data through the Lagrange multiplier test that was proposed by Breusch and Pagan(1980), and secondly conduct Hausman test to prove that fixed effect model is fitter with our panel data than the random effect model. The main results of this study can be summarized as follows. The determinants suggested by the major theories of dividend, namely, residual dividend theory, dividend signaling theory, agency theory, catering theory, and transactions cost theory explain significantly the dividend policy of the innovative SMEs. Lintner model indicates that firms maintain stable and long run target payout ratio, and that firms adjust partially the gap between the current payout ratio and the target payout ratio each year. In the core variables of Lintner model, the past dividend per share has more effects to dividend smoothing than the current earnings per share. These results suggest that the innovative SMEs maintain stable and long run dividend policy which sustains the past dividend per share level without corporate special reasons. The main results show that dividend adjustment speed of the innovative SMEs is faster than that of the noninnovative SMEs. This means that the innovative SMEs with high level of R&D intensity can adjust dividend payment faster than the noninnovative SMEs, on the ground of their future growth opportunity and profitability. The other main results show that dividend adjustment speed of the financial unconstrained SMEs is faster than that of the financial constrained SMEs. This means that the financial unconstrained firms with high accessibility to capital market can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms, on the ground of their financing ability of investment funds through the market accessibility. Futhermore, the other additional results show that dividend adjustment speed of the innovative SMEs classified by the Small and Medium Business Administration is faster than that of the unclassified SMEs. They are linked with various financial policies and services such as credit guaranteed service, policy fund for SMEs, venture investment fund, insurance program, and so on. In conclusion, the past dividend per share and the current earnings per share suggested by the Lintner model explain mainly dividend adjustment speed of the innovative SMEs, and also the financial constraints explain partially. Therefore, if managers can properly understand of the relations between financial constraints and dividend smoothing of innovative SMEs, they can maintain stable and long run dividend policy of the innovative SMEs through dividend smoothing. These are encouraging results for Korea government, that is, the Small and Medium Business Administration as it has implemented many policies to commit to the innovative SMEs. This paper may have a few limitations because it may be only early study about the relations between financial constraints and dividend smoothing of the innovative SMEs. Specifically, this paper may not adequately capture all of the subtle features of the innovative SMEs and the financial unconstrained SMEs. Therefore, we think that it is necessary to expand sample firms and control variables, and use more elaborate analysis methods in the future studies.