• Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.79-102
• /
• 2018

In an entrepreneurial ecosystem, the failure rate of startups is extremely high at 90%, and every startup that fails becomes an orphan. This phenomenon leads to higher costs of failure for the entrepreneurs in the ecosystem. Failed startups have many lessons to offer to the ecosystem and offer guidance to the potential entrepreneur, and this area is not fully explored compared to the literature on successful startups. We use a case based method distinguishing a failed startup and a successful startup, studying the entrepreneurial characteristics and firm level factors which cause the failures, in the technology startup ecosystem of Bangalore. We study one of the modes of exit adopted by failed startup entrepreneurs and draw key lessons on causes that culminate in failures. We have identified that factors such as the time to minimum viable product cycle, time for revenue realization, founders' complementary skillsets, age of founders with their domain expertise, personality type of founders, attitude towards financial independence and willingness to avail mentorship at critical stages, will decisively differentiate failed startups from the successful ones. Accordingly, implications have been derived for potential entrepreneurs for reducing the cost of failures in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.299-307
• /
• 2009

Data exclusivity is one of the most important intellectual property rights of pharmaceuticals. During data exclusivity period, third parties are prohibited from relying on the data which the original company has submitted to regulatory authority for drug application. I investigated data exclusivity systems for pharmaceuticals in the US, EU, Canada and Korea. New chemical entities were usually given the longest periods of data exclusivity compared to drugs with new indication or new formulation, although the protection periods varied by country. For new drugs to be entitled to a data exclusivity, strict conditions should be met. Data exclusivity has also been provided as an incentive to promote clinical investigation and drug development for pediatric population or orphan diseases. In Korea, data exclusivity was adopted in 1995 as an additive provision to "drug re-examination" which is to investigate post-marketing safety information of new drugs. It was introduced with few discussion on the purposes or effects of data exclusivity on pharmaceutical industry and pharmaceutical market in this country. I found that Korea's data exclusivity system falls short of considerations on valuing innovation of pharmaceutical research. It is necessary to improve data exclusivity system in order to promote innovative pharmaceutical development and to balance intellectual property rights protection and access to drugs in this country.

• The Zoological Society Korea : Newsletter
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.6-11
• /
• 2001

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor $\alpha$ (PPAR$\alpha$)에 대한 본격적인 연구는 고지혈증 치료제인 fibrate류의 약물들이 PPAR$\alpha$ activator로 작용한다는 사실이 밝혀짐으로써 크게 증대되었다. PPAR$\alpha$는 fibrate를 포함한 다양한 종류의 peroxisome proiferator (PP)에 의해 활성화되는데 이들을 쥐에 단기간 투여할 경우 간의 peroxisome수와 지 방산 산화효소의 유전자발현이 증가되고 장기간 투여 할 경우 간암을 발생시키지만, fibrate류의 약물들을 고지혈증 환자에게 투여 할 경우 간암을 발생시키지 않으므로써 PP에 대한 반응성에 있어서 species difference를 나타낸다 PPAR$\alpha$는 핵에 존재하는 orphan receptor로서 PP에 의해 활성화되어 9-cis-retinoic acid receptor(RXR)와 heterodimer를 이룬 후 target gene들의 upstream에 있는 peroxisome proliferator response element (PPRE)에 결합하여 target gene들의 발현을 조절한다. 지금까지 연구된 PPAR$\alpha$의 target gene들은 모두 lipid와 lipoprotein 대사를 조절하는 것으로 알려져 있으며, 이러 한 결과들을 기초로 lipid 대사 및 energy balance와 관련된 질병들 - 동맥경화증, 관상동맥질환, 비만, 제 2형 당뇨병 등에서 PPAR$\alpha$의 역할이 집중적으로 연구되고 있다. PPAR$\alpha$가 활성화되면 lipoprotein lipase와 HDL이 증가되고 apo C-III가 감소됨으로써 동맥경화증에 대한 예방적 기능을 나타내고, 몸무게를 감소시킴으로써 비만을 방지할 수 있으며, 인슐린 감수성을 증가시켜 제 2형 당뇨병의 치료효과를 가지는 것으로 보인다. 그러나 PPAR$\alpha$-null mouse에서는 이러한 효과들이 나타나지 않는 것으로 보아 이들 질병에서 PPAR$\alpha$가 중요한 역할을 하는 것으로 생각된다.

• Herbal Formula Science
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.225-231
• /
• 2022

Objectives : Oxidative damage has a variety of mechanism in the human organs including brain and liver. The purpose of this study is to examine the prevention against cellular damage, and the inhibitory effect on lipogenesis of the water extract of Eriobotrya japonica (EJE). Methods : The effect of EJE on cell viability was assessed using the MTT assay. To investigate the mechanism of EJE's inhibition of lipogenesis, we analyzed the relevant proteins using immunoblot analysis. Results : Induction of T0901317, a LXR agonist, significantly increased SREBP-1c expression, which was blocked by the pretreatment of EJE in the dose-dependent manners. This beneficial herb also regulated the genes related with SREBP-1c such as the acetyl-CoA carboxylase. Conclusion : These results suggested that EJE might have a possibility of the treatment of chronic diseases as mediated with the inhibition of LXRα/SREBP-1c pathway.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
• /
• v.16 no.8
• /
• pp.2507-2528
• /
• 2022

Blockchain interoperability, which refers in particular to the ability to access information across blockchain systems, plays the key role for different blockchains to communicate with each other, and further supports the superstructure built on top of the cross-chain mechanism. Nowadays, blockchain interoperability technology is still in its infancy. The existing cross-chain scheme such as BTCRelay requires that the smart contract in a blockchain to download and maintain block headers of the other blockchain, which is costly in maintenance and inefficient to use. In this paper, we propose a supervision mechanism between blockchains, called Surveillant. Specially, the new entities called dual-functional nodes are introduced to commit the real-time information from the blockchain under supervision to the supervising blockchain, which enables users to have efficient cross-chain verification. Furthermore, we introduce Merkle mountain range for blocks aggregation to deal with the large-scale committing data. We propose the design of long orphan branch counter to trace the bifurcations in the blockchain under supervision. The existing incentive mechanism is improved to encourage the behaviors of dual-functional nodes. In Surveillant, the analysis and experimental results demonstrate that users are able to have efficient cross-chain verification with low maintenance overhead.

• Herbal Formula Science
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.137-143
• /
• 2022

Objectives : Brain-Liver axis is an important target of the chronic human diseases. Hepatic steatosis is one of the most famous disorders in the chronic diseases. This study investigated the moderating effect of beneficial herbs on the fat accumulation, which is mediated by the LXR alpha-SREBP-1c signaling pathway. Methods : In order to confirm the SREBP-1c inhibitory effect, we performed immonoblotting ananlysis using HepG2 cells and Huh 7 cells treated by T0901317, the ligand of LXRα. Results : Forsythiae suspensa water extract (FSE) was not cytotoxicity in cell lines. FSE inhibited SREBP-1c protein expression in HepG2 and Huh7 cells induced by T0901317. In addition, FSE increased the phosphorylation of LKB1, which is associated with LXR-related pathway in HepG2 and Huh 7 cells. Conclusions : These results showed that FSE activated LKB1 to suppress SREBP-1c, which protects the cells against oxidative stress.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.56 no.5
• /
• pp.296-301
• /
• 2023

Retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor α (RORα) plays a vital role in various physiological processes, including metabolism, cancer, circadian rhythm, cerebellar development, and inflammation. Although RORα is expressed in the skin, its role in skin physiology remains poorly elucidated. Herein, Rorα was expressed in the basal and suprabasal layers of the epidermis; however, keratinocyte-specific Rorα deletion did not impact normal epidermal formation. Under pathophysiological conditions, Rorα-deficient mice exhibited alleviated psoriasis-like symptoms, including relatively intact epidermal stratification, reduced keratinocyte hyperproliferation, and low-level expression of inflammatory cytokines in keratinocytes. Unexpectedly, the splenic population of Th17 cells was significantly lower in keratinocyte-specific RORα deficient mice than in the control. Additionally, Rorα-deficiency reduced imiquimod-induced activation of nuclear factor-κB and STAT3 in keratinocytes. Therefore, we expect that RORα inhibitors act on immune cells and keratinocytes to suppress the onset and progression of psoriasis.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
• /
• v.8 no.10
• /
• pp.471-479
• /
• 2018

This paper on the socioeconomic role of One Dollar Campaign project initiated by Rwanda Diaspora in the reconstruction of the country after 1994 genocide against Tutsi tends to show how Rwanda Diaspora contributes to the socioeconomic development of their home country. The 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda has destroyed the country and the Rwandan society; and rebuilding the trust, unity, hope and socioeconomic status of genocide survivors in particular and of all Rwandans in general had to engage all Rwandans wherever they were. The focus of this paper is to assess the change on socioeconomic status of the beneficiaries of the one dollar campaign project initiated by Rwanda Diaspora which aimed to help genocide survivor orphans to have a shelter. The results showed that the amount of money contributed by Rwanda Diaspora for this project is of paramount importance as it exerts a positive impact on genocide orphan survivors' daily life, change of their socioeconomic status and to the country's development in general.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.6.1-6.20
• /
• 2020

IL-17 is produced by RAR-related orphan receptor gamma t (RORγt)-expressing cells including Th17 cells, subsets of γδT cells and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs). The biological significance of IL-17-producing cells is well-studied in contexts of inflammation, autoimmunity and host defense against infection. While most of available studies in tumor immunity mainly focused on the role of T-bet-expressing cells, including cytotoxic CD8⁺ T cells and NK cells, and their exhaustion status, the role of IL-17-producing cells remains poorly understood. While IL-17-producing T-cells were shown to be anti-tumorigenic in adoptive T-cell therapy settings, mice deficient in type 17 genes suggest a protumorigenic potential of IL-17-producing cells. This review discusses the features of IL-17-producing cells, of both lymphocytic and myeloid origins, as well as their suggested pro- and/or anti-tumorigenic functions in an organ-dependent context. Potential therapeutic approaches targeting these cells in the tumor microenvironment will also be discussed.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.21.1-21.10
• /
• 2020

TLRs are pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) whose cytoplasmic signalling domain is similar to that of IL-1. The extracellular domain of TLRs serve as the binding site of pathogen associated molecular patterns. TLRs are found on both plasma and endosomal membranes and they mainly exert their function by activating genes which lead to production of inflammatory factors. The latest TLR to be discovered, TLR10 is a unique TLR which exhibit anti-inflammatory properties. TLR10 is found on the plasma membrane with other TLRs namely TLR1, TLR2, TLR4, TLR5 and TLR6. Studies have revealed that TLR10 is found on the same gene cluster with TLR1 and TLR6 and is also a coreceptor of TLR2. Up to date, TLR10 is the only TLR which exhibit anti-inflammatory property. Previously, TLR10 was thought to be an "orphan receptor" but much recent studies have identified ligands for TLR10. Currently there is no review article on TLR10 that has been published. In this narrative review, we are going to give an account of TLR10, its functions mainly as an anti-inflammatory PRR and its possible applications as a target in therapeutics.