An integrated urban systems model with GIS

The purpose of the research is to develop an integrated urban systems model, which will assist in formulating a better land use-transportation policy by simulating the relationships between land use patterns and travel behavior, integrated with geographic information systems (GISs). In order to make an integrated land use-transportation model possible with the assistance of GISs technologies, the following four sub-systems have been developed: (1) an effective traffic analysis zone generation system; (2) an iterative land use and transportation modeling system; (3) efficient interfaces between GIS and land use, and GIS and transportation models; and (4) a user-friendly graphic user interface (GUI) system. By integrating these sub-systems, a variety of alternative land use-transportation policies can be evaluated through the modification of input parameters in each simulation. Eventually, the developed model using a GIS will assist in formulating an effective land use policy by obtaining robust simulation results for both land use-transportation planners and decision makers. The model has been applied to the Urbana-Champaign area as well as to the Seoul region in Korea for a demonstration of the workings of the model.

On the Explanation of Factors Affecting E-Commerce Adoption

The Internet has grown at a remarkable pace since the emergence of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s. While electronic commerce (e-Commerce) has become an important issue with the growth of the Internet, there has been insufficient empirical research concerning its adoption by Internet users. In this paper, we propose the e-Commerce Adoption Model (e-CAM), which attempts to examine important factors that predict a consumerís online purchasing behavior. e-CAM integrates the technology acceptance model with the theories of perceived risk to explain the adoption of e-Commerce. Specifically, we examine the impact of the following factors on the consumerís purchasing behavior: perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived risk with products/services, and perceived risk in the context of online transaction. We test the e-CAM model using the structural equation modeling technique. Most of the causal relationships between the constructs postulated by our model are well supported, accounting for 33.4% of the total variance in e-Commerce adoption. In sum, our study finds that all of the antecedent constructs directly and/or indirectly affect the consumerís adoption of e-Commerce. Therefore, the findings suggest that firms providing products/services through e- Commerce should consider these contextual factors in order to facilitate consumersí adoption behavior

Corporate Governance and International Portfolio Investment in Equities

Previous articles examined international portfolio investments either by a single investor or to a single destination. We examine the determinants of international equity investment patterns using multiple pairs of source and host countries. Specifically, we investigate how the corporate governance institutions in investing and recipient countries are associated to equity investment and divestiture using the 2006 and 2008 Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CPIS) data. We find that source countries buy equities in host countries with strong governance more than in host countries with weak governance. We also find that investors from strong governance countries disproportionately sell more their equities in weak governance countries during the recent economic crisis. However, investors from weak governance countries do not demonstrate such divestiture pattern

The Effects of Export Diversification on Macroeconomic Stabilization: Evidence from Korea

This paper studies whether export diversification mitigated the negative effect of the global financial crisis on exports using the Korean case. Specifically, we use annual data on the exports of 24 Korean manufacturing industries from 2000 to 2016 and examine whether the negative effect of the crisis on exports was less prevalent in industries that were more diversified in terms of country and product. We also examine whether export competitiveness, as measured by the revealed comparative advantage index by industry, had a mitigating effect on trade during the crisis. In order to study these issues, we use panel regression with a fixed-effect model for 24 Korean manufacturing industries. From our empirical analysis, we find that country diversification weakened the negative impact of the global financial crisis on Korea’s exports, whereas neither product diversification nor export competitiveness did so

Is Forecasting Future Suicide Rates Possible? - Application of the Experience Curve

Many OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries have implemented national suicide prevention strategies. An accurate forecast of future suicide rate, if available, will be useful for planning and evaluation of a suicide prevention strategy. Therefore, we have developed a simple forecasting model of suicide rate for 15 OECD countries. We use the experience curve model with the data from 1960 to 2005 to forecast suicide rate for each of the 15 countries. In the experience curve analysis, the independent variable is the cumulative population size and the dependent variable is suicide rate for each country. For the 15 countries, the application of the experience curve generates the averaged experience slope of 61.2%, implying a reduction of 38.8% in suicide rate as the cumulative population size is doubled. Using the estimated experienced equation, we forecast both suicide rate and the number of deaths from suicide in years 2010, 2020 and 2030 for each of the 15 countries. The use of the experience curve generates long-term future suicide rate which may be useful input in developing a national prevention strategy

The effect of motivational factor for using SNSs on tourist attitude

Purpose – This research examines the relationship between motivational factor in regards to writing comments and tourist attitude. Specifically, the study (a) explains the relationships between motivational factors and tourist recommendation intentions on SNSs, and (b) evaluates the factors influencing recommendation intentions on SNSs. Design – To develop a useful marketing strategy in the Social Networking Site (SNS) environment in Korea tourism, it is important to identify the relationship between the motivational factors regarding the reasons for writing comments and tourist attitude to suggest effective tourism marketing on SNSs due to the growing interest in Korea tourism among Chinese students and tourists. Methodology – The measurement items were adapted for an SNS setting from published studies related to the hospitality and tourism field. All of the measurement items were based on a 7-point Likert-type scale. Finding – The results offer valuable suggestions to SNS firms and marketers with important insights into the quality of SNS contents for developing marketing strategies. Originality – For further utilization as an effective bridging tool between SNS users, more detailed understanding of the developed approach for using SNSs is provided

The Perspectives of Early Diagnosis of Schizophrenia Through the Detection of Epigenomics-Based Biomarkers in iPSC-Derived Neurons

The lack of early diagnostic biomarkers for schizophrenia greatly limits treatment options that deliver therapeutic agents to affected cells at a timely manner. While previous schizophrenia biomarker research has identified various biological signals that are correlated with certain diseases, their reliability and practicality as an early diagnostic tool remains unclear. In this article, we discuss the use of atypical epigenetic and/or consequent transcriptional alterations (ETAs) as biomarkers of early-stage schizophrenia. Furthermore, we review the viability of discovering and applying these biomarkers through the use of cutting-edge technologies such as human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons, brain models, and single-cell level analyses. Copyright © 2021 Lee, Seo, Jeong, Lee and Lee.1