• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.67-90
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• 2014

Today, the company is trying to improve for business performance through the optimization of corporate resources. Most companies set up new strategy for obtaining competitive advantage for survival in rapid changes of the global business environment. IT has an important role to reduce cost and to increases business performance such as increasing sales, improving business skills and corporate image, etc. in the corporate environment. The development and use of IT resource is recognized as essential in connection with the business strategy. Most companies tried to establish the strategic use of information systems to gain competitive advantage. IT resource management is not clear in a tangible result of the business. The purpose of this study is to find out the relationship between IT competency and organizational performance through the mediating effect of strategic use of IS. IT competency consists of IT human resource, IT infrastructure, and IT vendor management. In direct relationship between three IT competence factors and organizational performance, the results of multiple regression analysis showed that IT human resource and IT vendor management are important determinants to influence organizational performance. The additional analysis for mediating effect of strategic use of IS showed that it has mediated the relationship between IT competency factors and organizational performance. This results give us an implication, not only the importance of IT competency development, but also the importance of strategic alignment of strategic use of IS with business strategy.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.616-624
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• 2022

Mebendazole (MBZ), a microtubule depolymerizing drug commonly used for the treatment of helminthic infections, has been suggested as a repositioning candidate for the treatment of brain tumors. However, the efficacy of MBZ needs further study to improve the beneficial effect on the survival of those patients. In this study, we explored a novel strategy to improve MBZ efficacy using a drug combination. When glioblastoma cells were treated with MBZ, cell proliferation was dose-dependently inhibited with an IC₅₀ of less than 1 µM. MBZ treatment also inhibited glioblastoma cell migration with an IC₅₀ of less than 3 µM in the Boyden chamber migration assay. MBZ induced G2-M cell cycle arrest in U87 and U373 cells within 24 h. Then, at 72 h of treatment, it mainly caused cell death in U87 cells with an increased sub-G1 fraction, whereas polyploidy was seen in U373 cells. However, MBZ treatment did not affect ERK1/2 activation stimulated by growth factors. The marked induction of autophagy by MBZ was observed, without any increased expression of autophagy-related genes ATG5/7 and Beclin 1. Co-treatment with MBZ and the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ) markedly enhanced the anti-proliferative effects of MBZ in the cells. Triple combination treatment with temozolomide (TMZ) (another autophagy inducer) further enhanced the anti-proliferative effect of MBZ and CQ. The combination of MBZ and CQ also showed an enhanced effect in TMZ-resistant glioblastoma cells. Therefore, we suggest that the modulation of protective autophagy could be an efficient strategy for enhancing the anti-tumor efficacy of MBZ in glioblastoma cells.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.47.1-47.16
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• 2023

Scrub typhus, a mite-borne infectious disease, is caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. Despite many attempts to develop a protective strategy, an effective preventive vaccine has not been developed. The identification of appropriate Ags that cover diverse antigenic strains and provide long-lasting immunity is a fundamental challenge in the development of a scrub typhus vaccine. We investigated whether this limitation could be overcome by harnessing the nanoparticle-forming polysorbitol transporter (PST) for an O. tsutsugamushi vaccine strategy. Two target proteins, 56-kDa type-specific Ag (TSA56) and surface cell Ag A (ScaA) were used as vaccine candidates. PST formed stable nano-size complexes with TSA56 (TSA56-PST) and ScaA (ScaA-PST); neither exhibited cytotoxicity. The formation of Ag-specific IgG2a, IgG2b, and IgA in mice was enhanced by intranasal vaccination with TSA56-PST or ScaA-PST. The vaccines containing PST induced Ag-specific proliferation of CD8⁺ and CD4⁺ T cells. Furthermore, the vaccines containing PST improved the mouse survival against O. tsutsugamushi infection. Collectively, the present study indicated that PST could enhance both Ag-specific humoral immunity and T cell response, which are essential to effectively confer protective immunity against O. tsutsugamushi infection. These findings suggest that PST has potential for use in an intranasal vaccination strategy.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.29-43
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• 2019

This paper empirically analyzed the relationship between the characteristics of venture business founders and management performance, setting the management strategy as a parameter to provide a suggestion for the survival and development of venture companies that play an important role in the national economy and job creation. Previous studies in Korea have analyzed the relationship between the characteristics of business founders, management strategies and management performance in a single dimension. This paper, however, explained the business performance of a company from a multi-dimensional perspective while setting the characteristics of business founders as independent variables and setting the business strategy of the enterprise as a parameter. The first result of the analysis shows that the characteristics of venture business founders have a positive effect on business performance. In particular, among the characteristics of venture business founders, a progressive spirit has had the greatest impact on business performance. On the other hand, the influence of risk sensitivity was very weak. Second, the characteristics of venture business founders were found to have a positive effect on business strategy. In particular, innovation was an important variable that affected the technological innovation differentiation strategy, and a progressive spirit was the most influential factor in the marketing differentiation strategy. Third, management strategies of venture firms were found to have a positive effect on business performance. In particular, the technology innovation differentiation strategy has a greater impact on business performance than the marketing differentiation strategy. Fourth, it was revealed that management strategy partially has a mediated effect on the relationship between the characteristics of venture business founders and management performance. In other words, it was found that the characteristics of the founders have a direct impact on business performance but if it is linked to management strategy it has an indirect effect on business performance. The results of this study show that business performance improves when venture business founders' personal characteristics and the firms' management strategy are combined.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3941-3944
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• 2013

Background: The use of preoperative chemoirradiation is the commonest treatment strategy employed in Malaysia for locally advanced rectal cancer. We need to determine the local control and survival rates for comparison with established rates in the literature. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study analyzed all newly diagnosed patients with rectal adenocarcinoma who underwent long course preoperative radiotherapy (RT) at the Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) between $1^{st}$ January 2004 and $31^{st}$ December 2010. The aim of the study was to determine the radiological response post radiotherapy, pathological response including circumferential resection margin (CRM) status, 3 years local control, 3 years overall survival (OS) and 3 years disease free survival (DFS). Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS software. Kaplan-Meier and log rank analysis were used to determine survival outcomes. Results: A total of 507 patients with rectal cancer underwent RT at HKL. Sixty seven who underwent long course preoperative RT were eligible for this study. The median age at diagnosis was 60 years old with a range of 26-78 years. The median tumour location was 6 cm from the anal verge. Most patients had suspicion of mesorectum involvement (95.5%) while 28.4% of patients had enlarged pelvic nodes on staging CT scan. All patients underwent preoperative chemo-irradiation except for five who had preoperative RT alone. Only 38 patients underwent definitive surgery (56.7%). Five patients were deemed to be inoperable radiologically and 3 patients were found to have unresectable disease intraoperatively. The remaining 21 patients defaulted surgery (31.3%). The median time from completion of RT to surgery was 8 weeks (range 5.6 to 29.4 weeks). Fifteen patients (39.5%) had surgery more than 8 weeks after completion of RT. Complete pathological response was noted in 4 patients (10.5%). The pathological CRM positive rate after RT was 18.4%. With a median follow-up of 38.8 months, the 3 year local control rate was 67%. The 3 years rate for CRM positive (<2 mm), CRM clear (>2 mm) and pCR groups were 0%, 88.1% and 100% respectively (p-value of 0.007). The 3 year OS and DFS were 57.3% and 44.8% respectively. Conclusions: In conclusion, the approach of long course preoperative chemoirradiation for rectal cancer needs to be re-examined in our local setting. The high rate of local recurrence is worrying and is mainly due to patient defaulting post-preoperative chemoirradiation or delayed definitive surgery.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1803-1811
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• 2015

Hepatoma-derived growth factor (HDGF) is a novel jack-of-all-trades in cancer. Here we quantify the prognostic impact of this biomarker and assess how consistent is its expression in solid tumors. A comprehensive search strategy was used to search relevant literature updated on October 3, 2014 in PubMed, EMBASE and WEB of Science. Correlations between HDGF expression and clinicopathological features or cancer prognosis was analyzed. All pooled HRs or ORs were derived from random-effects models. Twenty-six studies, primarily in Eastern Asia, covering 2,803 patients were included in the analysis, all of them published during the past decade. We found that HDGF overexpression was significantly associated with overall survival (OS) ($HR_{OS}=2.35$, 95%CI=2.04-2.71, p<0.001) and disease free survival (DFS) ($HR_{DFS}=2.25$, 95%CI =1.81-2.79, p<0.001) in solid tumors, especially in non-small cell lung cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Moreover, multivariate survival analysis showed that HDGF overexpression was an independent predictor of poor prognosis ($HR_{OS}=2.41$, 95%CI: 2.02-2.81, p<0.001; $HR_{DFS}=2.39$, 95%CI: 1.77-3.24, p<0.001). In addition, HDGF overexpression was significantly associated with tumor category (T3-4 versus T1-2, OR=2.12, 95%CI: 1.17-3.83, p=0.013) and lymph node status (N+ versus N-, OR=2.37, 95%CI: 1.31-4.29, p=0.03) in CCA. This study provides a comprehensive examination of the literature available on the association of HDGF overexpression with OS, DFS and some clinicopathological features in solid tumors. Meta-analysis results provide evidence that HDGF may be a new indicator of poor cancer prognosis. Considering the limitations of the eligible studies, other large-scale prospective trials must be conducted to clarify the prognostic value of HDGF in predicting cancer survival.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.205-211
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• 1989

From July 1984 to September 1988, 27 patients with limited stage small cell lung cancer were treated with combined modality (combination chemotherapy Plus radiotherapy) at the Department of Therapeutic Radiology in Kyungpook National University Hospital. Of the 27 patients, 19$(70\%)$ achieved a complete response, 6$(22\%)$ a partial response, and 2$(8\%)$ no response. Female, performance status HO, serum enolase level below 30ng/ml, radiation dose over 4500 cGy, and 4 or more cycles of chemotherapy had a favorable effect on the rates of complete response, although there were no statistical differences according to the variables. Median survival time was 10 months and overall 1- and 2-year survival rates were $40,7\%$ and $12.2\%$, respectively. Complete response (p<0.05), performance status HO (p<0.05), 4 or more cycles of chemotherapy (p<0.05), and radiation dose over 4500 cGy had a significantly favorable effect on 2-year survival rate. Prophylactic cranial irradiation or sex had no effect on survival. The results of this study suggest that radiation treatment should be combined with combination chemotherapy in the therapeutic strategy of SCLC of limited stage.

• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.134-143
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• 2024

Backgrounds/Aims: The hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) is classified as the advanced stage (BCLC stage C) with extremely poor prognosis, and in current guidelines is recommended for systemic therapy. This study aimed to evaluate the surgical outcomes and long-term prognosis after hepatic resection (HR) for patients who have HCC combined with PVTT. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 332 patients who underwent HR for HCC with PVTT at ten tertiary referral hospitals in South Korea. Results: The median overall and recurrence-free survival after HR were 32.4 and 8.6 months, while the 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates were 75%, 48%, and 39%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, tumor number, tumor size, AFP, PIVKA-II, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade were significant prognostic factors. The risk scoring was developed using these seven factors-tumor, inflammation and hepatic function (TIF), to predict patient prognosis. The prognosis of the patients was well stratified according to the scores (log-rank test, p < 0.001). Conclusions: HR for patients who have HCC combined with PVTT provided favorable survival outcomes. The risk scoring was useful in predicting prognosis, and determining the appropriate treatment strategy for those patients who have HCC with PVTT.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.17
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• pp.315-333
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• 2005

The Internet has been identified as the worlds fastest growing marketplace with seemingly limitless opportunities for marketing products and services. Logistics service quality is considered an essential strategy for success and survival in today's internet environment. Logistics excellence has become a powerful source of competitive differentiation within diverse marketing offerings of internet firms. The quality of logistics service performance is a key marketing component that helps create customer satisfaction. As the business environment has changed, the operations based definition of logistics service have evolved. The objective of this study is to examine the logistics service quality in internet shopping mall and the impact of logistics service quality on customer satisfaction. The quality factors of logistics service in this study are consist of five quality factor. The survey result is drive from a man experienced in used internet shopping mall. The finding suggest that logistics service quality of five factor had a positive effort on customer satisfaction. Specifically, timeliness had the most consistent positive effort on customer satisfaction.

• 한국디지털정책학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.287-308
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• 2005

The purpose of this paper is to review the trend and roadmap of standardization for e-Trade. As a survival strategy in this rapidly changing global competition environment, domestic and global e-Trade network should be harmonized and interconnected, which requires multilateral or regional cooperation to set relevant inter-operable infrastructure. For this, standardization for e-Trade message and communication is critical success factor. Korea has been an early adopter of international e-Trade standards like UN/EDIFACT and ebXML. Based on the overall knowledge and experiences of e-Trade projects, Korea can take initiatives in the creation of global e-Trade through the harmonization and interconnection of other countries.