• Journal of Rheumatic Diseases
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.227-235
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• 2017

Objective. Failure of first-line anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents in in rheumatoid arthritis patients leads to decisions among second-line biologic agents. To better inform these decisions, the therapeutic effectiveness of rituximab is compared with other second-line biologic agents in this observational study. Methods. Between November 2011 and December 2014, study subjects were observed for 12 month periods. Patients with an inadequate response to initial anti-TNF agent received either rituximab or alternative anti-TNF agents (adalimumab/etanercept/infliximab) based on the preference of patients and physicians. The efficacy end point of this study was the change in 28-joint count Disease Activity Score (DAS28) at six and 12 months from baseline. Safety data were also collected. Results. Ninety patients were enrolled in the study. DAS28 at six months did not change significantly whether the patients were treated with rituximab or alternative anti-TNF agents in intention-to-treat analysis (n=34, $-1.63{\pm}0.30$ vs. n=31, $-2.05{\pm}0.34$) and standard population set analysis (n=31, $-1.51{\pm}0.29$ vs. n=24, $-2.21{\pm}0.34$). Similarly, the change in DAS28 at 12 months did not reach statistical significance ($-1.82{\pm}0.35$ in the rituximab vs. $-2.34{\pm}0.44$ in the alternative anti-TNF agents, p=0.2390). Furthermore, the incidences of adverse events were similar between two groups (23.5% for rituximab group vs. 25.8% for alternative anti-TNF agents group, p=0.7851). Conclusion. Despite the limitations of our study, switching to rituximab or alternative anti-TNF agents after failure of the initial TNF antagonist showed no significant therapeutic difference in DAS28 reduction.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.41-45
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• 2021

In this study, in order to secure the high reliability of the memristor, we adopted a patterned lithium filament seed layer as the main agent for resistive switching (RS) characteristic on the 30 nm thick ZrO₂ thin film at the device manufacturing stage. Lithium filament seed layer with a thickness of 5 nm and an area of 5 ㎛ × 5 ㎛ were formed on the ZrO₂ thin film, and various electrode areas were applied to investigate the effect of capacitance on filament type memristive behavior in the parallel memristive circuit of memristor and capacitor. The RS characteristics were measured in the samples before and after 250℃ post-annealing for lithium metal diffusion. In the case of conductive filaments formed by thermal diffusion (post-annealed sample), it was not available to control the filament by applying voltage, and the other hand, the as-deposited sample showed the reversible RS characteristics by the formation and rupture of filaments. Finally, via the comparison of the RS characteristics according to the electrode area, it was confirmed that capacitance is an important factor for the formation and rupture of filaments.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartC
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• v.9C no.2
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• pp.227-234
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• 2002

MPLS which integrates routing of layer 3 and switching of layer 2, enables support for fast forwarding, traffic engineering and virtual private network services. GSMP is open interface protocol between a label switch and a controller, and it provides connection, configuration, event, performance management and synchronization. In the GSMP open interface, the functions of network management can be located either in the controller or in the label switch. To simplify the label switch and enhance the efficiency of resources, we adopt the network management model, in which the SNMP agent is located in the controller and is interworked with the GSMP. We presented the interworking scenrios between the GSMP and the network management of MPLS. We implemented the controller to verify the realization of our adopted network management model, and measured the connection setup delay of the provisioned connection.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.294-300
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• 2010

With the development of media technology, UCC actively working through the medium of the Net, the Internet space, which can influence politics instead of TV is drawing attention as the new leading media. As the one-sided media influence of TV is dwindling in the times of the Internet, the hegemony of the media is rapidly changing into UCC marked by two-way interaction. Especially, UCC has the characteristic that it has changed the people performing a role as the receptor of the media into the agent of enormous political influence as well as the freshness specific to its contents. This study was intended to investigate the types of diverse political influences of UCC in political practice as well as daily politics with a focus on the fact that it can newly project the world led by the media and their changes and exercise strong power in changing the society. Therefore, it attempted to investigate the political influence and ripple effect that UCC can exert by attempting to analyze what political influence UCC can exercise at diverse political situations including election. As a result, UCC led to four situations such as incentive-exploding type, issue-leading type, dispersion-switching type, direction-obeying type. This can be said to lead to the positive effect at the political field, such as implementing direct democracy through digital technology.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.29-41
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• 2012

This paper undertakes a conceptual review of transaction cost to broaden the understanding of the transaction cost analysis (TCA) approach. More than 40 years have passed since Coase's fundamental insight that transaction, coordination, and contracting costs must be considered explicitly in explaining the extent of vertical integration. Coase (1937) forced economists to identify previously neglected constraints on the trading process to foster efficient intrafirm, rather than interfirm, transactions. The transaction cost approach to economic organization study regards transactions as the basic units of analysis and holds that understanding transaction cost economy is central to organizational study. The approach applies to determining efficient boundaries, as between firms and markets, and to internal transaction organization, including employment relations design. TCA, developed principally by Oliver Williamson (1975,1979,1981a) blends institutional economics, organizational theory, and contract law. Further progress in transaction costs research awaits the identification of critical dimensions in which transaction costs differ and an examination of the economizing properties of alternative institutional modes for organizing transactions. The crucial investment distinction is: To what degree are transaction-specific (non-marketable) expenses incurred? Unspecialized items pose few hazards, since buyers can turn toalternative sources, and suppliers can sell output intended for one order to other buyers. Non-marketability problems arise when specific parties' identities have important cost-bearing consequences. Transactions of this kind are labeled idiosyncratic. The summarized results of the review are as follows. First, firms' distribution decisions often prompt examination of the make-or-buy question: Should a marketing activity be performed within the organization by company employees or contracted to an external agent? Second, manufacturers introducing an industrial product to a foreign market face a difficult decision. Should the product be marketed primarily by captive agents (the company sales force and distribution division) or independent intermediaries (outside sales agents and distribution)? Third, the authors develop a theoretical extension to the basic transaction cost model by combining insights from various theories with the TCA approach. Fourth, other such extensions are likely required for the general model to be applied to different channel situations. It is naive to assume the basic model appliesacross markedly different channel contexts without modifications and extensions. Although this study contributes to scholastic research, it is limited by several factors. First, the theoretical perspective of TCA has attracted considerable recent interest in the area of marketing channels. The analysis aims to match the properties of efficient governance structures with the attributes of the transaction. Second, empirical evidence about TCA's basic propositions is sketchy. Apart from Anderson's (1985) study of the vertical integration of the selling function and John's (1984) study of opportunism by franchised dealers, virtually no marketing studies involving the constructs implicated in the analysis have been reported. We hope, therefore, that further research will clarify distinctions between the different aspects of specific assets. Another important line of future research is the integration of efficiency-oriented TCA with organizational approaches that emphasize specific assets' conceptual definition and industry structure. Finally, research of transaction costs, uncertainty, opportunism, and switching costs is critical to future study.