• Title/Summary/Keyword: Incubator Factors

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Micro-Spot Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Production for the Biomedical Applications

  • Hirata, T.;Tsutsui, C.;Yokoi, Y.;Sakatani, Y.;Mori, A.;Horii, A.;Yamamoto, T.;Taguchi, A.
    • Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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    • 2010.02a
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    • pp.44-45
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    • 2010
  • We are currently conducting studies on culturing and biocompatibility assessment of various cells such as neural stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells(IPS cells) on carbon nanotube (CNT), on nerve regeneration electrodes, and on silicon wafers with a focus on developing nerve integrated CNT based bio devices for interfacing with living organisms, in order to develop brain-machine interfaces (BMI). In addition, we are carried out the chemical modification of carbon nanotube (mainly SWCNTs)-based bio-nanosensors by the plasma ion irradiation (plasma activation) method, and provide a characteristic evaluation of a bio-nanosensor using bovine serum albumin (BSA)/anti-BSA binding and oligonucleotide hybridization. On the other hand, the researches in the case of "novel plasma" have been widely conducted in the fields of chemistry, solid physics, and nanomaterial science. From the above-mentioned background, we are conducting basic experiments on direct irradiation of body tissues and cells using a micro-spot atmospheric pressure plasma source. The device is a coaxial structure having a tungsten wire installed inside a glass capillary, and a grounded ring electrode wrapped on the outside. The conditions of plasma generation are as follows: applied voltage: 5-9 kV, frequency: 1-3 kHz, helium (He) gas flow: 1-1.5 L/min, and plasma irradiation time: 1-300 sec. The experiment was conducted by preparing a culture medium containing mouse fibroblasts (NIH3T3) on a culture dish. A culture dish irradiated with plasma was introduced into a $CO_2$-incubator. The small animals used in the experiment involving plasma irradiation into living tissue were rat, rabbit, and pick and are deeply anesthetized with the gas anesthesia. According to the dependency of cell numbers against the plasma irradiation time, when only He gas was flowed, the growth of cells was inhibited as the floatation of cells caused by gas agitation inside the culture was promoted. On the other hand, there was no floatation of cells and healthy growth was observed when plasma was irradiated. Furthermore, in an experiment testing the effects of plasma irradiation on rats that were artificially given burn wounds, no evidence of electric shock injuries was found in the irradiated areas. In fact, the observed evidence of healing and improvements of the burn wounds suggested the presence of healing effects due to the growth factors in the tissues. Therefore, it appears that the interaction due to ion/radicalcollisions causes a substantial effect on the proliferation of growth factors such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), nerve growth factor (NGF), and transforming growth factor (TGF) that are present in the cells.

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The Korean Strategy for the Science and Technology Park of the Developing Countries : The cases of Ecuador and Kazakhstan (개발도상국의 과학기술단지(STP) 건립을 위한 한국의 전략 : 에콰도르, 카자흐스탄의 사례를 중심으로)

  • Kim, Jong Jin;Choi, Jong In
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.7 no.4
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    • pp.131-141
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    • 2012
  • The miracle of Korean economic development is the benchmarking for the developing countries. Among them, the STP of Science and technology area is very important case they tring to learn from Deadeok, Korea. Ecuador and Kazakhstan have the huge natural resources and they have interested in the model of Daedeok STP. This paper study about their needs and Daedeok's capability, and effective implementing factors. This paper suggest a six one based on the Daedeok Innopolis experiences for the successful local STP. First, most important thing is human resource development strategy for the knowledge and technology transfer. Second, the construction of Engineering Center for the collaboration of industry and academy is needed. This is important to have a bargaining power to the appropriate technology transfer. Third, they need a hardware and software infrastructure to the technology commercialization. It include a incubator, manager, and complimentary asset. Fourth, they have to connect with market closely for the venture creation and growth. Fifth, the clustering is realized by the STP construction. Lastly, leadership is critical factor to the absorptive capacity.

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Studies on the Immunomodulating Effects of Polysaccharide Extracted from Ganoderma lucidum on Macrophage (영지버섯 다당체의 마우스 대식세포 면역증강 효과)

  • 김성환;김을상
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.148-153
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    • 1997
  • The immunomodulating effects of polysaccharide extracted from Ganoderma lucidum(PSG) on macrophage were evaluated using murine macrophage cell line ATCC TIB 71 cells or peritoneal exudate cells of BALB/c mice. The cell were incubated with various content of PSG for 24 hours at 0.5% $CO_2$ incubator under varying experimental conditions. PSG stimulated the non-specific activites of macrophage such as mitotic activity and expression of surface interleukin-2 receptors by dose-dependent pattern with statistic significance(p<0.001): however, PSG had little immunoregulatory effects on cytokines derived from peritoneal macrophages of BALB/c mice. There were no significant changes in the se-cretion of interleukin-6, interleukin-6, or tumor necrosis factors(Tn) of PSG treated cells compared to the control group. But PSG increased secretion of cytokines(IL-1 and TNF) when the cells were primed and trigged with BCG and IFN-${\gamma}$.

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Characteristics of Labor Market and Spatial Networks in Daedeok Science Town as Locality, Korea (로캘러티로서 대덕연구단지의 노동시장 특성과 공간적 네트워크)

  • Han, Ju-Seong
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.35-54
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    • 2001
  • The construction of Daedeok Science Town, located in Yuseong ward of Daejeon metropolitan city, began in the early 1970s. It started out as a national project to form an agglomeration of the major central government research institutions. Since that time Daedeok Science Town has also attracted private research institutions, mainly during the 1900s. This study geographically analyzes this research institutions to clarify the regional identity of Daedeok Science Town through an integrated approach of existing new regional geography approach, which is characteristics of labour market as the regional pattern of its laborers' residences, spatial labour division, its research network with other institutions, and networks of university, research institution, and corporations, through the spatial spread of intellectual right of property and through network of technology business incubator relationship with spin offs which is appeared to spatial interaction. The results of the study are as follows: First of all, Daedeok Science Town was not only self-sustenance with marketing garden of agricultural regions in the suburb of Daejeon city but also was consign of agricultural products to Daejeon city before 1972. Since that time, the identity of Daedeok Science town has been formed by externally factors of the science development, by the local decentralization of population and public offices in Seoul metropolitan area in terms of the world economy system, and by the internally accessibility maximization of the central location in Korea between 1992 and 1999. On the part of Daedeok Science Town it has some merits of in-migration from nation-wide, and of mother city's Daejeon. Lastly at the period of the venture business beginning after 1999, the role of institution, developing the existing high technology, made great contribution to an attraction of ventures business to here in need of high technology industry growth, including knowledge-based industry in the informated society. On these bases, Daedeok Science Town seems to grow spontaneously as a science park.

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A Study on Startups' Dependence on Business Incubation Centers (창업보육서비스에 따른 입주기업의 창업보육센터 의존도에 관한 연구)

  • Park, JaeSung;Lee, Chul;Kim, JaeJon
    • Korean small business review
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    • v.31 no.2
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    • pp.103-120
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    • 2009
  • As business incubation centers (BICs) have been operating for more than 10 years in Korea, many early stage startups tend to use the services provided by the incubating centers. BICs in Korea have accumulated the knowledge and experience in the past ten years and their services have been considerably improved. The business incubating service has three facets : (1) business infrastructure service, (2) direct service, and (3) indirect service. The mission of BICs is to provide the early stage entrepreneurs with the incubating service in a limited period time to help them grow strong enough to survive the fierce competition after graduating from the incubation. However, the incubating services sometimes fail to foster the independence of new startup companies, and raise the dependence of many companies on BICs. Thus, the dependence on BICs is a very important factor to understand the survival of the incubated startup companies after graduation from BICs. The purpose of this study is to identify the main factors that influence the firm's dependence on BICs and to characterize the relationships among the identified factors. The business incubating service is a core construct of this study. It includes various activities and resources, such as offering the physical facilities, legal service, and connecting them with outside organizations. These services are extensive and take various forms. They are provided by BICs directly or indirectly. Past studies have identified various incubating services and classify them in different ways. Based on the past studies, we classify the business incubating service into three categories as mentioned above : (1) business infrastructure support, (2) direct support, and (3) networking support. The business infrastructure support is to provide the essential resources to start the business, such as physical facilities. The direct support is to offer the business resources available in the BICs, such as human, technical, and administrational resources. Finally, the indirect service was to support the resource in the outside of business incubation center. Dependence is generally defined as the degree to which a client firm needs the resources provided by the service provider in order to achieve its goals. Dependence is generated when a firm recognizes the benefits of interacting with its counterpart. Hence, the more positive outcomes a firm derives from its relationship with the partner, the more dependent on the partner the firm must inevitably become. In business incubating, as a resident firm is incubated in longer period, we can predict that her dependence on BICs would be stronger. In order to foster the independence of the incubated firms, BICs have to be able to manipulate the provision of their services to control the firms' dependence on BICs. Based on the above discussion, the research model for relationships between dependence and its affecting factors was developed. We surveyed the companies residing in BICs to test our research model. The instrument of our study was modified, in part, on the basis of previous relevant studies. For the purposes of testing reliability and validity, preliminary testing was conducted with firms that were residing in BICs and incubated by the BICs in the region of Gwangju and Jeonnam. The questionnaire was modified in accordance with the pre-test feedback. We mailed to all of the firms that had been incubated by the BICs with the help of business incubating managers of each BIC. The survey was conducted over a three week period. Gifts (of approximately ₩10,000 value) were offered to all actively participating respondents. The incubating period was reported by the business incubating managers, and it was transformed using natural logarithms. A total of 180 firms participated in the survey. However, we excluded 4 cases due to a lack of consistency using reversed items in the answers of the companies, and 176 cases were used for the analysis. We acknowledge that 176 samples may not be sufficient to conduct regression analyses with 5 research variables in our study. Each variable was measured through multiple items. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis to assess their unidimensionality. In an effort to test the construct validity of the instruments, a principal component factor analysis was conducted with Varimax rotation. The items correspond well to each singular factor, demonstrating a high degree of convergent validity. As the factor loadings for a variable (or factor) are higher than the factor loadings for the other variables, the instrument's discriminant validity is shown to be clear. Each factor was extracted as expected, which explained 70.97, 66.321, and 52.97 percent, respectively, of the total variance each with eigen values greater than 1.000. The internal consistency reliability of the variables was evaluated by computing Cronbach's alphas. The Cronbach's alpha values of the variables, which ranged from 0.717 to 0.950, were all securely over 0.700, which is satisfactory. The reliability and validity of the research variables are all, therefore, considered acceptable. The effects of dependence were assessed using a regression analysis. The Pearson correlations were calculated for the variables, measured by interval or ratio scales. Potential multicollinearity among the antecedents was evaluated prior to the multiple regression analysis, as some of the variables were significantly correlated with others (e.g., direct service and indirect service). Although several variables show the evidence of significant correlations, their tolerance values range between 0.334 and 0.613, thereby demonstrating that multicollinearity is not a likely threat to the parameter estimates. Checking some basic assumptions for the regression analyses, we decided to conduct multiple regression analyses and moderated regression analyses to test the given hypotheses. The results of the regression analyses indicate that the regression model is significant at p < 0.001 (F = 44.260), and that the predictors of the research model explain 42.6 percent of the total variance. Hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 address the relationships between the dependence of the incubated firms and the business incubating services. Business infrastructure service, direct service, and indirect service are all significantly related with dependence (β = 0.300, p < 0.001; β = 0.230, p < 0.001; β = 0.226, p < 0.001), thus supporting Hypotheses 1, 2, and 3. When the incubating period is the moderator and dependence is the dependent variable, the addition of the interaction terms with the antecedents to the regression equation yielded a significant increase in R2 (F change = 2.789, p < 0.05). In particular, direct service and indirect service exert different effects on dependence. Hence, the results support Hypotheses 5 and 6. This study provides several strategies and specific calls to action for BICs, based on our empirical findings. Business infrastructure service has more effect on the firm's dependence than the other two services. The introduction of an additional high charge rate for a graduated but allowed to stay in the BIC is a basic and legitimate condition for the BIC to control the firm's dependence. We detected the differential effects of direct and indirect services on the firm's dependence. The firms with long incubating period are more sensitive to indirect service positively, and more sensitive to direct service negatively, when assessing their levels of dependence. This implies that BICs must develop a strategy on the basis of a firm's incubating period. Last but not least, it would be valuable to discover other important variables that influence the firm's dependence in the future studies. Moreover, future studies to explain the independence of startup companies in BICs would also be valuable.

Studies on the detrimental factors affecting in vitro maturation and fertilization of bovine follicular oocytes (소 난포란(卵胞卵)의 체외성숙(體外成熟) 및 체외수정(體外受精)에 영향(影響)을 미치는 요인(要因)에 관한 연구(硏究))

  • Lee, Man-hee;Kim, Sang-keun
    • Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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    • v.31 no.2
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    • pp.179-187
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    • 1991
  • These studies were carried out to investigate the effects of the size of follicles, semen types, capacitation methods, and additions of hormones, estrous cow serum(ECS), fetal calf serum(FCS), bovine follicular fluid(BFF) and matured cumulus cell(MCC) to the medium on in vitro maturation and fertilization of bovine follicular oocytes. The ovaries were obtained from slaughtered Korean native cows. The follicular oocytes surrounded with cumulus cells were recovered by aspirating follicular fluid from the visible follicles of diameter 3~5mm. The follicular oocytes were cultured in TCM-199 medium containing hormones, FCS, ECS, BFF and MCC for 24~48hrs. in an incubator with 5% $CO_2$ in air at $38.5^{\circ}C$ and then matured oocytes were again cultured for 18~20 hrs. with motile capacitated spermatozoas the TCF (Tyrode calcium free) solution containing $100{\mu}g/ml$ of heparin. The results obtained in these experiments were summarized as follows: 1. The oocytes classified as "A,B,C,D and Degenerative" depending morphological integrity and those 61.4%, 12.1%, 19.2%, 4.2% and 3.0% of the total oocytes recovered, respectively. The maturation and fertilization rate of the A, B, C class follicular oocytes, cultured in the TCM-199 medium supplemented with 10% FCS were 89.1%, 78.0%, 52.6% and 78.1%, 66.1, 33.3%, respectively. 2. The average number of the follicular oocytes recovered from follicles size, 1~2mm, 3~5mm and above 5mm in diameter were 67, 98 and 63, respectively. The maturation and fertilization rate of the follicular oocytes, cultured in the TCM-199 medium were 56.7%, 82.5%, 46.0% and 44.8%, 71.4%, 28.6%, respectively. 3. The fertilization and cleavage rate of the follicular oocytes, inseminated with spermatozoas of epididymal cauda, neat and frozen semen were 63.3%, 73.3%, 70.0% and 32.7%, 37.8% 38.3%, respectively. 4. The fertilization and cleavage rate of follicular oocytes, fertilized with capacitated spermatozoas by heparin, BFF and HIS methods were 70.0%, 53.8%, 34.2% and 38.3%, 23.1%. 17.1%, respectively. And the fertilization and cleavage rate were higher method of heparin. 5. The maturation and fertilization rate of follicular oocytes, cultured in the TCM-199 medium supplemented with 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and FSH, HCG, 17, $\beta$-estradiol were 76.0~82.3% and 26.2~70.0%, and those values were higher the supplementation than non-supplementation. 6. The maturation and fertilization rate of the follicular oocytes cultured in TCM-199 medium supplemented with 5~20% ECS and FCS were 74.0~80.6%, 26.2~30.0% and 71.7~76.9%, 51.9~58.0%, and the values were higher the supplement of ECS than FCS. 7. The maturation rate (68.0~64.6%) and fertilization rate(59.6~60.4%) of follicular oocytes cultured in TCM-199 medium supplemented with 10% FCS and 20~30% BFF were higher than those of follicular oocytes cultured TCM-199 medium supplemented with 10% FCS and 10% and 50% BFF. 8. The maturation rate(76.5%) and fertilization rate (61.7%) of follicular oocytes cultured in TCM-199 medium supplemented with 10% FCS and $1{\times}10^6/ml$ MCC were higher than those of follicular oocytes cultured in TCM-199 medium supplemented with 10% FCS and $1{\times}10^{{4}{\sim}{5}}/ml$ and $1{\times}10^8/ml$ cumulus cells.

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Changes of Physicochemical Properties of Salted-Fermented Anchovy Meat Engraulis japonica with Different Salt Content During Fermentation at 15℃ (식염첨가량이 다른 멸치(Engraulis japonica)육젓의 15℃ 숙성 중 이화학적 특성의 변화)

  • LEE, Jae-Dong;KANG, Kyung-Hun;KWON, Soon-Jae;YOON, Moon-Joo;PARK, Si-Young;PARK, Jin-Hyo;KIM, Jeong-Gyun
    • Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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    • v.27 no.5
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    • pp.1457-1469
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    • 2015
  • This study was undertaken to investigate the quality changes of salted-fermented anchovy meat made by varying the amount of salt during fermentation at $15^{\circ}C$. Anchovy (11.0-14.0 cm of length, 10.7-17.5 g of weight) added with 15-25% of salt was filled in a round form plastic container (i.d. $10.5{\times}11cm$), and then fermented at $15^{\circ}C$ for 110 days. The factors such as proximate composition, pH, color value (L, a, b), TBA value, amino-N content, salinity, hardness value, free amino acid content and sensory evaluation of salted-fermented anchovy meat were measured. Ash content, color value (redness), TBA value, amino-N content. salinity and hardness value of salted-fermented anchovy meat were increased, but color value (lightness), and moisture content were decreased during fermentation at $15^{\circ}C$. A salted-fermented anchovy meat added with 15% of salt was shown higher content of moisture, amino-N content and free amino acid, TBA value than those of 20 or 25% of salt. Ash content, salinity and hardness value were highest in a product added with 25% of salt. From the result of sensory evaluation, Addition amount of 15% salt and fermentation periods of 110 days were determined to be the most desirable palatability of salted-fermented anchovy meat.

Stability of the Fat Ingredients of Deep Fried Instant Noodles, Biscuits, and Cookies (라면, 비스킷, 및 쿠키속의 유지성분(油脂成分)의 안전성(安定性)에 관한 연구(硏究))

  • Hu, Tae-Ryun;Kim, Dong-Hoon
    • Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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    • v.6 no.1
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    • pp.24-29
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    • 1974
  • Deep fried instant noodles, biscuits, and cookies were prepared, using the same beef tallow as their fat ingredient. In addition to wheat flour and beef tallow, the common and major ingredients, the deep fried instant noodle contained 1.5% salt before frying, the biscuits 20.0% sucrose and 10.0% nonfat milk solid before baking, and the cookies 20.0% sucrose before baking. The three products and a portion of beef tallow, which was to be used as control, were stored in an incubator at $47.0{\pm}1.5^{\circ}C$. The peroxide value and the free fatty acid value of the control and the extracted fat were determined regularly during the storage period. The fat incorporated in the biscuits exhibited far greater stability to rancidity development than that of the control with regard to both peroxide value and free fatty acid value development. However, the fat incorporated in the deep fried instant noodles and the cookies showed much poorer stability than that of the control. Factors like a deep frying process and/or the presence of a significant amount of salt in the deep fried instant noodles appeared to promote the rancidity development of the fat incorporated in the product. On the other hand, Maillard type browning reaction products in the biscuits seemed to retard effectively the rancidity development of the fat incorporated in the product.

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Mediating Effect of Opportunity Recognition Among Entrepreneurial Alertness, Mentoring, & Number of Mentoring on New Ventures' Performance (기업가적 기민성과 멘토링 및 멘토링 횟수와 기업성과 관계에서 기회인지의 매개효과 영향)

  • Park, Mi-Jung;Lee, Seon-Ho;Hwangbo, Yun
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.16 no.4
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    • pp.1-24
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    • 2021
  • The Korean government is currently expanding the business startup incubator support program and funds for new ventures with innovative technology in order to spread the second venture boom. However, despite the fact that entrepreneurial education and mentoring that entrepreneurs should have are important parts for the sustainable growth of the startup, some companies selected for government support programs are reluctant to participate in programs such as entrepreneurship education and mentoring for the sole purpose of funding commercialization. This research addressed the effects of entrepreneurial alertness with opportunity awareness as its medium and the small business mentoring service along with the number of times the mentoring has taken place, on the corporate performances. The results of empirical research are as follow: the first one is that scanning-search and evaluation-judgment can influence a company's performance (financial, non-financial) through opportunity recognition, with the exception of association-connection, which is a sub-factor of entrepreneurial alertness. Secondly, it was found to affect a company's financial and non-financial performance through opportunity recognition for financing mentoring, technical support mentoring, and management support mentoring. Thirdly, it was found that the number of mentoring also affects the financial and non-financial performance of a company through opportunity recognition. The implications of this study are that it should be revisited that program managers consider rooms that do not violate the startup founder's strategic decision-making opportunities when designing and operating the program as entrepreneurial alertness sub-factor association-connection does not affect corporate performance through opportunity recognition. This study also emphasizes the need for customized mentoring to meet the outcome goals of each startup, as it has been empirically clarified that the mentoring provided to the startup by the government's support is important. The contribution of this research is that entrepreneurial alertness and opportunity recognition that are treated as important components in research for entrepreneurship, and the factors of mentoring and mentoring frequency that are recognized as important elements in the practical aspect of startup business are clarified theoretically and empirically as an influential factor in corporate performance. And this study also provide a rationale for the startup business support agency supplying mentoring.

Measuring Intracellular Mycobacterial Killing Using a Human Whole Blood Assay (인체 전혈 모델을 이용한 세포내 결핵균 살균력에 관한 연구)

  • Cheon, Seon-Hee;Song, Ho-Yeon;Lee, Eun-Hee;Oh, Hee-Jung;Kang, In-Sook;Cho, Ji-Yoon;Hong, Young-Sun
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.53 no.5
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    • pp.497-509
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    • 2002
  • Background : The mechanisms through which cellular activation results in intracellular mycobacterial killing is only partially understood. However, in vitro studies of human immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been largely modeled on the work reported by Crowle, which is complicated by several factors. The whole blood culture is simple and allows the simultaneous analysis of the relationship between bacterial killing and the effect of effector cells and humoral factors. In this study, we attempted to determine the extent to which M. tuberculosis is killed in a human whole blood culture and to explore the role of the host and microbial factor in this process. Methods : The PPD positive subject were compared to the umbilical cord blood and patients with tuberculosis, diabetes and lung cancer. The culture is performed using heparinized whole blood diluted with a culture medium and infected with a low number of M. avium or M. tuberculosis $H_{37}Ra$ for 4 days by rotating the culture in a $37^{\circ}C$, 5% $CO_2$ incubator. In some experiments, methlprednisolone- or pentoxifyline were used to inhibit the immune response. To assess the role of the T-cell subsets, CD4+, CD8+ T-cells or both were removed from the blood using magnetic beads. The ${\Delta}$ log killing ratio was defined using a CFU assay as the difference in the log number of viable organisms in the completed culture compared to the inoculum. Results : 1. A trend was noted toward the improved killing of mycobacteria in PPD+ subjects comparing to the umbilical cord blood but there was no specific difference in the patients with tuberculosis, diabetes and lung cancer. 2. Methylprednisolone and pentoxifyline adversely affected the killing in the PPD+ subjects umbilical cord blood and patients with tuberculosis. 3. The deletion of CD4+ or CD8+ T-lymphocytes adversely affected the killing of M. avium and M. tuberculosis $H_{37}Ra$ by PPD+ subjects. Deletion of both cell types had an additive effect, particularly in M. tuberculosis $H_{37}Ra$. 4. A significantly improved mycobacterial killing was noted after chemotherapy in patients with tuberculosis and the ${\Delta}$ logKR continuously decreased in a 3 and 4 days of whole blood culture. Conclusion : The in vitro bactericidal assay by human whole blood culture model was settled using a CFU assay. However, the host immunity to M. tuberculosis was not apparent in the human whole blood culture bactericidal assay, and patients with tuberculosis showed markedly improved bacterial killing after anti-tuberculous chemotherapy compared to before. The simplicity of a whole blood culture facilitates its inclusion in a clinical trial and it may have a potential role as a surrogate marker in a TB vaccine trial.