• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.642-649
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• 1999

Background: It is very important to determine an accurate staging of the non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) for an assessment of operability and it's prognosis. However, it is difficult to evaluate tumor involvement of mediastinal lymph nodes accurately utilizing noninvasive imaging modalities. PET is one of the sensitive and specific imaging modality. Unfortunately PET is limited use because of prohibitive cost involved with it's operation. Recently hybrid SPECT/PET(single photon emission computed tomography/positron emission tomography) camera based PET imaging was introduced with relatively low cost. We evaluated the usefulness of coincidence detection(CoDe) PET in the detection of metastasis to the mediastinal lymph nodes in patients with NSCLC. Methods: Twenty one patients with NSCLC were evaluated by CT or MRI and they were considered operable. CoDe PET was performed in all 21 patients prior to surgery. Tomographic slices of axial, coronal and sagittal planes were visually analysed. At surgery, mediastinal lymph nodes were removed and histological diagnosis was performed. CoDe PET findings were correlated with histological findings. Results: Twenty of 21 primary tumor masses were detected by the CoDe PET. Thirteen of 21 patients was correctly diagnosed mediastinal lymph node metastasis by the CoDe PET. Pathological N0 was 14 cases and the specificity of N0 of CoDe PET was 64.3%. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of N1 node was 83.3%, 73.3%, 55.6%, 91.7%, and 76.2% respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of N2 node was 60.0%, 87.5%, 60.0%,87.5%, and 90.0% respectively. There were 3 false negative cases but the size of the 3 nodes were less than 1cm. The size of true positive nodes were 1.1cm, 1.0cm, 0.5cm respectively. There were 1 false positive among the 12 lymph nodes which were larger than 1cm. False positive cases consisted of 1 tuberculosis case, 1 pneumoconiosis case and 1 anthracosis case. Conclusion: CoDe PET has relatively high negative predictive value in the enlarged lymph node in staging of mediastinal nodes in patients with NSCLC. Therefore CoDe PET is useful in ruling out metastasis of enlarged N3 nodes. However, further study is needed including more number of patients in the future.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.139-166
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• 2010

The supply chain management (SCM) systems have emerged as strong managerial tools for manufacturing firms in enhancing competitive strength. Despite of large investments in the SCM systems, many companies are not fully realizing the promised benefits from the systems. A review of literature on adoption, implementation and success factor of IOS (inter-organization systems), EDI (electronic data interchange) systems, shows that this issue has been examined from multiple theoretic perspectives. And many researchers have attempted to identify the factors which influence the success of system implementation. However, the existing studies have two drawbacks in revealing the determinants of systems implementation success. First, previous researches raise questions as to the appropriateness of research subjects selected. Most SCM systems are operating in the form of private industrial networks, where the participants of the systems consist of two distinct groups: focus companies and vendors. The focus companies are the primary actors in developing and operating the systems, while vendors are passive participants which are connected to the system in order to supply raw materials and parts to the focus companies. Under the circumstance, there are three ways in selecting the research subjects; focus companies only, vendors only, or two parties grouped together. It is hard to find researches that use the focus companies exclusively as the subjects probably due to the insufficient sample size for statistic analysis. Most researches have been conducted using the data collected from both groups. We argue that the SCM success factors cannot be correctly indentified in this case. The focus companies and the vendors are in different positions in many areas regarding the system implementation: firm size, managerial resources, bargaining power, organizational maturity, and etc. There are no obvious reasons to believe that the success factors of the two groups are identical. Grouping the two groups also raises questions on measuring the system success. The benefits from utilizing the systems may not be commonly distributed to the two groups. One group's benefits might be realized at the expenses of the other group considering the situation where vendors participating in SCM systems are under continuous pressures from the focus companies with respect to prices, quality, and delivery time. Therefore, by combining the system outcomes of both groups we cannot measure the system benefits obtained by each group correctly. Second, the measures of system success adopted in the previous researches have shortcoming in measuring the SCM success. User satisfaction, system utilization, and user attitudes toward the systems are most commonly used success measures in the existing studies. These measures have been developed as proxy variables in the studies of decision support systems (DSS) where the contribution of the systems to the organization performance is very difficult to measure. Unlike the DSS, the SCM systems have more specific goals, such as cost saving, inventory reduction, quality improvement, rapid time, and higher customer service. We maintain that more specific measures can be developed instead of proxy variables in order to measure the system benefits correctly. The purpose of this study is to find the determinants of SCM systems success in the perspective of vendor companies. In developing the research model, we have focused on selecting the success factors appropriate for the vendors through reviewing past researches and on developing more accurate success measures. The variables can be classified into following: technological, organizational, and environmental factors on the basis of TOE (Technology-Organization-Environment) framework. The model consists of three independent variables (competition intensity, top management support, and information system maturity), one mediating variable (collaboration), one moderating variable (government support), and a dependent variable (system success). The systems success measures have been developed to reflect the operational benefits of the SCM systems; improvement in planning and analysis capabilities, faster throughput, cost reduction, task integration, and improved product and customer service. The model has been validated using the survey data collected from 122 vendors participating in the SCM systems in Korea. To test for mediation, one should estimate the hierarchical regression analysis on the collaboration. And moderating effect analysis should estimate the moderated multiple regression, examines the effect of the government support. The result shows that information system maturity and top management support are the most important determinants of SCM system success. Supply chain technologies that standardize data formats and enhance information sharing may be adopted by supply chain leader organization because of the influence of focal company in the private industrial networks in order to streamline transactions and improve inter-organization communication. Specially, the need to develop and sustain an information system maturity will provide the focus and purpose to successfully overcome information system obstacles and resistance to innovation diffusion within the supply chain network organization. The support of top management will help focus efforts toward the realization of inter-organizational benefits and lend credibility to functional managers responsible for its implementation. The active involvement, vision, and direction of high level executives provide the impetus needed to sustain the implementation of SCM. The quality of collaboration relationships also is positively related to outcome variable. Collaboration variable is found to have a mediation effect between on influencing factors and implementation success. Higher levels of inter-organizational collaboration behaviors such as shared planning and flexibility in coordinating activities were found to be strongly linked to the vendors trust in the supply chain network. Government support moderates the effect of the IS maturity, competitive intensity, top management support on collaboration and implementation success of SCM. In general, the vendor companies face substantially greater risks in SCM implementation than the larger companies do because of severe constraints on financial and human resources and limited education on SCM systems. Besides resources, Vendors generally lack computer experience and do not have sufficient internal SCM expertise. For these reasons, government supports may establish requirements for firms doing business with the government or provide incentives to adopt, implementation SCM or practices. Government support provides significant improvements in implementation success of SCM when IS maturity, competitive intensity, top management support and collaboration are low. The environmental characteristic of competition intensity has no direct effect on vendor perspective of SCM system success. But, vendors facing above average competition intensity will have a greater need for changing technology. This suggests that companies trying to implement SCM systems should set up compatible supply chain networks and a high-quality collaboration relationship for implementation and performance.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.449-458
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• 2003

Background : The poor prognostic factors of far-advanced pulmonary tuberculosis(FAPTB) are lymphocytopenia in the peripheral blood(PB)(< $1,000/mm^3$) and $T_4$-cell count ${\leq}500/mm^3$. However, the cause of PB lymphocytopenia in FAPTB is unclear. The aim of this study was to analyze the lymphocyte proportion and cytokines of the bone marrow(BM) in FAPTB patients with peripheral lymphocytopenia in order to clarify whether the limiting step of the lymphocytopenia occurs in production, differentiation, or circulation. Methods : This study included patients with FAPTB between August 1999 and August 2002 who visited Gachon Medical School Gil Medical Center. The exclusion criteria were old age(${\geq}65years$), cachexia or a low body weight, shock, hematologic diseases, or BM involvement of tuberculosis. The distributions of cells in PB and BM were analyzed and compared to the control group. The interleukin(IL)-2, IL-7, IL-10, TNF-${\alpha}$, Interferon-${\gamma}$, and TGF-${\beta}$ levels in the BM were measured by ELISA. Result : Thirteen patients(male : female=9:4) were included and the mean age was $42{\pm}12$years. The proportion and count of the lymphocytes in the PB were significantly lower in the FAPTB group ($7.4{\pm}3.0%$, $694{\pm}255/mm^3$ vs. $17.5{\pm}5.8%$, $1,377{\pm}436/mm^3$, each p=0.0001 and 0.002). The proportion of immature lymphocyte in the BM showed a decreasing trend in the FAPTB group($9{\pm}4%$ vs. $12{\pm}3%$, p=0.138). The IL-2($26.0{\pm}29.1$ vs. $112.2{\pm}42.4pg/mL$, p=0.001) and IL-10($3.4{\pm}4.7$ vs. $12.0{\pm}8.0pg/mL$, p=0.031) levels in the BM were significantly lower in the FAPTB group than those in control. The levels of the other cytokines in FAPTB group and control were similar. Conclusion : These results suggest that the cause of lymphocytopenia in PB is associated with a abnormality IL-2 and IL-10 production in the BM. More study will be needed to define the mechanism of a decreased reservoir in BM.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.232-240
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• 1997

Background : Postprimary pulmonary tuberculosis is located mainly in upper lobes. The tuberculous lesion involving the lower lobes usually arises from the upper lobe cavity through endobronchial spread. When tuberculosis is confined to the lower lung field, it often masquerades as pneumonia, lung cancer, bronchiectasis, or lung abscess. Thus the correct diagnosis may be sometimes delayed for a long time. Methods : We carried out, retrospectively, a clinical study on 50 patients confirmed with lower lung field tuberculosis who visited the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at Hanyang University Hospital from January 1992 to December 1994. The following results were obtained. Results : Lower lung field tuberculosis without concomitant upper lobe disease occurred in fifty patients representing 6.9% of the total admission with active pulmonary tuberculosis over a period of 3 years. It occurred most frequently in the third decade but age distribution was relatively even. The mean age was 43 years old. Female was more frequently affected than male (male to female ratio 1 : 1.9). The most common symptom was cough(68%), followed by sputum(52%), fever(38%), and chest discomfort(30%). On chest X-ray of the 50patients, consolidation was the most common finding in 52%, followed by solitary nodule(22%) collapse(16%), cavitary lesion(10%), in decreasing order. The disease confined to the right side in 25 cases, left side 20 cases, and both sides 5 cases. Endobronchial tuberculosis (1) Endobronchial involvement was proved by bronchoscopic examination in 20 of 50patients. (2) Mean age was 44years old and female was more affected than man (male to female ratio 1 : 3). Sputum AFB stain and Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture were positive only in 50% of cases unlikely upper lobe tuberculosis, additional diagnostic methods were needed. In our study, bronchoscopic examination and percutaneous fine needle aspiration biopsy increased diagnostic yield by 18% and 32%, respectively. The most common associated condition was diabetes mellitus(18%) and others were anemia, anorexia nervosa, stomach cancer, and systemic steroid usage. Conclusion : When we find a lower lung field lesion, we should suspect tuberculosis if the patient has diabetes mellitus, anemia, systemic steroid usage, malignancy or other immune suppressed states. Because diagnostic yield of sputum AFB smear & Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture was low, additional diagnostic methods such as bronchoscopy and fine needle aspiration biopsy were needed.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2010

Green or an environmental consciousness has been a major issue for businesses and government offices, as well as consumers, worldwide. In response to this movement, the Korean government announced, in the early 2000s, the era of "Green Growth" as a way to encourage green-related business activities. The Korean fashion industry, in various levels of involvement, presents diverse eco-friendly products as a part of the green movement. These apparel products include organic products and recycled clothing. For these companies to be successful, they need information about who are the consumers who consider green issues (e.g., environmental sustainability) as part of their personal values when making a decision for product purchase, use, and disposal. These consumers can be considered as eco-sumers. Previous studies have examined consumers' purchase intention for or with eco-friendly products. In addition, studies have examined influential factors used to identify the eco-sumers or green consumers. However, limited attention was paid to eco-sumers' disposal or recycling behavior of clothes in comparison with their green product purchases. Clothing disposal behaviors are ways that consumer can get rid of unused clothing and in clue temporarily lending the item or permanently eliminating the item by "handing down" (e.g., giving it to a younger sibling), donating, exchanging, selling, or simply throwing it away. Accordingly, examining purchasing behaviors of eco-friendly fashion items in conjunction with clothing disposal behaviors should improve understanding of a consumer's clothing consumption behavior from the environmental perspective. The purpose of this exploratory study is to provide descriptive information about Korean eco-sumers who have ecologically-favorable lifestyles and behaviors when buying and disposing of clothes. The objectives of this study are to (a) categorize Koreans on the basis of clothing disposal behaviors; (b) investigate the differences in demographics, lifestyles, and clothing consumption values among segments; and (c) compare the purchase intention of eco-friendly fashion items and influential factors among segments. A self-administered questionnaire was developed based on previous studies. The questionnaire included 10 items of clothing disposal behavior, 22 items of LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) characteristics, and 19 items of consumption values, measured by five-point Likert-type scales. In addition, the purchase intention of two eco-friendly fashion items and 11 attributes of each item were measured by seven-point Likert type scales. Two polyester fleece pullovers, made from fabric created from recycled bottles with the PET identification code, were selected from one Korean brand and one US imported brand among outdoor sportswear brands. A brief description of each product with a color picture was provided in the survey. Demographic variables (i.e., gender, age, marital status, education level, income, occupation) were also included. The data were collected through a professional web survey agency during May 2009. A total of 600 final usable questionnaires were analyzed. The age of respondents ranged from 20 to 49 years old with a mean age of 34 years. Fifty percent of the respondents were males and about 58% were married, and 62% reported having earned university degrees. Principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to identify the underlying dimensions of the clothing disposal behavior scale, and three factors were generated (i.e., reselling behavior, donating behavior, non-recycling behavior). To categorize the respondents on the basis of clothing disposal behaviors, k-mean cluster analysis was used, and three segments were obtained. These consumer segments were labeled as 'Resale Group', 'Donation Group', and 'Non-Recycling Group.' The classification results indicated approximately 98 percent of the original cases were correctly classified. With respect to demographic characteristics among the three segments, significant differences were found in gender, marital status, occupation, and age. LOHAS characteristics were reduced into the following five factors: self-satisfaction, family orientation, health concern, environmental concern, and voluntary service. Significant differences were found in the LOHAS factors among the three clusters. Resale Group and Donation Group showed a similar predisposition to LOHAS issues while the Non-Recycling Group presented the lowest mean scores on the LOHAS factors compared to the other segments. The Resale and Donation Groups described themselves as enjoying or being satisfied with their lives and spending spare-time with family. In addition, these two groups cared about health and organic foods, and tried to conserve energy and resources. Principal components factor analysis generated clothing consumption values into the following three factors: personal values, social value, and practical value. The ANOVA test with the factors showed differences primarily between the Resale Group and the other two groups. The Resale Group was more concerned about personal value and social value than the other segments. In contrast, the Non-Recycling Group presented the higher level of social value than did Donation Group. In a comparison of the intention to purchase eco-friendly products, the Resale Group showed the highest mean score on intent to purchase Product A. On the other hand, the Donation Group presented the highest intention to purchase for Product B among segments. In addition, the mean scores indicated that the Korean product (Product B) was more preferable for purchase than the U.S. product (Product A). Stepwise regression analysis was used to identify the influence of product attributes on the purchase intention of eco product. With respect to Product A, design, price and contribution to environmental preservation were significant to predict purchase intention for the Resale Group, while price and compatibility with my image factors were significant for the Donation Group. For the Non-Recycling Group, design, price compatibility with the factors of my image, participation to eco campaign, and contribution to environmental preservation were significant. Price appropriateness was significant for each of the three clusters. With respect to Product B, design, price and compatibility with my image factors were important, but different attributes were associated significantly with purchase intention for each of the three groups. The influence of LOHAS characteristics and clothing consumption values on intention to purchase Products A and B were also examined. The LOHAS factor of health concern and the personal value factor were significant in the relationships with the purchase intention; however, the explanatory powers were low in the three segments. Findings showed that each group as classified by clothing disposal behaviors showed differences in the attributes of a product, personal values, and the LOHAS characteristics that influenced their purchase intention of eco-friendly products. Findings would enable organizations to understand eco-friendly behavior and to design appropriate strategic decisions to appeal eco-sumers.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.534-546
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• 1997

Background : The p53 and retinoblastoma(Rb) tumor suppressor genes are associated with the pathogenesis of several types of human cancer. Substantial proportion of the primary lung cancers or cell lines have been reported to have the p53 and/or the Rb gene mutations. But, so far there is no report on the analysis of the Rb gene polymorphism as one of the genetic susceptibility marker. This study was undertaken to establish the gene frequencies of the polymorphic genotypes of the p53 and Rb genes in Koreans to evaluate the possible involvement of these genotypes as a risk factor of lung cancer. Methods : In this study 145 controls without previous and present tumor history and 128 lung cancer patients were subjected to analysis. The two intragenic polymorphisms of the p53 gene(exon 4/ AccII, intron 6/MspI) and one intron 17/XbaI polymorphism of the Rb gene were analysed by the method of polymersae chain reaction- restriction fragment length polymorphisms(PCR-RFLPs). The genotype of the intron 3/16 bp repeat polymorphism of p53 was determined by PCR and direct gel electrophoresis. Results : There were no significant differences in the genotype distributions of the p53 gene between lung cancer patients and controls. But heterozygotes(Arg/Pro) of the exon 4/AccII polymorphisms were slightly over-represented than controls, especially in the Kreyberg type I cancer, which was known to be associated with smoking. The intron 3/16 bp duplication and the intron 6/MspI polymorphisms were in complete linkage disequilibrium. About 95% of the individuals were homozygotes of the common alleles both in the 16 duplication and MspI polymorphisms, and no differences were deteced in the genotype distributions between lung cancer patients and controls. Overall genotype distributions of the Rb gene polymorphisms between lung cancer patients and controls were not significantly different However, the genotype distributions in the Kreyberg type I cancer were significantly different from those of controls(p = 0.0297) or adenocarcinomas(p = 0.0008). It was noticeable that 73.4% of the patients with adenocarcinomas were heterozygotes(r1/r2) whereas 39.2% of the Kreyberg type I cancer were heterozygous at this polymorphisms. In the lung cancer patients, significant differences were also noted between the high dose smokers and low dose smokers including non-smokers(p = 0.0258). The relative risk to Kreyberg type I cancer was significantly reduced in the individuals with the genotype of r1/r2(odds ratio = 0.46, 95% C.I. = 0.25-0.86, p = 0.0124). The combined genotype distribution of the exon 4 AccII of the p53 and the intron 17 Rb gene polymorphisms in Kreyberg type I cancers were significantly different from dose of controls or adenocarcinomas. The highest odds ratio were observed in the individuals with the genotypes of Arg/Pro and r2/r2(odds ratio = 1.97,95% C.I. = 0.84-4.59) and lowest one was in the patients with Arg/Arg, r1/r2 genotype(odds ratio = 0.54, 95% C.I. = 0.25-1.14). Conclusion : The p53 and the Rb gene polymorphisms modulate the risk of smoking induced lung cancer development in Koeans. However, the exact mechanism of risk modulation by these polymorphism remains to be determined. For more discrete clarification of associations between specific genotypes and lung cancer risk, the evaluations of these polymorphisms in other ethnics and more number of patients will be needed.