• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.45-53
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• 2012

This study is about the impact of a technology-based start-ups' patent-related activities on early stage company performance. Technology-based start-ups are closely related to the intellectual property rights, particularly patents that they aim the pursuit of new products or production methods and pioneer the introduction of market based on innovative technology, and that is a key role in such companies established and operating, hence the research of patent-related activities in technology-based start-ups has important implications. In most previous studies, the impact of the company's patent related activities on the performance of corporate management is determined by using quantitative patent indicators. Therefore, through this study, causal relationships leading to business performance through the development of new products, which includes technology performance and product performance, and the patent-related activities including the company's patented technology support activities, creating the right activities, infringement response activities, base activities validated as follows. First, the patent-related activities have a positive impact on technological and products achievements. In other words, the various activities involved in the acquisition and utilization of the patent have a positive impact on the performance of company's new product development, particularly developing new technologies or patent acquisition rate. Second, the technology have a positive impact on the performance of the products, not on the business performance. However, the empirical results shows that it has indirectly impacts on business performance through the product performance. Third, product performance have a positive impact on business performance. In conclusion, patent-related activities affects the performance of the company's management, and the maintenance of the company's business performance depends on the developing and selling product based on the customers needs, besides the technology performance such as the patents and the development of technology.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 1996

Intracellular calcium concentration ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) may play a crucial role in a variety of neuronal functions. Here we report that in primary culture of mouse cerebellar granule cells nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are expressed in a specific developmental stage and involved in the regulation of intracellular calcium homeostasis. Nicotine-mediated calcium responses were measured using $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ or fluorometrically using the calcium-sensitive fluorescent dye fura-2. Maximal uptake of $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ evoked by nicotine in mouse cerebellar granule cells were revealed $8{\sim}12$ days in culture. In contrast, nicotine did not alter the basal $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ uptake in cultured glial cells. In cerebellar granule cells nicotine-evoked $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ uptake was largely blocked by the NMDA receptor antagonists. Glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT). which removes endogenous glutamate, also prevented nicotine effects, implying the indirect involvement of glutamate in nicotine-mediated calcium responses. Fluorometric studies using fura-2 showed two phases of nicotine-evoked $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ rises: the initial rising phase and the later plateau phase. Interestingly, the NMDA receptor antagonists and GPT appeared to inhibit only the later plateau phase of nicotine-evoked $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ rises. The present results imply that nicotine mediated $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ uptake and $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ rises are attributed to the calcium fluxes through both nAchRs and NMDA receptors in a time-dependent manner. Consequently, nAChRs may play an important role in neuronal development by being expressed in a specific developmental stage and regulating the intracellular calcium homeostasis.