Country background report for Korea

노트 : OECD Review on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcome

Does More Mean Better? An Examination of Visual Product Presentation in E-retailing

Because of the intangible nature of online shopping, consumers perceive online shopping as being risky. This study examined how this risk can be reduced specifically by using a more effective online product presentation method. A combination of the number of product views (one and four) and size (small and large) of the product image were used to examine their influence on consumer’s mental intangibility and perceived amount of information, in which the two constructs ultimately influence perceived risk and patronage intentions. The results from the study showed that both product displays influenced mental intangibility even though an interaction effect did not exist. Comparatively, the number of product views and size had an interaction effect on perceived amount of information. These findings indicate how multiple product presentations can be used differently in reducing mental intangibility and perceived amount of information in an online shopping environment. Furthermore, perceived risk was found to be a partial mediator for both mental intangibility and patronage intentions, and perceived amount of information and patronage intentions. These findings provide useful information for e-retailers to consider for effective online product presentation.Keywords: Perceived Amount of Information, Perceived Risk, Product Presentation, Online Shopping, Mental Intangibilit

DUKKU AND BAEKAM SPRINGWATER INHIBIT THE UREASE ACTIVITY OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI

Background: Springwater (SW) contains many kinds of minerals such as sodium, potassium and copper. These metallic ions may influence the activity of metallo-enzymes such as urease via competitive inhibition. In this study, we investigated the effect of SW on the inhibition of Ni-containing urease activity, which is essential for the colonization of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in the human stomach.Materials and Methods: We studied the growth inhibition of H. pylori by SW. We evaluated ammonia production to detect urease activity and performed western blot analysis of UreA and UreB for enzyme production.Results: SW had no significant effect on bacterial growth. Western blot analysis also showed that SW did not affect the translation of UreA and UreB, but it significantly reduced the urease activities of the Jack bean as well as that of H.pylori from 50 to 75%.Conclusion: These results might indicate that the consumption of SW may prevent the colonization of H. pylori andameliorate the toxic effect on gastric mucosa via the inhibition of urease activity

ショウヒシャ ノ ギンコウ コジン ヨウ ローン サービス ニ タイスル ヒンシツ ヒョウカ ト マンゾク ド

The purposes of this study are to examine if there is a difference in the service quality evaluations and satisfaction of the loan service depending on consumers\u27 demographic, financial and lending characteristics and to find the factors affecting satisfaction of the loan service. Based on a premise that they made loans off-line and were home-owned households using mortgage loan and credit loan services at the moment provided by banks, a five-day online survey from October 5 to 9, 2009 was conducted on 419 male and female adults that were. The study results are summarized as follows: Firstly, the study found that there was a significant difference in service quality evaluation of loan services depending on householder\u27s occupation, credit loan rates and amount, kinds of banks for credit loan, purpose of credit loan. Also, the study found that there was a significant difference in the satisfaction of the loan service according to householder\u27s occupation, credit loan rates, purpose of credit loans. Secondly, what were statistically significant factors affecting satisfaction of the loan service were householder\u27s occupation and detailed items of loan service evaluations like fulfilling needs, unexpected benefits and trust on bank

OECD review on evaluation and assessment frameworks for improving school outcomes

노트 : This report was prepared by the Korean Educational Development Institute in close cooperation with the Korea Insititute for Curriculum and Evaluation and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Repulblic of Korea, as an input to the OECD Review on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes. The document was prepared in response to guidelines the OECD provided to all countries. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the OECD or its Member countries. Further information about the OECD Review is available at www.oecd.org/edu/evaluationpolicy[English]As the autonomy and accountability of education have been emphasized since the 1990s, the assessment and evaluation have been getting more attention in education field as well. This report summarizes the concepts and policies related with this trend. This policy report focused upon not only the evaluation and assessment of schools and students, but also teacher, and principals. Moreover, it tries to link the assessment of institutions and overall accountability arrangement with information disclosure system.[Spanish]A medida que se ha ido impulsando la autonomía y las responsabilidades de la educación desde los años 1990, el interés en la evaluación del sistema educativo también ha ido creciendo. En este informe se resumen los conceptos y políticas que ilustran dicha tendencia. Este informe sobre políticas se centra no sólo en la evaluación de escuelas y alumnos, sino también en la de los maestros y los directores de escuela. Además, se hace un intento de vincular la evaluación de las instituciones y los acuerdos de responsabilidad generales con un sistema de divulgación de información

All-Solid-State Lithium Battery Working without an Additional Separator in a Polymeric Electrolyte

Considering the safety issues of Li ion batteries, an all-solid-state polymer electrolyte has been one of the promising solutions. Achieving a Li ion conductivity of a solid-state electrolyte comparable to that of a liquid electrolyte (>1 mS/cm) is particularly challenging. Even with characteristic ion conductivity, employment of a polyethylene oxide (PEO) solid electrolyte has not been sufficient due to high crystallinity. In this study, hybrid solid electrolyte (HSE) systems have been designed with Li1.3Al0.3Ti0.7(PO4)3 (LATP), PEO and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI). A hybrid solid cathode (HSC) is also designed using LATP, PEO and lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2, LCO)—lithium manganese oxide (LiMn2O4, LMO). The designed HSE system has 2.0 × 10−4 S/cm (23 °C) and 1.6 × 10−3 S/cm (55 °C) with a 6.0 V electrochemical stability without an additional separator membrane introduction. In these systems, succinonitrile (SN) has been incorporated as a plasticizer to reduce crystallinity of PEO for practical all-solid Li battery system development. The designed HSC/HSE/Li metal cell in this study operates without any leakage and short-circuits even under the broken cell condition. The designed HSC/HSE/Li metal cell in this study displays an initial charge capacity of 82/62 mAh/g (23 °C) and 123.4/102.7 mAh/g (55 °C). The developed system overcomes typical disadvantages of internal resistance induced by Ti ion reduction. This study contributes to a new technology development of all-solid-state Li battery for commercial product design

Correlation of PLC-??1 Expression and DNA Ploidy Pattern in Hepatocellular Carcinomas

Phospholipase C isozymes (PLCs) play a role in ligand-mediated signal transduction for cellu- lar activity such as proliferation and differentation. However, their biological significance of in carcinogenesis or tumor progression is not fully estabilished, although PLC-rl is known to be related to the cell growth or the oncogene. We examined the relative content of PLC-rl in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the adjacent non tumorous liver tissue, by immunoperoxidase staining of paraffin embedded sections. Among 32 cases, 25 demonstrated s significant decrease of PLC-rl content in comparison to the adjacent nontumorous tissue. Seven cases revealed no remarkable change in PLC-rl expression. There was no HCC expressing higher level of PLC-rl. We also performed image cytometric studies to evaluate the relationship between the DNA ploidy pattern and the PLC-yl content. Interestingly, the tumors showing a decreased PLC-rl expression, were mostly diploid and tetraploid (except 3 cases) in contrast to those tumors showing no change in PLC-rl content which were exclusively aneuploid. The results suggest that PLC-rl expression is closely related to DNA ploidy of the tumor, and that there may be two different mechanisms of hepatocarcinogenesis: one is related to PLC-rl associated signal trasduction system, and the other is independent of PLC-rl.clos

Neutron imaging of ionic solution uptake with different K⁺/Ca²⁺ ratios in plant stems.

<p><b>A</b>) Neutron images of ionic solution uptake with K⁺/Ca²⁺ ratios of 0.01, 1, and 100 in the excised laurel stems at 0, 15, 30, and 60 h after dipping in the ionic D₂O solution. Ionic D₂O uptake in the excised laurel stems was directly observed using neutron radiography. Each figure provides qualitative information on water ascent at different ionic ratios (K⁺/Ca²⁺  = 0.01 (left), K⁺/Ca²⁺  = 1 (middle), and K⁺/Ca²⁺  = 100 (right)) at 0, 15, 30, and 60 h, respectively. The average diameter of stem segments was approximately 5 mm. Scale bar represents 5 mm. <b>B</b>) Temporal variations in ionic D₂O thickness in the laurel stems for 23 h. Orange circles denote K⁺/Ca²⁺  = 0.01; green rotated triangles denote K⁺/Ca²⁺  = 1; purple rectangles denote K⁺/Ca²⁺  = 100.</p

Polymeric self-assembly changes by surface-modified and in-situ-grown nanoparticles

The morphology of polymeric self-assembled structures can be changed by environmental conditions, including pH, temperature, and various additives such as ions, cosolvents, nanoparticles (NPs), and so on. Studies have focused on the size and shape of NPs to investigate the effect of NP incorporation into polymeric structures. In this study, qualitative NP effect is experimentally investigated in terms of the compatibility of NPs with the self-assembled templates. Hydrophobically/hydrophilically surface-modified gold nanoparticles (AuNP) of 20 nm diameter systematically modify the surfactant number (N-s) of the self-assembled organic templates accordingly, where the driving force is determined by the hydrophilic-lipophilic force balance. AuNPs grown in situ at equlibrium in the template, decrease the N-s, reflecting selective growth of NPs in one of the self-assembly domains. Fractal density (alpha) and correlation length (zeta) of the self-assembled structures are prominently increased by any type of AuNP incorporation. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.X1134sciescopu