• Title/Summary/Keyword: 결함 규명

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Matrix Metalloproteinase in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (특발성 폐섬유화증환자의 기관지폐포세척액 및 폐포대식세포 배양액의 Matrix metalloproteinase의 변화)

  • Park, Joo-Hun;Shim, Tae-Sun;Lim, Chae-Man;Koh, Youn-Suck;Lee, Sang-Do;Kim, Woo-Sung;Kim, Won-Dong;Kim, Dong-Soon
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.51 no.4
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    • pp.303-314
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    • 2001
  • Background : Matrix metalioproteinase(MMP)-2 and MMP-9 have been known to play an important role in cell migration and the tissue remodeling process by type IV collagen lysis, a major component of the basement membrane. Intra-alveolar fibrosis, secondary to an injury to the basement membrane of the alveolar epithelial lining, is a major process in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(IPF). Therefore, MMP-2 and MMP-9 was hypothesized to play an important role in IPF pathogenesis. As a result, their level may reflect the activity or prognosis. Method : Forty one progressive IPF patients(age $59.82{\pm}1.73$ years, M:F=23:18), 16 patients with stable IPF for more than one year without therapy(age : $63.6{\pm}2.8$ years, M:F=13:3), and 7 normal controls were enrolled in this study. The MMP-2 and MMP-9 levels in the BAL fluid and alveolar macrophage conditioned media(AM-CM) were measured by zymography and the TIMP-1 level was measured by ELISA. Results : 1) The MMP-2 level in BALF was highest in the progressive IPF group ($1.36{\pm}0.28$) followed by the stable group ($0.46{\pm}0.13$) and the controls ($0.08{\pm}0.09$), which was statistically significant. The MMP-9 level of the IPF ($0.31{\pm}0.058$) and the stable group ($0.22{\pm}0.078$) were higher than that of the control group ($0.002{\pm}0.004$). In the AM-CM, only MMP-9 was detected, which was significantly higher in IPF group ($0.80{\pm}0.1O$) than in the control group($0.23{\pm}0.081$). The TIMP-1 level was also higher in both the IPF ($36.34{\pm}8.62\;{\mu}g/ml$) and stable group ($20.83{\pm}8.53\;{\mu}g/ml$) compared to the control group ($2.80{\pm}1.05\;{\mu}g/ml$) (p<0.05). 3) There was a correlation between the MMP-2 level in the BALF with the total cell number(r=0.298) and neutrophils(r=0.357) (p<0.05), and the MMP-9 level with the number of neutrophils (r=0.407) and lymphocytes (r=0.574)(p<0.05). The TIMP-1 level correlated with the total number of cell (r=0.338, p<0.05) and neutrophils(r=0.449, p=0.059). Conclusion : Both MMP and TIMP appear to play an important role in IPF pathogenesis, and their level may reflect the disease activity.

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Lipopolysaccharide-induced Synthesis of IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha and TGF-beta by Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (내독소에 의한 말초혈액 단핵구의 IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha와 TGF-beta 생성에 관한 연구)

  • Jung, Sung-Hwan;Park, Choon-Sik;Kim, Mi-Ho;Kim, Eun-Young;Chang, Hun-Soo;Ki, Shin-Young;Uh, Soo-Taek;Moon, Seung-Hyuk;Kim, Yang-Hoon;Lee, Hi-Bal
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.45 no.4
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    • pp.846-860
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    • 1998
  • Background: Endotoxin (LPS : lipopolysaccharide), a potent activator of immune system, can induce acute and chronic inflammation through the production of cytokines by a variety of cells, such as monocytes, endothelial cells, lymphocytes, eosinophils, neutrophils and fibroblasts. LPS stimulate the mononucelar cells by two different pathway, the CD14 dependent and independent way, of which the former has been well documented, but not the latter. LPS binds to the LPS-binding protein (LBP), in serum, to make the LPS-LBP complex which interacts with CD14 molecules on the mononuclear cell surface in peripheral blood or is transported to the tissues. In case of high concentration of LPS, LPS can stimulate directly the macrophages without LBP. We investigated to detect the generation of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-6 and TNF-$\alpha$ and fibrogenic cytokine, TGF-$\beta$, by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) after LPS stimulation under serum-free conditions, which lacks LBPs. Methods : PBMC were obtained by centrifugation on Ficoll Hypaque solution of peripheral venous bloods from healthy normal subjects, then stimulated in the presence of LPS (0.1 ${\mu}g/mL$ to 100 ${\mu}g/mL$ ). The activities of IL-1, IL-6, TNF, and TGF-$\beta$ were measured by bioassaies using cytokines - dependent proliferating or inhibiting cell lines. The cellular sources producing the cytokines was investigated by immunohistochemical stains and in situ hybridization. Results : PBMC started to produce IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ and TGF-$\beta$ in 1 hr, 4 hrs and 8hrs, respectively, after LPS stimulation. The production of IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ and TGF-$\beta$ continuously increased 96 hrs after stimulation of LPS. The amount of production was 19.8 ng/ml of IL-6 by $10^5$ PBMC, 4.1 ng/mL of TNF by $10^6$ PBMC and 34.4 pg/mL of TGF-$\beta$ by $2{\times}10^6$ PBMC. The immunoreactivity to IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ and TGF-$\beta$ were detected on monocytes in LPS-stimulated PBMC. Some of lymphocytes showed positive immunoreactivity to TGF-$\beta$. Double immunohistochemical stain showed that IL-1$\beta$, IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ expression was not associated with CD14 postivity on monocytes. IL-1$\beta$, IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ and TGF-$\beta$mRNA expression were same as observed in immunoreactivity for each cytokines. Conclusion: When monocytes are stimulated with LPS under serum-free conditions, IL-6 and TNF-$\alpha$ are secreted in early stage of inflammation. In contrast, the secretion of TGF-$\beta$ arise in the late stages and that is maintained after 96 hrs. The main cells releasing IL-1$\beta$, IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ and TGF-$\beta$ are monocytes, but also lymphocytes can secret TGF-$\beta$.

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Optimum Radiotherapy Schedule for Uterine Cervical Cancer based-on the Detailed Information of Dose Fractionation and Radiotherapy Technique (처방선량 및 치료기법별 치료성적 분석 결과에 기반한 자궁경부암 환자의 최적 방사선치료 스케줄)

  • Cho, Jae-Ho;Kim, Hyun-Chang;Suh, Chang-Ok;Lee, Chang-Geol;Keum, Ki-Chang;Cho, Nam-Hoon;Lee, Ik-Jae;Shim, Su-Jung;Suh, Yang-Kwon;Seong, Jinsil;Kim, Gwi-Eon
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.23 no.3
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    • pp.143-156
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    • 2005
  • Background: The best dose-fractionation regimen of the definitive radiotherapy for cervix cancer remains to be clearly determined. It seems to be partially attributed to the complexity of the affecting factors and the lack of detailed information on external and intra-cavitary fractionation. To find optimal practice guidelines, our experiences of the combination of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and high-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy (HDR-ICBT) were reviewed with detailed information of the various treatment parameters obtained from a large cohort of women treated homogeneously at a single institute. Materials and Methods: The subjects were 743 cervical cancer patients (Stage IB 198, IIA 77, IIB 364, IIIA 7, IIIB 89 and IVA 8) treated by radiotherapy alone, between 1990 and 1996. A total external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) dose of $23.4\~59.4$ Gy (Median 45.0) was delivered to the whole pelvis. High-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy (HDR-IBT) was also peformed using various fractionation schemes. A Midline block (MLB) was initiated after the delivery of $14.4\~43.2$ Gy (Median 36.0) of EBRT in 495 patients, while In the other 248 patients EBRT could not be used due to slow tumor regression or the huge initial bulk of tumor. The point A, actual bladder & rectal doses were individually assessed in all patients. The biologically effective dose (BED) to the tumor ($\alpha/\beta$=10) and late-responding tissues ($\alpha/\beta$=3) for both EBRT and HDR-ICBT were calculated. The total BED values to point A, the actual bladder and rectal reference points were the summation of the EBRT and HDR-ICBT. In addition to all the details on dose-fractionation, the other factors (i.e. the overall treatment time, physicians preference) that can affect the schedule of the definitive radiotherapy were also thoroughly analyzed. The association between MD-BED $Gy_3$ and the risk of complication was assessed using serial multiple logistic regression models. The associations between R-BED $Gy_3$ and rectal complications and between V-BED $Gy_3$ and bladder complications were assessed using multiple logistic regression models after adjustment for age, stage, tumor size and treatment duration. Serial Coxs proportional hazard regression models were used to estimate the relative risks of recurrence due to MD-BED $Gy_{10}$, and the treatment duration. Results: The overall complication rate for RTOG Grades $1\~4$ toxicities was $33.1\%$. The 5-year actuarial pelvic control rate for ail 743 patients was $83\%$. The midline cumulative BED dose, which is the sum of external midline BED and HDR-ICBT point A BED, ranged from 62.0 to 121.9 $Gy_{10}$ (median 93.0) for tumors and from 93.6 to 187.3 $Gy_3$ (median 137.6) for late responding tissues. The median cumulative values of actual rectal (R-BED $Gy_3$) and bladder Point BED (V-BED $Gy_3$) were 118.7 $Gy_3$ (range $48.8\~265.2$) and 126.1 $Gy_3$ (range: $54.9\~267.5$), respectively. MD-BED $Gy_3$ showed a good correlation with rectal (p=0.003), but not with bladder complications (p=0.095). R-BED $Gy_3$ had a very strong association (p=<0.0001), and was more predictive of rectal complications than A-BED $Gy_3$. B-BED $Gy_3$ also showed significance in the prediction of bladder complications in a trend test (p=0.0298). No statistically significant dose-response relationship for pelvic control was observed. The Sandwich and Continuous techniques, which differ according to when the ICR was inserted during the EBRT and due to the physicians preference, showed no differences in the local control and complication rates; there were also no differences in the 3 vs. 5 Gy fraction size of HDR-ICBT. Conclusion: The main reasons optimal dose-fractionation guidelines are not easily established is due to the absence of a dose-response relationship for tumor control as a result of the high-dose gradient of HDR-ICBT, individual differences In tumor responses to radiation therapy and the complexity of affecting factors. Therefore, in our opinion, there is a necessity for individualized tailored therapy, along with general guidelines, in the definitive radiation treatment for cervix cancer. This study also demonstrated the strong predictive value of actual rectal and bladder reference dosing therefore, vaginal gauze packing might be very Important. To maintain the BED dose to less than the threshold resulting in complication, early midline shielding, the HDR-ICBT total dose and fractional dose reduction should be considered.

The hydrodynamic characteristics of the canvas kite - 1. The characteristics of the rectangular, trapezoid canvas kite - (캔버스 카이트의 유체역학적 특성에 관한 연구 - 1. 사각형 캔버스 카이트의 특성 -)

  • Bae, Bong-Seong;Bae, Jae-Hyun;An, Heui-Chun;Lee, Ju-Hee;Shin, Jung-Wook
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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    • v.40 no.3
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    • pp.196-205
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    • 2004
  • As far as an opening device of fishing gears is concerned, applications of a kite are under development around the world. The typical examples are found in the opening device of the stow net on anchor and the buoyancy material of the trawl. While the stow net on anchor has proved its capability for the past 20 years, the trawl has not been wildly used since it has been first introduced for the commercial use only without sufficient studies and thus has revealed many drawbacks. Therefore, the fundamental hydrodynamics of the kite itself need to ne studied further. Models of plate and canvas kite were deployed in the circulating water tank for the mechanical test. For this situation lift and drag tests were performed considering a change in the shape of objects, which resulted in a different aspect ratio of rectangle and trapezoid. The results obtained from the above approaches are summarized as follows, where aspect ratio, attack angle, lift coefficient and maximum lift coefficient are denoted as A, B, $C_L$ and $C_{Lmax}$ respectively : 1. Given the rectangular plate, $C_{Lmax}$ was produced as 1.46${\sim}$1.54 with A${\leq}$1 and 40$^{\circ}$${\leq}$B${\leq}$42$^{\circ}$. And when A${\geq}$1.5 and 20$^{\circ}$${\leq}$B${\leq}$22$^{\circ}$, $C_{Lmax}$ was 10.7${\sim}$1.11. Given the rectangular canvas, $C_{Lmax}$ was 1.75${\sim}$1.91 with A${\leq}$1 and 32$^{\circ}$${\leq}$B${\leq}$40$^{\circ}$. And when A${\geq}$1.5 and 18$^{\circ}$${\leq}$B${\leq}$22$^{\circ}$, $C_{Lmax}$ was 1.24${\sim}$1.40. Given the trapezoid kite, $C_{Lmax}$ was produced as 1.65${\sim}$1.89 with A${\leq}$1.5 and 34$^{\circ}$${\leq}$B${\leq}$44$^{\circ}$. And when A=2 and B=14${\sim}$48, $C_L$ was around 1. Given the inverted trapezoid kite, $C_{Lmax}$ was 1.57${\sim}$1.74 with A${\leq}$1.5 and 24$^{\circ}$${\leq}$B${\leq}$36$^{\circ}$. And when A=2, $C_{Lmax}$ was 1.21 with B=18$^{\circ}$. 2. For a model with A=1/2, an increase in B caused an increase in $C_L$ until $C_L$ has reached the maximum. Then there was a tendency of a gradual decrease in the value of $C_L$ and in particular, the rectangular kite showed a more rapid decrease. For a model with A=2/3, the tendency of $C_L$ was similar to the case of a model with A=1/2 but the tendency was a more rapid decrease than those of the previous models. For a model with A=1, and increase in B caused an increase in $C_L$ until $C_L$ has reached the maximum. Soon after the tendency of $C_L$ decreased dramatically. For a model with A=1.5, the tendency of $C_L$ as a function of B was various. For a model with A=2, the tendency of $C_L$ as a function of B was almost the same in the rectangular and trapezoid model. There was no considerable change in the models with 20$^{\circ}$${\leq}$B${\leq}$50$^{\circ}$. 3. The tendency of kite model's $C_L$ in accordance with increase of B was increased rapidly than plate models until $C_L$ has reached the maximum. Then $C_L$ in the kite model was decreased dramatically but in the plate model was decreased gradually. The value of $C_{Lmax}$ in the kite model was higher than that of the plate model, and the kite model's attack angel at $C_{Lmax}$ was smaller than the plate model's. 4. In the relationship between aspect ratio and lift force, the attack angle which had the maximum lift coefficient was large at the small aspect ratio models, At the large aspect ratio models, the attack angle was small. 5. There was camber vertex in the position in which the fluid pressure was generated, and the rectangular & trapezoid canvas had larger value of camber vertex when the aspect ratio was high, while the inverted trapezoid canvas was versa. 6. All canvas kite had larger camber ratio when the aspect ratio was high, and the rectangular & trapezoid canvas had larger one when the attack angle was high.

An Empirical Study in Relationship between Franchisor's Leadership Behavior Style and Commitment by Focusing Moderating Effect of Franchisee's Self-efficacy (가맹본부의 리더십 행동유형과 가맹사업자의 관계결속에 관한 실증적 연구 - 가맹사업자의 자기효능감의 조절효과를 중심으로 -)

  • Yang, Hoe-Chang;Lee, Young-Chul
    • Journal of Distribution Research
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.49-71
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    • 2010
  • Franchise businesses in South Korea have contributed to economic growth and job creation, and its growth potential remains very high. However, despite such virtues, domestic franchise businesses face many problems such as the instability of franchisor's business structure and weak financial conditions. To solve these problems, the government enacted legislation and strengthened franchise related laws. However, the strengthening of laws regulating franchisors had many side effects that interrupted the development of the franchise business. For example, legal regulations regarding franchisors have had the effect of suppressing the franchisor's leadership activities (e.g. activities such as the ability to advocate the franchisor's policies and strategies to the franchisees, in order to facilitate change and innovation). One of the main goals of the franchise business is to build cooperation between the franchisor and the franchisee for their combined success. However, franchisees can refuse to follow the franchisor's strategies because of the current state of franchise-related law and government policy. The purpose of this study to explore the effects of franchisor's leadership style on franchisee's commitment in a franchise system. We classified leadership styles according to the path-goal theory (House & Mitchell, 1974), and it was hypothesized and tested that the four leadership styles proposed by the path-goal theory (i.e. directive, supportive, participative and achievement-oriented leadership) have different effects on franchisee's commitment. Another purpose of this study to explore the how the level of franchisee's self-efficacy influences both the franchisor's leadership style and franchisee's commitment in a franchise system. Results of the present study are expected to provide important theoretical and practical implications as to the role of franchisor's leadership style, as restricted by government regulations and the franchisee's self-efficacy, which could be needed to improve the quality of the long-term relationship between the franchisor and franchisee. Quoted by Northouse(2007), one problem regarding the investigation of leadership is that there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it. But despite the multitude of ways in which leadership has been conceptualized, the following components can be identified as central to the phenomenon: (a) leadership is a process, (b) leadership involves influence, (c) leadership occurs in a group context, and (d) leadership involves goal attainment. Based on these components, in this study leadership is defined as a process whereby franchisor's influences a group of franchisee' to achieve a common goal. Focusing on this definition, the path-goal theory is about how leaders motivate subordinates to accomplish designated goals. Drawing heavily from research on what motivates employees, path-goal theory first appeared in the leadership literature in the early 1970s in the works of Evans (1970), House (1971), House and Dessler (1974), and House and Mitchell (1974). The stated goal of this leadership theory is to enhance employee performance and employee satisfaction by focusing on employee motivation. In brief, path-goal theory is designed to explain how leaders can help subordinates along the path to their goals by selecting specific behaviors that are best suited to subordinates' needs and to the situation in which subordinates are working (Northouse, 2007). House & Mitchell(1974) predicted that although many different leadership behaviors could have been selected to be a part of path-goal theory, this approach has so far examined directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented leadership behaviors. And they suggested that leaders may exhibit any or all of these four styles with various subordinates and in different situations. However, due to restrictive government regulations, franchisors are not in a position to change their leadership style to suit their circumstances. In addition, quoted by Northouse(2007), ssubordinate characteristics determine how a leader's behavior is interpreted by subordinates in a given work context. Many researchers have focused on subordinates' needs for affiliation, preferences for structure, desires for control, and self-perceived level of task ability. In this study, we have focused on the self-perceived level of task ability, namely, the franchisee's self-efficacy. According to Bandura (1977), self-efficacy is chiefly defined as the personal attitude of one's ability to accomplish concrete tasks. Therefore, it is not an indicator of one's actual abilities, but an opinion of the extent of how one can use that ability. Thus, the judgment of maintain franchisee's commitment depends on the situation (e.g., government regulation and policy and leadership style of franchisor) and how it affects one's ability to mobilize resources to deal with the task, so even if people possess the same ability, there may be differences in self-efficacy. Figure 1 illustrates the model investigated in this study. In this model, it was hypothesized that leadership styles would affect the franchisee's commitment, and self-efficacy would moderate the relationship between leadership style and franchisee's commitment. Theoretically, quoted by Northouse(2007), the path-goal approach suggests that leaders need to choose a leadership style that best fits the needs of subordinates and the work they are doing. According to House & Mitchell (1974), the theory predicts that a directive style of leadership is best in situations in which subordinates are dogmatic and authoritarian, the task demands are ambiguous, and the organizational rule and procedures are unclear. In these situations, franchisor's directive leadership complements the work by providing guidance and psychological structure for franchisees. For work that is structured, unsatisfying, or frustrating, path-goal theory suggests that leaders should use a supportive style. Franchisor's Supportive leadership offers a sense of human touch for franchisees engaged in mundane, mechanized activity. Franchisor's participative leadership is considered best when a task is ambiguous because participation gives greater clarity to how certain paths lead to certain goals; it helps subordinates learn what actions leads to what outcome. Furthermore, House & Mitchell(1974) predicts that achievement-oriented leadership is most effective in settings in which subordinates are required to perform ambiguous tasks. Marsh and O'Neill (1984) tested the idea that organizational members' anger and decline in performance is caused by deficiencies in their level of effort and found that self-efficacy promotes accomplishment, decreases stress and negative consequences like depression and emotional instability. Based on the extant empirical findings and theoretical reasoning, we posit positive and strong relationships between the franchisor's leadership styles and the franchisee's commitment. Furthermore, the level of franchisee's self-efficacy was thought to maintain their commitment. The questionnaires sent to participants consisted of the following measures; leadership style was assessed using a 20 item 7-point likert scale developed by Indvik (1985), self-efficacy was assessed using a 24 item 6-point likert scale developed by Bandura (1977), and commitment was assessed using a 6 item 5-point likert scale developed by Morgan & Hunt (1994). Questionnaires were distributed to Korean optical franchisees in Seoul. It took about 20 days to complete the data collection. A total number of 140 questionnaires were returned and complete data were available from 137 respondents. Results of multiple regression analyses testing the relationships between the each of the four styles of leadership shown by the franchisor as independent variables and franchisee's commitment as the dependent variable showed that the relationship between supportive leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.13, p<.001),and the relationship between participative leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.07, p<.001)were significant. However, when participants divided into high and low self-efficacy groups, results of multiple regression analyses showed that only the relationship between achievement-oriented leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.14, p<.001) was significant in the high self-efficacy group. In the low self-efficacy group, the relationship between supportive leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.17, p<.001),and the relationship between participative leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.10, p<.001) were significant. The study focused on the franchisee's self-efficacy in order to explore the possibility that regulation, originally intended to protect the franchisee, may not be the most effective method to maintain the relationships in a franchise business. The key results of the data analysis regarding the moderating role of self-efficacy between leadership behavior style as proposed by path-goal and commitment theory were as follows. First, this study proposed that franchisor should apply the appropriate type of leadership behavior to strengthen the franchisees commitment because the results demonstrated that supportive and participative leadership styles by the franchisors have a positive influence on the franchisee's level of commitment. Second, it is desirable for franchisor to validate the franchisee's efforts, since the franchisee's characteristics such as self-efficacy had a substantial, positive effect on the franchisee's commitment as well as being a meaningful moderator between leadership and commitment. Third, the results as a whole imply that the government should provide institutional support, namely to put the franchisor in a position to clearly identify the characteristics of their franchisees and provide reasonable means to administer the franchisees to achieve the company's goal.

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Roles of the Insulin-like Growth Factor System in the Reproductive Function;Uterine Connection (Insulin-like Growth Factor Systems의 생식기능에서의 역할;자궁편)

  • Lee, Chul-Young
    • Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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    • v.23 no.3
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    • pp.247-268
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    • 1996
  • It has been known for a long time that gonadotropins and steroid hormones play a pivotal role in a series of reproductive biological phenomena including the maturation of ovarian follicles and oocytes, ovulation and implantation, maintenance of pregnancy and fetal growth & development, parturition and mammary development and lactation. Recent investigations, however, have elucidated that in addition to these classic hormones, multiple growth factors also are involved in these phenomena. Most growth factors in reproductive organs mediate the actions of gonadotropins and steroid hormones or synergize with them in an autocrine/paracrine manner. The insulin-like growth factor(IGF) system, which is one of the most actively investigated areas lately in the reproductive organs, has been found to have important roles in a wide gamut of reproductive phenomena. In the present communication, published literature pertaining to the intrauterine IGF system will be reviewed preceded by general information of the IGF system. The IGF family comprises of IGF-I & IGF-II ligands, two types of IGF receptors and six classes of IGF-binding proteins(IGFBPs) that are known to date. IGF-I and IGF-II peptides, which are structurally homologous to proinsulin, possess the insulin-like activity including the stimulatory effect of glucose and amino acid transport. Besides, IGFs as mitogens stimulate cell division, and also play a role in cellular differentiation and functions in a variety of cell lines. IGFs are expressed mainly in the liver and messenchymal cells, and act on almost all types of tissues in an autocrine/paracrine as well as endocrine mode. There are two types of IGF receptors. Type I IGF receptors, which are tyrosine kinase receptors having high-affinity for IGF-I and IGF-II, mediate almost all the IGF actions that are described above. Type II IGF receptors or IGF-II/mannose-6-phosphate receptors have two distinct binding sites; the IGF-II binding site exhibits a high affinity only for IGF-II. The principal role of the type II IGF receptor is to destroy IGF-II by targeting the ligand to the lysosome. IGFs in biological fluids are mostly bound to IGFBP. IGFBPs, in general, are IGF storage/carrier proteins or modulators of IGF actions; however, as for distinct roles for individual IGFBPs, only limited information is available. IGFBPs inhibit IGF actions under most in vitro situations, seemingly because affinities of IGFBPs for IGFs are greater than those of IGF receptors. How IGF is released from IGFBP to reach IGF receptors is not known; however, various IGFBP protease activities that are present in blood and interstitial fluids are believed to play an important role in the process of IGF release from the IGFBP. According to latest reports, there is evidence that under certain in vitro circumstances, IGFBP-1, -3, -5 have their own biological activities independent of the IGF. This may add another dimension of complexity of the already complicated IGF system. Messenger ribonucleic acids and proteins of the IGF family members are expressed in the uterine tissue and conceptus of the primates, rodents and farm animals to play important roles in growth and development of the uterus and fetus. Expression of the uterine IGF system is regulated by gonadal hormones and local regulatory substances with temporal and spatial specificities. Locally expressed IGFs and IGFBPs act on the uterine tissue in an autocrine/paracrine manner, or are secreted into the uterine lumen to participate in conceptus growth and development. Conceptus also expresses the IGF system beginning from the peri-implantation period. When an IGF family member is expressed in the conceptus, however, is determined by the presence or absence of maternally inherited mRNAs, genetic programming of the conceptus itself and an interaction with the maternal tissue. The site of IGF action also follows temporal (physiological status) and spatial specificities. These facts that expression of the IGF system is temporally and spatially regulated support indirectly a hypothesis that IGFs play a role in conceptus growth and development. Uterine and conceptus-derived IGFs stimulate cell division and differentiation, glucose and amino acid transport, general protein synthesis and the biosynthesis of mammotropic hormones including placental lactogen and prolactin, and also play a role in steroidogenesis. The suggested role for IGFs in conceptus growth and development has been proven by the result of IGF-I, IGF-II or IGF receptor gene disruption(targeting) of murine embryos by the homologous recombination technique. Mice carrying a null mutation for IGF-I and/or IGF-II or type I IGF receptor undergo delayed prenatal and postnatal growth and development with 30-60% normal weights at birth. Moreover, mice lacking the type I IGF receptor or IGF-I plus IGF-II die soon after birth. Intrauterine IGFBPs generally are believed to sequester IGF ligands within the uterus or to play a role of negative regulators of IGF actions by inhibiting IGF binding to cognate receptors. However, when it is taken into account that IGFBP-1 is expressed and secreted in primate uteri in amounts assessedly far exceeding those of local IGFs and that IGFBP-1 is one of the major secretory proteins of the primate decidua, the possibility that this IGFBP may have its own biological activity independent of IGF cannot be excluded. Evidently, elucidating the exact role of each IGFBP is an essential step into understanding the whole IGF system. As such, further research in this area is awaited with a lot of anticipation and attention.

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The Predictable Factors for the Mortality of Fatal Asthma with Acute Respiratory Failure (호흡부전을 동반한 중증천식환자의 사망 예측 인자)

  • Park, Joo-Hun;Moon, Hee-Bom;Na, Joo-Ock;Song, Hun-Ho;Lim, Chae-Man;Lee, Moo-Song;Shim, Tae-Sun;Lee,, Sang-Do;Kim, Woo-Sung;Kim, Dong-Soon;Kim, Won-Dong;Koh, Youn-Suck
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.47 no.3
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    • pp.356-364
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    • 1999
  • Backgrounds: Previous reports have revealed a high morbidity and mortality in fatal asthma patients, especially those treated in the medical intensive care unit(MICU). But it has not been well known about the predictable factors for the mortality of fatal asthma(F A) with acute respiratory failure. In order to define the predictable factors for the mortality of FA at the admission to MICU, we analyzed the relationship between the clinical parameters and the prognosis of FA patients. Methods: A retrospective analysis of all medical records of 59 patients who had admitted for FA to MICU at a tertiary care MICU from January 1992 to March 1997 was performed. Results: Over all mortality rate was 32.2% and 43 patients were mechanically ventilated. In uni-variate analysis, the death group had significantly older age ($66.2{\pm}10.5$ vs. $51.0{\pm}18.8$ year), lower FVC($59.2{\pm}21.1$ vs. $77.6{\pm}23.3%$) and lower $FEV_1$($41.4{\pm}18.8$ vs. $61.l{\pm}23.30%$), and longer total ventilation time ($255.0{\pm}236.3$ vs. $98.1{\pm}120.4$ hour) (p<0.05) compared with the survival group (PFT: best value of recent 1 year). At MICU admission, there were no significant differences in vital signs, $PaCO_2$, $PaO_2/FiO_2$, and $AaDO_2$, in both groups. However, on the second day of MICU, the death group had significantly more rapid pulse rate ($121.6{\pm}22.3$ vs. $105.2{\pm}19.4$ rate/min), elevated $PaCO_2$ ($50.1{\pm}16.5$ vs. $41.8{\pm}12.2 mm Hg$), lower $PaO_2/FiO_2$, ($160.8{\pm}59.8$ vs. $256.6{\pm}78.3 mm Hg$), higher $AaDO_2$ ($181.5{\pm}79.7$ vs. $98.6{\pm}47.9 mm Hg$), and higher APACHE III score ($57.6{\pm}21.1$ vs. $20.3{\pm}13.2$) than survival group (p<0.05). The death group had more frequently associated with pneumonia and anoxic brain damage at admission, and had more frequently developed sepsis during disease progression than the survival group (p<0.05). Multi-variate analysis using APACHE III score and $PaO_2/FiO_2$, ratio on first and second day, age, sex, and pneumonia combined at admission revealed that APACHE III score (40) and $PaO_2/FiO_2$ ratio (<200) on second day were regarded as predictive factors for the mortality of fatal asthma (p<0.05). Conclusions: APACHE III score ($\geq$40) and $PaO_2/FiO_2$ ratio (<200) on the second day of MICU, which might reflect the response of treatment, rather than initially presented clinical parameters would be more important predictable factors of mortality in patients with FA.

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Philosophical Stances for Future Nursing Education (미래를 향한 간호교육이념)

  • Hong Yeo Shin
    • The Korean Nurse
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    • v.20 no.4 s.112
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    • pp.27-38
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    • 1981
  • 오늘 저희에게 주어진 주제, 내일에 타당한 간호사업 및 간호교육의 향방을 어떻게 정하여야 하는가의 논의는 오늘날 간호계 주변에 일어나고 있는 변화의 실상을 이해하는 데서 비롯되어져야 한다고 생각하는 입장에서 먼저 세계적으로 건강관리사업이 당면한 딜레마가 어떠한 것이며 이러한 문제해결을 위해 어떠한 새로운 제안들이 나오고 있는가를 개관 하므로서 그 교육적 의미를 정의해 보고 장래 간호교육이 지향해야할 바를 생각해 보려 합니다. 오늘의 사회의 하나의 특징은 세계 모든 나라들이 각기 어떻게 전체 국민에게 고루 미칠 수 있는 건강관리체계를 이룩할 수 있느냐에 관심을 모으고 있는 사실이라고 봅니다. 부강한 나라에 있어서나 가장 빈궁한 나라에 있어서나 그 관심은 마찬가지로 나타나고 있읍니다. 보건진료 문제의 제기는 발달된 현대의학의 지식과 기술이 지닌 건강관리의 방대한 가능성과 건강 관리의 요구를 지닌 사람들에게 미치는 실질적인 혜택간에 점점 더 크게 벌어지는 격차에서 발생한다고 봅니다. David Rogers는 1960년대 초반까지 갖고 있던 의료지식의 축적과 민간인의 구매력 향상이 자동적으로 국민 건강의 향상을 초래할 것이라고 믿었던 순진한 꿈은 이루어지지 않았고 오히려 의료사업의 위기는 의료지식과 의료봉사간에 벌어지는 격차와 의료에 대한 막대한 투자와 그에서 얻는 건강의 혜택간의 격차에서 온다고 말하고 있읍니다. 균등 분배의 견지에서 보면 의료지식과 기술의 향상은 그 단위 투자에 대한 생산성을 낮춤으로서 오히려 장애적 요인으로 작용해온 것도 사실이고 의료의 발달에 따른 일반인의 기대 상승과 더불어 의료를 태성의 권리로 규명하는 의료보호사업의 확대로 야기되는 의료수요의 급증은 모두 기존 시설 자원에 압박을 초래하여 전래적 의료공급체제에 도전을 가해 왔으며 의료의 발달에 건 기대와는 달리 인류의 건강 문제 해결은 더욱 요원한 과제로 남게 되었읍니다. 현시점에서 세계인구의 건강문제는 기아, 영양실조, 안전한 식수 공급 및 위생적 생활환경조성의 문제에서부터 가장 정밀한 의료기술발달에 수반되는 의료사회문제에 이르는 다양한 문제를 지니고 있으며 주로 각개 국가의 경제 사회적 여건이 이 문제의 성격을 결정짓고 있다고 볼수 있읍니다. 그러나 건강 관리에 대한 요구는 영구히, 완전히 충족될 수 없는 요구에 속한다는 의미에서 경제 사회적 발달 수준에 상관없이 모든 국가가 공히 요구에 미치지 못하는 제한된 자원문제로 고심하고 있는 실정입니다. 또 하나의 공통된 관점은 각기 문제의 상황은 달라도 오늘날의 건강 문제는 주로 의료권 밖의 유전적 소인, 사회경제적, 정치문화적인 환경여건과 각기 선택하는 삶의 스타일에 깊이 관련되어 있다는 사실입니다. 따라서 오늘과 내일의 건강관리 문제는 의학적 견지에서 뿐 아니라 널리 경제, 사회, 정치, 문화적 관점에서 포괄적인 접근이 시도되어야 한다는 점과 의료의 고급화, 전문화, 일변도의 과정에서 소외되었던 기본건강관리체계 강화에 역점을 둔 다양하고 탄력성 있는 사업전개가 요구되고 있다는 점입니다. 다양한 건강관리요구에 적절히 대처할 수 있기 위한 그간 세계 각처에서 시도된 새로운 건강관리 접근과 그 제안을 살펴보면 대체로 4가지의 뚜렷한 성격들로 집약할 수 있을 것 같습니다. 그 첫째는 건강관리사업계획 및 그 수행에 있어 지역 사회의 적극적 참여를 유도하는 일, 둘째는 지역단위의 일차보건의료에서 부터 도심지 신예 종합병원, 시설 의료에 이르기까지 건강관리사업을 합리적으로 체계화하는 일. 셋째로 의료인력이용의 효율화 및 비의료인의 훈련과 협조 유발을 포함하는 효과적인 인력관리에 대한 제안과 넷째로 의료보험 및 각양 집단 의료유형을 포함하는 대체 의료재정 운영관리에 관련된 제안들을 들 수 있읍니다. 건강관리사업에 있어 지역사회 참여의 의의는 첫째로 사회 경제적인 제약이 모든 사람에게 가능한 최대한의 의료를 모두 고루 공급하기 어렵게 하고 있다는 점에서 제한된 정부재정과 지역사회가용자원을 보다 효율적으로 이용할 수 있게 하는 자조적이고 자율적인 지역사회건강관리체제의 구현에 있다고 볼 수 있으며 둘때로는 개인과 가족 및 지역민의 건강에 영향하는 많은 요인들은 실질적으로 의료권 외적 요인들로서 위생적인 생활양식, 식사습관, 의료시설이용 등 깊이 지역사회특성과 관련되어 국민보건의 실질적 향상을 위하여는 지역 주민의 자발적인 참여가 필수여건이 된다는 점 입니다. 지역 단위별 체계적인 의료사업의 전개는 제한된 의료자원의 보다 합리적이고 효율적인 이용을 가능하게 하며 요구가 있을때 언제나 가까운 거리에서 경제 사회적 제약을 받지 않고 이용할 수 있는 일차건강관리망을 통하여 건강에 관련된 정보를 얻으며 질병예방, 건강증진 및 기초적인 진료의 도움을 얻을 수 있고 의뢰에 대한 제2차, 제3차 진료에의 길은 건강관리사업의 질과 폭을 동시에 높고 넓게 해 줄 수 있는 길이 된다는 것입니다. 인력 관리에 관련된 두가지 기본 방향으로서는 첫째로 기존보건의료인력의 적정배치 유도이고 둘째는 기존인력의 역할확대, 조정 및 비의료인의 교육훈련과 부분적 업무대체를 들수 있으며 이러한 인력관리의 기본 방향은 부족되는 의료인력의 생산성을 높이고 주민들의 자조적 능력을 강화시킨다는 데에 두고 있음니다. 대체적 의료재정운영안은 대체로 의료공급과 재정관리를 이원화하여 주민의 경제능력이 의료수혜의 장애요소로 작용함을 막고 의료인의 경제적 동기에 의한 과잉치료처치에 의한 낭비를 줄임으로써 의료재정의 투자의 효과를 증대하는 데(cost-effectiveness) 그 기본방향을 두고 있다고 봅니다. 이러한 주변의료 사회적인 동향이 간호교육의 미래상에 끼치는 영향은 지대한 것이라 봅니다. 첫째로 장래 세계인구의 건강문제는 정치, 사회, 경제, 환경적인 의료권 밖의 요인들에 의해 더욱 크게 영향 받는다고 전제한다면 건강문제해결에 있어서도 전통적인 의료사업의 접근에서 더나아가 문제발생의 근원이 되는 생활개선이라는 차원에서 포괄적 접근을 생각하여야 하고 이를 위해선 정치, 경제, 사회전반에 걸친 깊이있는 이해과 주민의 생활환경에 직접 영향하는 교통수단, 통신망 mass media, 전력문제, 농업경영방법 및 조직적 사회활동 등 폭넓은 이해가 요구된다고 봅니다. 둘째로, 지역사회참여의 의의를 인정한다면 지역민의 자발적 참여를 효과적으로 유발시킬수 있고 의료집단과 각종 주민조직과 일반주민들 사이에서 협조적으로 일할수 있는 역량을 기르기위한 교육적 준비가 요구된다고 봅니다. 셋째로, 지역주민의 건강관리 자조능력 강화를 하나의 목표로 삼는다면 치료자에서 교육자로, 지도자에서 촉진자로, 제공자에서 지원자료의 역할의 변화 내지 다양화를 요구하게 될 것이므로 그에 대처할 수 있는 준비가 필요하다고 봅니다. 넷째로, 생각되어야 할 점은 지역중심건강관리사업을 지향하는 보건의료의 이념적 방향과 그에 상응하는 구체적 접근방법을 효율적으로 적용하기 위해서는 종횡으로 연결되는 의사소통체계의 정립과 민활한 정보교환이 이루어질 수 있어야 한다는 점에서 의사소통의 구심체로서 역할할 수 있는 역량을 함양해야 할 교육적 과제가 있다고 봅니다. 마지막으로 생각되어야 할 점은 지역중심으로 전개될 건강관리사업은 건강증진 및 질병예방적 측면과 질병진료 및 회복과 재활에 이르는 종합적이고 포괄적인 사업이어야 한다는 점에서 종래 공공 의료부문과 사설의료기관 사이에 나누어져 있던 예방의학과 치료의학의 통합 뿐 아니라 정부주축으로 이루어 지고 있는 지역사회개발사업 및 농촌지도사업과 종교 및 각종 민간인 집단이 벌이고있는 사업들과의 전체적인 통합적 접근이 이루어져야 한다고 생각하는 입장에서 종래 간호교육이 강조하지 않던 진료의 의무와 대외적 조직활동에 대한 보완적인 교육조치가 요구된다고 봅니다. 간호의 학문체계로서의 입장은 오랜 역사를 두고 논의의 대상이 되어왔으나 아직까지 뚜렷이 어떤 것이 간호 특유의 지식체계이며 건강문제에 관련하여 무엇이 간호특유의 결정영역이며 이 결정과 그 결과를 어떠한 방법으로 치료적 행위로 옮길 수 있는가에 대한 확실한 답을 얻지 못하고 있는 실정이라고 봅니다. 다만 근래에 제시된 여러 간호이론들 속에서 공통적으로 이야기되어지고 있는 개념들로선 우선 간호학문을 건강과 질병에 관련된 인간의 전인적이고 전체적인 상황을 다루는 학제적 과학으로서보는 입장이 있고 따라서 생물신체적인 면 외에 정신심리적, 사회경제적, 정치문화적 환경과의 상호작용 속에서 인간의 건강과 질병문제를 생각한다는 지향을 갖고 있다고 말할 수 있겠읍니다. 간호교육은 간호계 내적인 학문적, 이론적 체계화의 요구에 못지않게 대민봉사하는 전문직으로서의 사회적 책임을 감당해야하는 중요과제를 안고있어 변화하는 사회요구에 효과적으로 대처해 나가야 할 당면문제를 안고 있읍니다. 간효역할 확대, 보건진료원훈련 등 이러한 사회적 요구에 대응하려는 조치가 되겠읍니다. 이러한 시점에서 간호계가 분명히 짚고 넘어가야 할 사실은 이러한 움직임들이 종래의 의사들의 외업무공급을 연장 확대하는 입장에 서서 간호의 특수전문직 명목을 흐리게 할수있는 위험을 감수할 것인지 아니면 가능한 대체방안을 갖고 간호전문직의 독자적인 진로를 개척하면서 다각적인 도전을 받아들일 준비를 갖추든지 그 방향을 뚜렷이 해야할 일이라 생각합니다. 저로서는 이미 잘 훈련된 간호원들과 조산원들의 교육적, 경험적 배경을 기반으로 지역사회 최일선 건강관리요원으로 사회적 효능을 다 할수 있는 일차건강관리간호조직의 구현을 대체방안으로 제시하고 싶습니다. 간호원과 조산원들의 훈련된 역량과 건강관리체제의 구조적 변화를 효과적으로 조화시킨다면 대부분의 세계인구의 건강문제는 해결가능하다고 보는 입장입니다. 물론 정책과 의료와 행정적지원이 활성화되어지는 환경속에서만 그 기대하는 결과가 확대되리라는 점 부언하는 바입니다. 마지막으로 언급하고 싶은 점은 바로 오늘의 주제 ''교육의 동역자-선생과 학생''이라는 개념입니다. 특히 상회정의적 입장에서 보는 의료사업전개에 지역민 내지 의료소비자의 참여를 강조하는 현시점에 있어 교육자와 학생이 교육의 현장에서 서로 동역자로서 학습의 책임을 나누는 경험은 아주 시기적으로 적합하여 교육적으로 지대한 의미를 갖는 것이라고 생각합니다. 이에 수반되어져야 할 역할의 변화에 수용적인 자세를 갖고 적극 실제적용하려 노력하는 선생앞에서 자주적 결정을 행사해본 학생이야말로 건강관리대상자로 하여금 같은 결정권을 행사할수 있도록 촉구하여 주민의 자조적 역량을 기르고 의료사업의 민주화, 인간화를 이룩할 수 있는 길잡이가 될 수 있으리라 믿는 바입니다.

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Consumer's Negative Brand Rumor Acceptance and Rumor Diffusion (소비자의 부정적 브랜드 루머의 수용과 확산)

  • Lee, Won-jun;Lee, Han-Suk
    • Asia Marketing Journal
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    • v.14 no.2
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    • pp.65-96
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    • 2012
  • Brand has received much attention from considerable marketing research. When consumers consume product or services, they are exposed to a lot of brand related stimuli. These contain brand personality, brand experience, brand identity, brand communications and so on. A special kind of new crisis occasionally confronting companies' brand management today is the brand related rumor. An important influence on consumers' purchase decision making is the word-of-mouth spread by other consumers and most decisions are influenced by other's recommendations. In light of this influence, firms have reasonable reason to study and understand consumer-to-consumer communication such as brand rumor. The importance of brand rumor to marketers is increasing as the number of internet user and SNS(social network service) site grows. Due to the development of internet technology, people can spread rumors without the limitation of time, space and place. However relatively few studies have been published in marketing journals and little is known about brand rumors in the marketplace. The study of rumor has a long history in all major social science. But very few studies have dealt with the antecedents and consequences of any kind of brand rumor. Rumor has been generally described as a story or statement in general circulation without proper confirmation or certainty as to fact. And it also can be defined as an unconfirmed proposition, passed along from people to people. Rosnow(1991) claimed that rumors were transmitted because people needed to explain ambiguous and uncertain events and talking about them reduced associated anxiety. Especially negative rumors are believed to have the potential to devastate a company's reputation and relations with customers. From the perspective of marketer, negative rumors are considered harmful and extremely difficult to control in general. It is becoming a threat to a company's sustainability and sometimes leads to negative brand image and loss of customers. Thus there is a growing concern that these negative rumors can damage brands' reputations and lead them to financial disaster too. In this study we aimed to distinguish antecedents of brand rumor transmission and investigate the effects of brand rumor characteristics on rumor spread intention. We also found key components in personal acceptance of brand rumor. In contextualist perspective, we tried to unify the traditional psychological and sociological views. In this unified research approach we defined brand rumor's characteristics based on five major variables that had been found to influence the process of rumor spread intention. The five factors of usefulness, source credibility, message credibility, worry, and vividness, encompass multi level elements of brand rumor. We also selected product involvement as a control variable. To perform the empirical research, imaginary Korean 'Kimch' brand and related contamination rumor was created and proposed. Questionnaires were collected from 178 Korean samples. Data were collected from college students who have been experienced the focal product. College students were regarded as good subjects because they have a tendency to express their opinions in detail. PLS(partial least square) method was adopted to analyze the relations between variables in the equation model. The most widely adopted causal modeling method is LISREL. However it is poorly suited to deal with relatively small data samples and can yield not proper solutions in some cases. PLS has been developed to avoid some of these limitations and provide more reliable results. To test the reliability using SPSS 16 s/w, Cronbach alpha was examined and all the values were appropriate showing alpha values between .802 and .953. Subsequently, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted successfully. And structural equation modeling has been used to analyze the research model using smartPLS(ver. 2.0) s/w. Overall, R2 of adoption of rumor is .476 and R2 of intention of rumor transmission is .218. The overall model showed a satisfactory fit. The empirical results can be summarized as follows. According to the results, the variables of brand rumor characteristic such as source credibility, message credibility, worry, and vividness affect argument strength of rumor. And argument strength of rumor also affects rumor intention. On the other hand, the relationship between perceived usefulness and argument strength of rumor is not significant. The moderating effect of product involvement on the relations between argument strength of rumor and rumor W.O.M intention is not supported neither. Consequently this study suggests some managerial and academic implications. We consider some implications for corporate crisis management planning, PR and brand management. This results show marketers that rumor is a critical factor for managing strong brand assets. Also for researchers, brand rumor should become an important thesis of their interests to understand the relationship between consumer and brand. Recently many brand managers and marketers have focused on the short-term view. They just focused on strengthen the positive brand image. According to this study we suggested that effective brand management requires managing negative brand rumors with a long-term view of marketing decisions.

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The Characteristics and Performances of Manufacturing SMEs that Utilize Public Information Support Infrastructure (공공 정보지원 인프라 활용한 제조 중소기업의 특징과 성과에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Keun-Hwan;Kwon, Taehoon;Jun, Seung-pyo
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.25 no.4
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    • pp.1-33
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    • 2019
  • The small and medium sized enterprises (hereinafter SMEs) are already at a competitive disadvantaged when compared to large companies with more abundant resources. Manufacturing SMEs not only need a lot of information needed for new product development for sustainable growth and survival, but also seek networking to overcome the limitations of resources, but they are faced with limitations due to their size limitations. In a new era in which connectivity increases the complexity and uncertainty of the business environment, SMEs are increasingly urged to find information and solve networking problems. In order to solve these problems, the government funded research institutes plays an important role and duty to solve the information asymmetry problem of SMEs. The purpose of this study is to identify the differentiating characteristics of SMEs that utilize the public information support infrastructure provided by SMEs to enhance the innovation capacity of SMEs, and how they contribute to corporate performance. We argue that we need an infrastructure for providing information support to SMEs as part of this effort to strengthen of the role of government funded institutions; in this study, we specifically identify the target of such a policy and furthermore empirically demonstrate the effects of such policy-based efforts. Our goal is to help establish the strategies for building the information supporting infrastructure. To achieve this purpose, we first classified the characteristics of SMEs that have been found to utilize the information supporting infrastructure provided by government funded institutions. This allows us to verify whether selection bias appears in the analyzed group, which helps us clarify the interpretative limits of our study results. Next, we performed mediator and moderator effect analysis for multiple variables to analyze the process through which the use of information supporting infrastructure led to an improvement in external networking capabilities and resulted in enhancing product competitiveness. This analysis helps identify the key factors we should focus on when offering indirect support to SMEs through the information supporting infrastructure, which in turn helps us more efficiently manage research related to SME supporting policies implemented by government funded institutions. The results of this study showed the following. First, SMEs that used the information supporting infrastructure were found to have a significant difference in size in comparison to domestic R&D SMEs, but on the other hand, there was no significant difference in the cluster analysis that considered various variables. Based on these findings, we confirmed that SMEs that use the information supporting infrastructure are superior in size, and had a relatively higher distribution of companies that transact to a greater degree with large companies, when compared to the SMEs composing the general group of SMEs. Also, we found that companies that already receive support from the information infrastructure have a high concentration of companies that need collaboration with government funded institution. Secondly, among the SMEs that use the information supporting infrastructure, we found that increasing external networking capabilities contributed to enhancing product competitiveness, and while this was no the effect of direct assistance, we also found that indirect contributions were made by increasing the open marketing capabilities: in other words, this was the result of an indirect-only mediator effect. Also, the number of times the company received additional support in this process through mentoring related to information utilization was found to have a mediated moderator effect on improving external networking capabilities and in turn strengthening product competitiveness. The results of this study provide several insights that will help establish policies. KISTI's information support infrastructure may lead to the conclusion that marketing is already well underway, but it intentionally supports groups that enable to achieve good performance. As a result, the government should provide clear priorities whether to support the companies in the underdevelopment or to aid better performance. Through our research, we have identified how public information infrastructure contributes to product competitiveness. Here, we can draw some policy implications. First, the public information support infrastructure should have the capability to enhance the ability to interact with or to find the expert that provides required information. Second, if the utilization of public information support (online) infrastructure is effective, it is not necessary to continuously provide informational mentoring, which is a parallel offline support. Rather, offline support such as mentoring should be used as an appropriate device for abnormal symptom monitoring. Third, it is required that SMEs should improve their ability to utilize, because the effect of enhancing networking capacity through public information support infrastructure and enhancing product competitiveness through such infrastructure appears in most types of companies rather than in specific SMEs.