Failure to relaunch? The United States, nuclear North Korea, and the future of the six-party talks

During the past twenty years, Washington has oscillated between tentative engagement with Pyongyang under the Clinton administration and isolation and multilateralism under the Bush administration. With the Obama administration almost nearing its four-year tenure, the Six-Party Talks have stalled and North Korea's multiple attacks on the South in 2010 have created new instabilities. Why so little results despite promises of a radical departure away from the Axis of Evil rhetoric and hard-line politics? This paper suggests that the Obama administration has utilized approaches that no longer fit current circumstances and hence failed to create an original, coherent and effective foreign policy. © 2012 McFarland & Company, Inc.

New product development proficiency and multi-country product rollout timeliness

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address a gap in the understanding of the indirect effects of marketing and technical factors on time efficiency in developing a new product and international new product launch. Design/methodology/approach: This paper adopts a contingency perspective in examining the relationships between antecedents and on-time completion (or timeliness) of new product development (NPD) and international new product rollout (INPR). A conceptual framework is tested based on data obtained on 232 NPD projects undertaken by Korean firms. Findings: The results show that NPD proficiencies mediate to a greater or lesser extent the effects of key antecedents (e.g. cross-functional linkages, project fit with available marketing resources, and effective coordination of headquarters-subsidiary/agents' activities) on timeliness in NPD and INPR. Research limitations/implications: Empirical research on the role of marketing and technical proficiencies in improving NPD timeliness and rollout timeliness in the context of international NPD affirms the importance of adopting a contingency perspective in examining the antecedents of NPD and multi-market entry timeliness. Practical implications: This paper lends insight into the role of overseas subsidiaries or agents in helping to build the technical proficiencies of emerging country companies. Originality/value: This is the first review focusing on the mediating influences on time dimensions (e.g. timeliness) in multi-country product launches. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Reading comprehension and mathematical concept acquisition through the use of math stories with bilingual children

Math storybooks are picture books in which the understanding of mathematical concepts is central to the comprehension of the story. Math stories have provided useful opportunities for children to expand their skills in the language arts area and to talk about mathematical factors that are related to their real lives. The purpose of this study was to examine bilingual children's reading and math comprehension of the math storybooks. ^ The participants were randomly selected from two Korean schools and two public elementary schools in Miami, Florida. The sample consisted of 63 Hispanic American and 43 Korean American children from ages five to seven. A 2 x 3 x (2) mixed-model design with two between- and one within-subjects variable was used to conduct this study. The two between-subjects variables were ethnicity and age, and the within-subjects variable was the subject area of comprehension. Subjects were read the three math stories individually, and then they were asked questions related to reading and math comprehension. ^ The overall ANOVA using multivariate tests was conducted to evaluate the factor of subject area for age and ethnicity. As follow-up tests for a significant main effect and a significant interaction effect, pairwise comparisons and simple main effect tests were conducted, respectively. ^ The results showed that there were significant ethnicity and age differences in total comprehension scores. There were also age differences in reading and math comprehension, but no significant differences were found in reading and math by ethnicity. Korean American children had higher scores in total comprehension than those of Hispanic American children, and they showed greater changes in their comprehension skills at the younger ages, from five to six, whereas Hispanic American children showed greater changes at the older ages, from six to seven. Children at ages five and six showed higher scores in reading than in math, but no significant differences between math and reading comprehension scores were found at age seven. ^ Through schooling with integrated instruction, young bilingual children can move into higher levels of abstraction and concepts. This study highlighted bilingual children's general nature of thinking and showed how they developed reading and mathematics comprehension in an integrated process. ^

Three essays on entrepreneurial entry, serial entrepreneurship, and labor turnover

This study explores two important aspects of entrepreneurship — liquidity constraints and serial entrepreneurs, with an additional analysis of occupational choice among wage workers. In the first essay, I revisit the question of whether entrepreneurs face liquidity constraints in business formation. The principle challenge is that wealth is correlated with unobserved ability, and adequate instruments are often difficult to identify. This paper uses the son's birth order as an instrument for household wealth. I exploit the data available in the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study, and find evidence of liquidity constraints associated with self-employment in South Korea. The second essay develops and tests a model that explains entry into serial entrepreneurship and the performance of serial entrepreneurs as the result of selection on innate ability. The model supposes that agents establish businesses with imperfect information about their entrepreneurial ability and the profitability of business ideas. Agents continually observe signals with which they update their beliefs, and this process eventually determines their next business choice. Selection on ability induces a positive correlation between entrepreneurial experience (measured by previous business earnings and founding experience) and serial business formation, as well as its subsequent performance. The predictions in the model are tested using panel data from the NLSY79. The analysis permits a distinction to be made between selection on innate ability and learning by doing. Motivated by previous empirical findings that white-collar workers had higher turnover rates than blue-collar workers during firm expansion, the third essay further examines job turnover among workers with or without specific skills. I present a search-matching model, which predicts that when firm growth is driven by technological advance, workers whose skills are specific to the obsolete technology show a higher tendency to separate from their jobs. This hypothesis is tested with data from the PSID. I find supportive evidence that in the context of technological change, having an occupation requiring specific skills, such as computer specialists or engineers, increases the odds of job separation by nearly eight percent. ^

Japanese, U.S Tourists: Hotel Selections

The author reports the results of an exploratory study concerning the importance placed on attributes of hotel selection by Japanese and American guests and cultural differences between these two groups, which represent the largest market for Korean international tourist hotels. The findings suggest that Hofstede's (1960) four dimensions of cultural values can be used to help marketers better understand their guest's hotel selection criteria.

Adapting the Customer Satisfaction Index to the Lodging Industry: Foreign Customers' Evaluations

As a standard form of measuring customer satisfaction, the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) has been utilized in many countries. By using the Korean Customer Satisfaction Index (KCSI) methodology, this study attempted to investigate foreign customers’ evaluations of luxury hotels in Seoul, South Korea. In doing so, some efforts were made to overcome the methodological problems associated with the KCSI for the lodging industry. Data for this study were collected through a mall intercept survey using a self-administered questionnaire. Precisely 783 responses, collected solely from foreign guests who had stayed at a luxury hotel in Seoul, were included in the study.

Cooperation within nato: the influence of european democracies on U.S. foreign policy

Two NATO allies, Great Britain and France, exerted greater influence on US foreign policy than most analysts assume. They did so even during the 1950s and early 1960s when the United States enjoyed undisputed economic and military supremacy in the alliance. This study hypothesizes that the British and French influence on US foreign policy is explained both by the existence of transnational and transgovernmental coalitions and by the cohesion of weak allies toward the alliance leader. Yet although both cohesion and coalitions are complementary in influencing US foreign policy, the relationship between coalitions and influence is more critical. To investigate the proposed relationships, the study relies on an analysis of three events during which both Great Britain and France challenged US policies: the Korean War, the Suez crisis, and the 1958-1963 test ban negotiations.

Sept Papillons de Kaija Saariaho: uma análise dos elementos técnico-interpretativos

Sept Papillons by Kaija Saariaho is a relevant piece in the contemporary cello repertoire. This research aims to study the context of the piece and approaches the technical and musical challenges presented in the work. As a methodological procedure, authors like MOISALA (2009) and VICTORIO (2015) were studied, giving basis to the understanding of the compositional process and to the analysis of the gestures proposed by the composer. Following, an interview was carried out with Natasha Farny, a cellist recognized for her performance of the work and utilized as reference, together with the Korean cellist Seung Ri Jung´s performance and the recording of Anssi Karttunen, to whom the piece was dedicated. Whilst the research of the bibliographical material and the interviews were taking place, the piece was studied and performed at the Masters of Music Program at UFRN. The experience obtained by the recitals and the research resulted in suggestions for cellists interested in its study and performance.

A SENSIBILIDADE CULTURAL DO ADVENTISMO COMO MODELO MISSIOLÓGICO EM GRANDES CENTROS URBANOS: UMA ANÁLISE DE IGREJAS ADVENTISTAS ÉTNICAS NA CIDADE DE SÃO PAULO

Esta pesquisa objetiva analisar o desenvolvimento da missão adventista na cidade de São Paulo em busca de um modelo missiológico para centros urbanos. São Paulo, uma das maiores metrópoles do mundo tem uma formação cultural plural, não apenas pelas forças atuantes da modernização, secularização, globalização e pós-modernidade. A composição da população da cidade possui uma gênese étnica plural. Além da matriz autóctone indígena, do colonizador branco europeu e dos escravos africanos, desde o início do século XIX chegaram outros imigrantes, europeus e asiáticos. Nas primeiras décadas do século XX, o Brasil foi o país que mais recebeu imigrantes em todo o mundo. Estima-se que nos anos de 1920, apenas um terço da população na cidade de São Paulo fosse de brasileiros, o restante era composto por imigrantes. A inserção do adventismo em São Paulo se deu por missionários imigrantes que trabalharam primeiro com outros imigrantes antes de evangelizar e desenvolver a missão adventista com os brasileiros nacionais. De alguma forma, esse início deixou marcas na missão adventista paulistana. São Paulo é hoje a cidade com o maior número total de adventistas no mundo e a única com Igrejas Adventistas étnicas que atendem cinco grupos étnicos distintos: japoneses, coreanos, judeus, árabes e bolivianos/peruanos. Esta pesquisa busca investigar a formação de uma sensibilidade cultural no adventismo paulistano que lhe permitiu dialogar com a pluralidade cultural da metrópole paulistana

Seawater carbonate chemistry, particulate organic particles, nutrients and species data during experiments with diatoms, 2006

We examine the effects of seawater pCO2 concentration of 25, 41, and 76 kPa (250, 400, and 750 matm) on the growth rate of a natural assemblage of mixed phytoplankton obtained from a carefully controlled, 14-d mesocosm experiment. Throughout the experiment period, in all enclosures, two phytoplankton taxa (microflagellates and cryptomonads) and two diatom species (Skeletonema costatum and Nitzschia spp.) account for approximately 90% of the phytoplankton community. During the nutrient-replete period from day 9 to day 14 populations of Skeletonema costatum and Nitzschia spp. increased substantially; however, only Skeletonema costatum showed an increase in growth rate with increasing seawater pCO2. Not all diatom species in Korean coastal waters are sensitive to seawater pCO2 under nutrient-replete conditions.

Effects of a positive emotion-based adjuvant psychological therapy in colorectal cancer patients: a pilot study

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of an “Enhancing Positive Emotions Procedure” (EPEP) based on positive psychology and cognitive behavioral therapy in relieving distress at the time of adjuvant chemotherapy treatment in colorectal cancer patients (CRC). It is expected that EPEP will increase quality of life and positive affect in CRC patients during chemotherapy treatment intervention and at 1 month follow-up.Method: A group of 24 CRC patients received the EPEP procedure (intervention group), whereas another group of 20 CRC patients did not receive the EPEP (control group). Quality of life (EORTC-QLQC30), and mood (PANAS) were assessed in three moments: prior to enter the study (T1), at the end of the time required to apply the EPEP (T2, 6 weeks after T1), and, at follow-up (T3, one-month after T2). Patient’s assessments of the EPEP (improving in mood states, and significance of the attention received) were assessed with Lickert scales.Results: Insomnia was reduced in the intervention group. Treatment group had better scores on positive affect although there were no significantly differences between groups and over time. There was a trend to better scores at T2 and T3 for the intervention group on global health status, physical, role, and social functioning scales. Patients stated that positive mood was enhanced and that EPEP was an important resource.Conclusions: CRC patients receiving EPEP during chemotherapy believed that this intervention was important. Furthermore, EPEP seems to improve positive affect and quality of life. EPEP has potential benefits, and its implementation to CRC patients should be considered.

Bienestar psicológico, optimismo y resiliencia en mujeres con cáncer de mama

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between Perceived Psychological well-being, Optimism and Resilience in women survivors of breast cancer.Method: The sample was composed of 30 women diagnosed with breast cancer who were undergoing adjuvant treatment in Oncology Units General Hospital of Jerez de la Frontera and the University Hospital Puerta del Mar (Cadiz). The average age was 47.47 years (SD = 6,356) and the average of months from diagnosis of the disease was 9.93 (SD = 8,541). Scale of Psychological Well-being administered Perceived Ryff (1989), the Life Orientation Test Revised (LOT-R) Scheier, Carver and Bridges (1994) and the Scale of Resilience Wagnild and Young (1993) to assess psychological well-being the dispositional optimism and resilience respectivelyResults: Descriptive analyzes show that women diagnosed with breast cancer have levels of psychological well-being, dispositional optimism and higher than the average values provided by Resilience scales. On the other hand, regression analyses revealed that only some of the dimensions of resilience allowed to explain and predict some dimensions of psychological wellbeing, not dispositional optimism.Conclusions: The results seem to confirm the idea that if the capacity of women with breast moderate negative affect generated by the diagnosis itself and the consequences of their cancer treatment works and to promote their adaptation to the new situation we can contribute to increasing psychological well-being.

Investigating high-achieving sixth grade students' erroneous answers on the angle concept in Yozgat

The angle concept is a multifaceted concept having static and dynamic definitions. The static definition of the angle refers to “the space between two rays” or “the intersection of two rays at the same end point” (Mitchelmore & White, 1998), whereas the dynamic definition of the angle concept highlights that the size of angle is the amount of rotation in direction (Fyhn, 2006). Since both definitions represent two diverse situations and have unique limitations (Henderson & Taimina, 2005), students may hold misconceptions about the angle concept. In this regard, the aim of this research was to explore high achievers’ knowledge regarding the definition of the angle concept as well as to investigate their erroneous answers on the angle concept.

104 grade 6 students drawn from four well-established elementary schools of Yozgat, Turkey were participated in this research. All participants were selected via a purposive sampling method and their mathematics grades were 4 or 5 out of 5, and. Data were collected through four questions prepared by considering the learning competencies set out in the grade 6 curriculum in Turkey and the findings of previous studies whose purposes were to identify students’ misconceptions of the angle concept. The findings were analyzed by two researchers, and their inter-rater agreement was calculated as 0.91, or almost perfect. Thereafter, coding discrepancies were resolved, and consensus was established.

The angle concept is a multifaceted concept having static and dynamic definitions.The static definition of the angle refers to “the space between two rays” or“the intersection of two rays at the same end point” (Mitchelmore & White, 1998), whereas the dynamicdefinition of the angle concept highlights that the size of angle is the amountof rotation in direction (Fyhn, 2006). Since both definitionsrepresent two diverse situations and have unique limitations (Henderson & Taimina, 2005), students may holdmisconceptions about the angle concept. In this regard, the aim of thisresearch was to explore high achievers’ knowledge regarding the definition ofthe angle concept as well as to investigate their erroneous answers on theangle concept.

WHITE-NAPED CRANE Migratory Bird

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Two Women; On the Cinematic Experience in Installation Art

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-07