• Title/Summary/Keyword: standard database

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A Study on the Improvement of Guideline in Digital Forest Type Map (수치임상도 작업매뉴얼의 개선방안에 관한 연구)

  • PARK, Jeong-Mook;DO, Mi-Ryung;SIM, Woo-Dam;LEE, Jung-Soo
    • Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.168-182
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    • 2019
  • The objectives of this study were to examine the production processes and methods of "Forest Type Map Actualization Production (Database (DB) Construction Work Manual)" (Work Manual) identify issues associated with the production processes and methods, and suggest solutions for them by applying evaluation items to a 1:5k digital forest type map. The evaluation items applied to a forest type map were divided into zoning and attributes, and the issues associated with the production processes and methods of Work Manual were derived through analyzing the characteristics of the stand structure and fragmentation by administrative districts. Korea is divided into five divisions, where one is set as the area changed naturally and the other four areas set as the area changed artificially. The area changed naturally has been updated every five years, and those changed artificially have been updated annually. The fragmentation of South Korea was analyzed in order to examine the consistency of the DB established for each region. The results showed that, in South Korea, the number of patches increased and the mean patch size decreased. As a result, the degree of fragmentation and the complexity of shapes increased. The degree of fragmentation and the complexity of shapes decreased in four regions out of 17 regions (metropolitan cities and provinces). The results indicated that there were spatial variations. The "Forest Classification" defines the minimum area of a zoning as 0.1ha. This study examined the criteria for the minimum area of a zoning by estimating the divided object (polygon unit) in a forest type map. The results of this study revealed that approximately 26% of objects were smaller than the minimum area of a zoning. The results implied that it would be necessary to establish the definition and the regeneration interval of "Areas Changed Artificially and Areas Changed Naturally", and improve the standard for the minimum area of a zoning. Among the attributes of Work Manual, "Species Change" item classifies terrain features into 52 types, and 43 types of them belong to stocking land. This study examined distribution ratios by extracting species information from the forest type map. It was found that each of 23 species, approximately 53% of species, occupied less than 0.1% of Forested land. The top three species were pine and other species. Although undergrowth on unstocked forest land are classified in the terrain feature system, their definition and classification criteria are not established in the "Forest Classification" item. Therefore, it will be needed to reestablish the terrain feature system and set the definitions of undergrowth.

The Transmission Direction and Tasks of Ssireum as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage (씨름의 국가무형문화재 전승방향 및 과제)

  • Kwak, Nak-hyun
    • (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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    • no.67
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    • pp.203-236
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    • 2017
  • The objective of this study is to suggest the transmission direction and tasks of Ssireum, and the conclusions are like below. First, Ssireum has been designated as a national intangible cultural heritage(No.131) in December 2016. Second, in the current status of preservation and spread of Ssireum, there is no system related to the transmission of Ssireum such as cultivation of professional manpower, and facilities, programs, and administration/finance for transmitting Ssireum. Third, based on the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Preservation & Promotion Act", the transmission direction of Ssireum was suggested. (1)The designation of a college to transmit Ssireum would be needed. (2)The Ssireum curriculum should be established. (3) It would be necessary to secure trainees for transmitting Ssireum. (4)The production of teaching materials for transmitting Ssireum would be needed. (5)It would be needed to secure training institutes designated in each region and also teaching personnels for transmitting Ssireum. (6)The research direction for the correct transmission of Ssireum should be set up. Fourth, based on the "Ssireum Promotion Act", the transmission direction of Ssireum was suggested. (1)It is urgent to complement provisions for transmitting Ssireum. (2)For the transmission of Ssireum, instead of the transmission direction of Ssireum as a national intangible cultural heritage in the standardized perspective, it would be necessary to seek for the joint transmission direction between South & North Korea for research & documentation of Ssireum that could be systematized/shared between South & North Korea, development/spread of contents for discovering the original form of Ssireum, and the establishment of a base of transmission system for the preservation/promotion of Ssireum through the academic/institutional exchanges regarding Ssireum between South and North Korea. Moreover, the overall and fundamental transmission measures for the education, transmission, research, record, and informatization of Ssireum, and the cultivation of professional manpower should be established. Fifth, the contents of institutional tasks for Ssireum are like following. (1)The institutional complementation of the "Ssireum Promotion Act" should be done for the domestic/foreign promotion of Ssireum. (2)For the integration of Ssireum organizations, the administrative system should be unified. (3)The standard technical system manual for Ssireum should be produced. (4)The 'Ssireum Transmission Center' should be built for the preservation and systematic transmission of Ssireum. (5)The selection of a college for transmitting Ssireum and the establishment of a system to cultivate Ssireum successors should be done. (6)It would be necessary to establish database(DB) for the use of Ssireum techniques essential for the transmission of Ssireum.

Research Trends in The Journal of Daesoon Academy of Sciences : 『The Journal of Daesoon』 Vol.1-Vol.25 (1996~2015) (『대순사상논총』의 연구 동향에 관한 연구- 『대순사상논총』 1집-25집(1996~2015) -)

  • Chang, In-ho
    • Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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    • v.27
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    • pp.201-243
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    • 2016
  • This paper analyzes the research trends from 358 scholarly articles published in the Journal of Daesoon Academy of Sciences from the first published journal in 1996 to the most recent journal published on the 25th of 2015 and proposes ideas for improvement. First of all, "The Journal of Daesoon Academy of Sciences" does not meet the standards required by the National Research Foundation, falling short of the most important conditions for the registration such as the periodicity and punctuality expected from academic journals. Furthermore, in terms of the Bibliometrical analysis, the number of articles published by the journal is decreasing and the consistency, with regards to rules and principles regulating publication details and bibliography formats, is nonexistent. Although various authors seemed to be meeting these criteria on the surface, the ratio of co-authored articles is too small. Securing researchers specializing in Daesoon Thought for expanding the size of the journal is important, but it is also important to diversify the research topics through exchanging ideas among researchers from various organizations. Here are some ideas for the improvement of the Journal of Daesoon Academy of Sciences: First, in order to meet the standards for punctuality and periodicity, it would be best to publish the journal twice a year with 12 to 15 articles. Second, the journal must become searchable through the creation of a database. Third, the key words and abstracts of articles must be written in Korean and English to facilitate the sharing of articles among researchers. Fourth, the journal must have a diverse and outstanding editorial board which takes into account the geographical situations of its board members. Fifth, the Journal must include articles on relevant topics that reflect the core topics of the Daesoon Thought and other studies. Sixth, articles must have a front page that contains bibliographical items to convey information to the reader. Seventh, it is essential that the journal have a clear publication date detailing the year, month, and day as well as a standard numbering scheme (i.e, Vol. and no).

Overcoming taxonomic challenges in DNA barcoding for improvement of identification and preservation of clariid catfish species

  • Piangjai Chalermwong;Thitipong Panthum;Pish Wattanadilokcahtkun;Nattakan Ariyaraphong;Thanyapat Thong;Phanitada Srikampa;Worapong Singchat;Syed Farhan Ahmad;Kantika Noito;Ryan Rasoarahona;Artem Lisachov;Hina Ali;Ekaphan Kraichak;Narongrit Muangmai;Satid Chatchaiphan6;Kednapat Sriphairoj;Sittichai Hatachote;Aingorn Chaiyes;Chatchawan Jantasuriyarat;Visarut Chailertlit;Warong Suksavate;Jumaporn Sonongbua;Witsanu Srimai;Sunchai Payungporn;Kyudong Han;Agostinho Antunes;Prapansak Srisapoome;Akihiko Koga;Prateep Duengkae;Yoichi Matsuda;Uthairat Na-Nakorn;Kornsorn Srikulnath
    • Genomics & Informatics
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    • v.21 no.3
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    • pp.39.1-39.15
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    • 2023
  • DNA barcoding without assessing reliability and validity causes taxonomic errors of species identification, which is responsible for disruptions of their conservation and aquaculture industry. Although DNA barcoding facilitates molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis of species, its availability in clariid catfish lineage remains uncertain. In this study, DNA barcoding was developed and validated for clariid catfish. 2,970 barcode sequences from mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) and cytochrome b (Cytb) genes and D-loop sequences were analyzed for 37 clariid catfish species. The highest intraspecific nearest neighbor distances were 85.47%, 98.03%, and 89.10% for COI, Cytb, and D-loop sequences, respectively. This suggests that the Cytb gene is the most appropriate for identifying clariid catfish and can serve as a standard region for DNA barcoding. A positive barcoding gap between interspecific and intraspecific sequence divergence was observed in the Cytb dataset but not in the COI and D-loop datasets. Intraspecific variation was typically less than 4.4%, whereas interspecific variation was generally more than 66.9%. However, a species complex was detected in walking catfish and significant intraspecific sequence divergence was observed in North African catfish. These findings suggest the need to focus on developing a DNA barcoding system for classifying clariid catfish properly and to validate its efficacy for a wider range of clariid catfish. With an enriched database of multiple sequences from a target species and its genus, species identification can be more accurate and biodiversity assessment of the species can be facilitated.

Preservation of World Records Heritage in Korea and Further Registry (한국의 세계기록유산 보존 현황 및 과제)

  • Kim, Sung-Soo
    • Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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    • v.5 no.2
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    • pp.27-48
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    • 2005
  • This study investigates the current preservation and management of four records and documentary heritage in Korea that is in the UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. The study analyzes their problems and corresponding solutions in digitizing those world records heritages. This study also reviews additional four documentary books in Korea that are in the wish list to add to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. This study is organized as the following: Chapter 2 examines the value and meanings of world records and documentary heritage in Korea. The registry requirements and procedures of UNESCO's Memory of the World Register are examined. The currently registered records of Korea include Hunmin-Chongum, the Annals of the Choson Dynasty, the Diaries of the Royal Secretariat (Seungjeongwon Ilgi), and Buljo- Jikji-Simche-Yojeol (vol. II). These records heritage's worth and significance are carefully analyzed. For example, Hunmin-Chongum("訓民正音") is consisted of unique and systematic letters. Letters were delicately explained with examples in its original manual at the time of letter's creation, which is an unparalleled case in the world documentary history. The Annals of the Choson Dynasty("朝鮮王朝實錄") are the most comprehensive historic documents that contain the longest period of time in history. Their truthfulness and reliability in describing history give credits to the annals. The Royal Secretariat Diary (called Seungjeongwon-Ilgi("承政院日記")) is the most voluminous primary resources in history, superior to the Annals of Choson Dynasty and Twenty Five Histories in China. Jikji("直指") is the oldest existing book published by movable metal print sets in the world. It evidences the beginning of metal printing in the world printing history and is worthy of being as world heritage. The review of the four registered records confirms that they are valuable world documentary heritage that transfers culture of mankind to next generations and should be preserved carefully and safely without deterioration or loss. Chapter 3 investigates the current status of preservation and management of three repositories that store the four registered records in Korea. The repositories include Kyujanggak Archives in Seoul National University, Pusan Records and Information Center of National Records and Archives Service, and Gansong Art Museum. The quality of their preservation and management are excellent in all of three institutions by the following aspects: 1) detailed security measures are close to perfection 2) archiving practices are very careful by using a special stack room in steady temperature and humidity and depositing it in stack or archival box made of paulownia tree and 3) fire prevention, lighting, and fumigation are thoroughly prepared. Chapter 4 summarizes the status quo of digitization projects of records heritage in Korea. The most important issue related to digitization and database construction on Korean records heritage is likely to set up the standardization of digitization processes and facilities. It is urgently necessary to develop comprehensive standard systems for digitization. Two institutions are closely interested in these tasks: 1) the National Records and Archives Service experienced in developing government records management systems; and 2) the Cultural Heritage Administration interested in digitization of Korean old documents. In collaboration of these two institutions, a new standard system will be designed for digitizing records heritage on Korean Studies. Chapter 5 deals with additional Korean records heritage in the wish list for UNESCO's Memory of the World Register, including: 1) Wooden Printing Blocks(經板) of Koryo-Taejangkyong(高麗大藏經) in Haein Temple(海印寺); 2) Dongui-Bogam("東醫寶鑑") 3) Samguk-Yusa("三國遺事") and 4) Mugujeonggwangdaedaranigyeong. Their world value and importance are examined as followings. Wooden Printing Blocks of Koryo-Taejangkyong in Haein Temple is the worldly oldest wooden printing block of cannon of Buddhism that still exist and was created over 750 years ago. It needs a special conservation treatment to disinfect germs residing in surface and inside of wooden plates. Otherwise, it may be damaged seriously. For its effective conservation and preservation, we hope that UNESCO and Government will schedule special care and budget and join the list of Memory of the Word Register. Dongui-Bogam is the most comprehensive and well-written medical book in the Korean history, summarizing all medical books in Korea and China from the Ancient Times through the early 17th century and concentrating on Korean herb medicine and prescriptions. It is proved as the best clinical guidebook in the 17th century for doctors and practitioners to easily use. The book was also published in China and Japan in the 18th century and greatly influenced the development of practical clinic and medical research in Asia at that time. This is why Dongui Bogam is in the wish list to register to the Memory of the World. Samguk-Yusa is evaluated as one of the most comprehensive history books and treasure sources in Korea, which illustrates foundations of Korean people and covers histories and cultures of ancient Korean peninsula and nearby countries. The book contains the oldest fixed form verse, called Hyang-Ka(鄕歌), and became the origin of Korean literature. In particular, the section of Gi-ee(紀異篇) describes the historical processes of dynasty transition from the first dynasty Gochosun(古朝鮮) to Goguryeo(高句麗) and illustrates the identity of Korean people from its historical origin. This book is worthy of adding to the Memory of the World Register. Mugujeonggwangdaedaranigyeong is the oldest book printed by wooden type plates, and it is estimated to print in between 706 and 751. It contains several reasons and evidence to be worthy of adding to the list of the Memory of the World. It is the greatest documentary heritage that represents the first wooden printing book that still exists in the world as well as illustrates the history of wooden printing in Korea.

Surgery Alone or Postoperative Adjuvant Radiotherapy in Rectal Cancer - With Respect to Survival, Pelvic Control, Prognostic Factor - (직장암에서 수술단독 또는 수술후 방사선치료 -생존율, 골반종양제어율, 예후인자를 중심으로-)

  • Nam, Taek-Keun;Ahn, Sung-Ja;Nah, Byung-Sik
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.327-334
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    • 2001
  • Purpose : To find out the role of postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy in the treatment of rectal cancer by comparing survival, pelvic control, complication rate, and any prognostic factor between surgery alone and postoperative radiotherapy group. Materials and methods : From Feb. 1982 to Dec. 1996 total 212 patients were treated by radical surgery with or without postoperative radiotherapy due to rectal carcinoma of modified Astler-Coiler stage $B2\~C3$. Of them, 18 patients had incomplete radiotherapy and so the remaining 194 patients were the database analyzed in this study. One hundred four patients received postoperative radiotherapy and the other 90 patients had surgery only. Radiotherapy was peformed in the range of $39.6\~55.8\;Gy$ (mean: 49.9 Gy) to the whole pelvis and if necessary, tumor bed was boosted by $5.4\~10\;Gy$. Both survival and pelvic control rates were calculated by Kaplan-Meier method and their statistical significance was tested by Log-rank test. Multivariate analysis was peformed by Cox proportional hazards model. Results : 5-year actuarial survival rate (5YSR) and 5-year disease-free survival rate (5YDFSR) of entire patients were $53\%\;and\;49\%$, respectively. 5YSRs of surgery alone group and adjuvant radiotherapy group were $63\%\;vs\;45\%$, respectively (p=0.03). This difference is thought to reflect uneven distribution of stages between two treatment groups (p<0.05 by $\chi^2-test$) with more advanced disease patients in adjuvant radiotherapy group. 5YSRs of surgery alone vs adjuvant radiotherapy group in MAC B2+3, C1, C2+3 were $68\%\;vs\;55\%$ (p=0.09), $100\%\;vs\;100\%$, $40\%\;vs\;33\%$ (p=0.71), respectively. 5YDFSRs of surgery alone vs adjuvant radiotherapy group in above three stages were $65\%\;vs\;49\%$ (p=0.14), $100\%\;vs\;100\%$, $33\%\;vs\;31\%$ (p=0.46), respectively. 5-year pelvic control rate (5YPCR) of entire patients was $72.5\%$. 5YPCRs of surgery alone and adjuvant radiotherapy group were $71\%\;vs\;74\%$, respectively (p=0.41). 5YPCRs of surgery alone vs adjuvant radiotherapy group in B2+3, C1, C2+3 were $79\%\;vs\;75\%$ (p=0.88), $100\%\;vs\;100\%$, $44\%\;vs\;68\%$ (p=0.01), respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that only stage was significant factor affecting overall and disease-free survival in entire patients and also in both treatment groups. In view of pelvic control, stage and operation type were significant in entire patients and only stage in surgery alone group but in adjuvant radiotherapy group, operation type instead of stage was the only significant factor in multivariate analysis as a negative prognostic factor in abdominoperineal resection cases. Conclusion : Our retrospective study showed that postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy could improve the pelvic control in MAC C2+3 group. To improve both pelvic control and survival in all patients with MAC B2 or more, other treatment modality such as concurrent continuous infusion of 5-FU, which is the most standard agent, with radiotherapy should be considered.

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Medical Information Dynamic Access System in Smart Mobile Environments (스마트 모바일 환경에서 의료정보 동적접근 시스템)

  • Jeong, Chang Won;Kim, Woo Hong;Yoon, Kwon Ha;Joo, Su Chong
    • Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.47-55
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    • 2015
  • Recently, the environment of a hospital information system is a trend to combine various SMART technologies. Accordingly, various smart devices, such as a smart phone, Tablet PC is utilized in the medical information system. Also, these environments consist of various applications executing on heterogeneous sensors, devices, systems and networks. In these hospital information system environment, applying a security service by traditional access control method cause a problems. Most of the existing security system uses the access control list structure. It is only permitted access defined by an access control matrix such as client name, service object method name. The major problem with the static approach cannot quickly adapt to changed situations. Hence, we needs to new security mechanisms which provides more flexible and can be easily adapted to various environments with very different security requirements. In addition, for addressing the changing of service medical treatment of the patient, the researching is needed. In this paper, we suggest a dynamic approach to medical information systems in smart mobile environments. We focus on how to access medical information systems according to dynamic access control methods based on the existence of the hospital's information system environments. The physical environments consist of a mobile x-ray imaging devices, dedicated mobile/general smart devices, PACS, EMR server and authorization server. The software environment was developed based on the .Net Framework for synchronization and monitoring services based on mobile X-ray imaging equipment Windows7 OS. And dedicated a smart device application, we implemented a dynamic access services through JSP and Java SDK is based on the Android OS. PACS and mobile X-ray image devices in hospital, medical information between the dedicated smart devices are based on the DICOM medical image standard information. In addition, EMR information is based on H7. In order to providing dynamic access control service, we classify the context of the patients according to conditions of bio-information such as oxygen saturation, heart rate, BP and body temperature etc. It shows event trace diagrams which divided into two parts like general situation, emergency situation. And, we designed the dynamic approach of the medical care information by authentication method. The authentication Information are contained ID/PWD, the roles, position and working hours, emergency certification codes for emergency patients. General situations of dynamic access control method may have access to medical information by the value of the authentication information. In the case of an emergency, was to have access to medical information by an emergency code, without the authentication information. And, we constructed the medical information integration database scheme that is consist medical information, patient, medical staff and medical image information according to medical information standards.y Finally, we show the usefulness of the dynamic access application service based on the smart devices for execution results of the proposed system according to patient contexts such as general and emergency situation. Especially, the proposed systems are providing effective medical information services with smart devices in emergency situation by dynamic access control methods. As results, we expect the proposed systems to be useful for u-hospital information systems and services.

The Classification System and Information Service for Establishing a National Collaborative R&D Strategy in Infectious Diseases: Focusing on the Classification Model for Overseas Coronavirus R&D Projects (국가 감염병 공동R&D전략 수립을 위한 분류체계 및 정보서비스에 대한 연구: 해외 코로나바이러스 R&D과제의 분류모델을 중심으로)

  • Lee, Doyeon;Lee, Jae-Seong;Jun, Seung-pyo;Kim, Keun-Hwan
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.26 no.3
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    • pp.127-147
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    • 2020
  • The world is suffering from numerous human and economic losses due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The Korean government established a strategy to overcome the national infectious disease crisis through research and development. It is difficult to find distinctive features and changes in a specific R&D field when using the existing technical classification or science and technology standard classification. Recently, a few studies have been conducted to establish a classification system to provide information about the investment research areas of infectious diseases in Korea through a comparative analysis of Korea government-funded research projects. However, these studies did not provide the necessary information for establishing cooperative research strategies among countries in the infectious diseases, which is required as an execution plan to achieve the goals of national health security and fostering new growth industries. Therefore, it is inevitable to study information services based on the classification system and classification model for establishing a national collaborative R&D strategy. Seven classification - Diagnosis_biomarker, Drug_discovery, Epidemiology, Evaluation_validation, Mechanism_signaling pathway, Prediction, and Vaccine_therapeutic antibody - systems were derived through reviewing infectious diseases-related national-funded research projects of South Korea. A classification system model was trained by combining Scopus data with a bidirectional RNN model. The classification performance of the final model secured robustness with an accuracy of over 90%. In order to conduct the empirical study, an infectious disease classification system was applied to the coronavirus-related research and development projects of major countries such as the STAR Metrics (National Institutes of Health) and NSF (National Science Foundation) of the United States(US), the CORDIS (Community Research & Development Information Service)of the European Union(EU), and the KAKEN (Database of Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research) of Japan. It can be seen that the research and development trends of infectious diseases (coronavirus) in major countries are mostly concentrated in the prediction that deals with predicting success for clinical trials at the new drug development stage or predicting toxicity that causes side effects. The intriguing result is that for all of these nations, the portion of national investment in the vaccine_therapeutic antibody, which is recognized as an area of research and development aimed at the development of vaccines and treatments, was also very small (5.1%). It indirectly explained the reason of the poor development of vaccines and treatments. Based on the result of examining the investment status of coronavirus-related research projects through comparative analysis by country, it was found that the US and Japan are relatively evenly investing in all infectious diseases-related research areas, while Europe has relatively large investments in specific research areas such as diagnosis_biomarker. Moreover, the information on major coronavirus-related research organizations in major countries was provided by the classification system, thereby allowing establishing an international collaborative R&D projects.

A Study on the Identifying OECMs in Korea for Achieving the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework - Focusing on the Concept and Experts' Perception - (쿤밍-몬트리올 글로벌 생물다양성 보전목표 성취를 위한 우리나라 OECM 발굴방향 연구 - 개념 고찰 및 전문가 인식을 중심으로 -)

  • Hag-Young Heo;Sun-Joo Park
    • Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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    • v.37 no.4
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    • pp.302-314
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    • 2023
  • This study aims to explore the direction for Korea's effective response to Target 3 (30by30), which can be said to be the core of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (K-M GBF) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to find the direction of systematic OECM (Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures) discovery at the national level through a survey of global conceptual review and expert perception of OECM. This study examined ① the use of Korean terms related to OECM, ② derivation of determining criteria reflecting global standards, ③ deriving types of potential OECM candidates in Korea, and ④ considerations for OECM identification and reporting to explore the direction for identifying systematic, national-level OECM that complies with global standards and reflects the Korean context. First, there was consensus for using Korean terminology that reflects the concept of OECM rather than simple translations, and it was determined that "nature coexistence area" was the most preferred term (12 people) and had the same context as CBD 2050 Vision of "a world of living in harmony with nature." This study suggests utilizing four criteria (1. No protected areas, 2. Geographic boundaries, 3. Governance/management, and 4. Biodiversity value) that reflect OECM's core characteristics in the first-stage selection process, carrying out the consensus-building process (stage 2) with the relevant agencies, and adding two criteria (3-1 Effectiveness and sustainability of governance and management and 4-1 Long-term conservation) and performing the in-depth diagnosis in stage 3 (full assessment for reporting). The 28 types examined in this study were generally compatible with OECMs (4.45-6.21/7 points, mean 5.24). In particular, the "Conservation Properties (6.21 points)" and "Conservation Agreements (6.07 points)", which are controlled by National Nature Trust, are shown to be the most in line with the OECM concept. They were followed by "Buffer zone of World Natural Heritage (5.77 points)", "Temple Forest (5.73 points)", "Green-belt (Restricted development zones, 5.63 points)", "DMZ (5.60 points)", and "Buffer zone of biosphere reserve (5.50 point)" to have high potential. In the case of "Uninhabited Islands under Absolute Conservation", the response that they conformed to the protected areas (5.83/7 points) was higher than the OECM compatibility (5.52/7 points), it is determined that in the future, it would be preferable to promote the listing of absolute unprotected islands in the Korea Database on Protected Areas (KDPA) along with their surrounding waters (1 km). Based on the results of a global OECM standard review and expert perception survey, 10 items were suggested as considerations when identifying OECM in the Korean context. In the future, continuous research is needed to identify the potential OECMs through site-level assessment regarding these considerations and establish an effective in-situ conservation system at the national level by linking existing protected area systems and identified OECMs.

The Relations between Financial Constraints and Dividend Smoothing of Innovative Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (혁신형 중소기업의 재무적 제약과 배당스무딩간의 관계)

  • Shin, Min-Shik;Kim, Soo-Eun
    • Korean small business review
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    • v.31 no.4
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    • pp.67-93
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    • 2009
  • 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.