• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.47-58
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• 2015

Purpose - This study aims to seek determinants of department store sales commission rates under consignment contracts based on transaction cost theory, the power-dependence view, and the resource-based view. A consignment contract is a unique contract where the retailer, over a given period, takes possession of goods owned by a supplier, promotes the sales of these goods, and receives a profit share from their sales. Under this contract, the supplier owns the goods until they are sold. In department stores in South Korea, over 70% of overall sales comes through consignment contracts. In other words, this is the most popular contract agreement between large retailers and vendors in South Korea. Consignment contracts yield high profits to department stores with minimal sales uncertainty, stock cost, and marketing investment. Many suppliers believe the consignment contract commission rates are too high. However, department stores disagree. They state that the commissions are not high as they generate new value for the suppliers by accumulating up-to-date merchandise and supporting various marketing programs on their behalf. Recently, consignment contracts have been critically examined and scrutinized by politicians, mass media, and the public of Korea. This study further intends to derive implications reflecting both buyer and seller perspectives as well as offer insights to policy makers in making appropriate decisions. Research design, data, and methodology - To verify the proposed research model and test hypotheses, the authors selected 164 suppliers, which currently have relationships with department stores. This study carefully investigated the reliability, content validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the proposed model. The data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 and AMOS structural equation modeling program Results - For the transaction cost theory and the power-dependence view, the results indicated that product diversity and demand volatility had a positive impact on the sales dependence on a department store. Dependence in turn had a positive effect on the sales commission under the consignment contract. Based on the resource-based view, the department store's marketing capability, the supplier's perception toward merchandising, and supporting activities could enhance the department store's channel leadership in the buyer-seller relationship. Subsequently, the channel leadership had a positive effect on the sales commission. However, product complexity had no relationship with department store dependence. Conclusions - This is the first empirical research that investigates the determinants of sales commissions under consignment contracts in the domestic retail industry. This study reveals several theoretical and practical implications for both marketing scholars and marketers. In terms of theoretical implication, this study integrated and enlarged certain theoretical background, such as transaction cost theory, the power-dependence view, and the resource-based view, to explain the determinants of sales commissions under consignment contracts that include sales revenue. From a business management viewpoint, this research offers useful insights for policy makers by applying two different perspectives, both the manufacturer and the retailer, in terms of the sales commission issue under a consignment contract.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.218-229
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• 2020

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a hereditary disease that is also strongly dependent on environmental factors, lifestyles, and dietary habits. This study explored the relationship between lifestyle habits and glycosylated hemoglobin management in T2DM patients to provide empirical outcomes to improve T2DM management and patient health literacy. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This study enrolled 349 diabetic patients with more than 5 care visits to a Diabetes Mellitus care network under the Health Management Plan led by Taiwan Department of Health (DOH). Based on relevant literature, an Outpatient Record Form of Diabetes Mellitus Care was designed and lipid profile tests were conducted for data collection and analysis. RESULTS: When modeling the data, the results showed that the odds for HbA1c > 7.5% in T2DM patients duration over 10 years was 3.785 (P = 0.002) times that in patients with disease duration of fewer than 3 years. The odds of HbA1c > 7.5% in illiterate patients was 3.128 (P = 0.039) times that in patients with senior high school education or above. The odds of HbA1c > 7.5% in patients with other chronic illness was 2.207 (P = 0.019) times that in participants without chronic illness. Among 5 beneficial lifestyle habits, the odds of HbA1c > 7.5% in patients with 2 or 3 good habits were 3.243 (P = 0.003) and 3.424 (P = 0.001) times that in patients with more than 3 good habits, respectively. CONCLUSION: This empirical outcome shows that maintaining a good lifestyle improves T2DM management and patients' knowledge, motivation, and ability to use health information. Patients with longer disease duration, education, or good lifestyle habits had optimal HbA1c management than those in patients who did not. Thus, effective selfmanagement and precaution in daily life and improved health literacy of diabetic patients are necessary to increase the quality of T2DM care.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.279-291
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• 2015

Objective: The purpose of the study is to evaluate appropriate weight for aged farmers in manually handling livestock feed in bags using ergonomic methods. Background: In the livestock industry in South Korea, despite the trend of aging of labor manpower, heavy items are still manually handled in many farms. In particular, among stockbreeding works, the handling of feed in bags weighing 25~30kg is reported as a cause of frequent injuries and musculoskeletal system diseases. However, studies on the standard for recommended weight allowed considering the physical characteristics of aged farmers older than 60 years with greatly decreased physical strength and muscle strength are insufficient. Method: To evaluate appropriate weight for handling of heavy livestock feed in bags, physical techniques for measuring recognized levels of physical work loads, the NLE (NIOSH lifting equation) a method that is an observation type technique, and an ergonomic modeling technique to predict compressive force imposed on L5/S1 were used. Subjects who participated in the experiment were organized into two groups of males/females with mean age exceeding 60 years, and lifting tasks were evaluated for nine weight levels. Results: Based on the results of psychophysical measurement, females showed a tendency of more drastic increases compared to males when weight was over 19kg. The results of estimation of regression models for the weight, 18.0 kg ($r^2=0.97$) and 15.3kg ($r^2=0.97$) were evaluated as stable load for males and females, respectively. In addition, both the observation type evaluation and ergonomic model evaluation showed stable loads in a range of 15~18kg. Conclusion: Given the results of the study, the weight of the feed in bags currently distributed to farms can become a cause of not only overexertion but also farm work related disasters such as musculoskeletal disorders and safety accidents. Providing livestock feed in bags weighing not more than 19kg for aged farmers is judged desirable, and managerial improvement for this matter is considered necessary. Application: The results of the present study can be utilized as useful data for institutional improvement of the weight of livestock feed in bags.

• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.108-112
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• 2016

Molecular imaging with the radiolabeled RGD peptides for ${\alpha}_v{\beta}_3$ integrin has been an increasing interest for tumor diagnosis and the treatment monitoring. Recently, $^{64}Cu$-NODAGA-gluco-E[c(RGDfK)]$_2$ was developed for quantification of ${\alpha}_v{\beta}_3$ integrin and its biological properties was elucidated. To better understand the molecular process in vivo, we performed the kinetic analysis for the $^{64}Cu$-NODAGA-gluco-E[c(RGDfK)]$_2$. After preparation of a radiotracer, dynamic PET images were obtained in the U87MG xenograft mice for 60 min (n = 6). Binding potential values were estimated from the 3-tissue compartment model, reference Logan and simplified reference tissue model. In the early time frame (0-20 min), the liver, kidney, intestine, urinary bladder and tumor were visualized but these uptakes were diminished as time went by. The tumors showed a good contrast at 40 min after administration. $^{64}Cu$-NODAGA-gluco-E[c(RGDfK)]$_2$ showed the 2-fold uptake in the tumor compared with that in the muscle. The parametric maps for binding values also provide the higher tumor-to-background contrast than the static images. A binding value obtained from the 3-tissue compartment model was comparable to other modeling methods. From these results, we conclude that $^{64}Cu$-NODAGA-gluco-E[c(RGDfK)]$_2$ may be a promising PET radiotracer for the evaluation of angiogenesis.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.58-65
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• 2012

Background: A cell line with transfected Wilms' tumor protein 1 (WT1) is has been used for the preclinical evaluation of novel treatment strategies of WT1 immunotherapy for leukemia due to the lack of appropriate murine leukemia cell line with endogenous WT1. However, silencing of the transgene occurs. Regarding the effects of hypomethylating agents (HMAs) on reactivation of silenced genes, HMAs are considered to be immune enhancers. Methods: We treated murine WT1- transfected C1498 (mWT1-C1498) with increasing doses of decitabine (DAC) and azacitidine (AZA) to analyze their effects on transgene reactivation. Results: DAC and AZA decreased the number of viable cells in a dose- or time-dependent manner. Quantification of WT1 mRNA level was analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction after mWT1-C1498 treated with increasing dose of HMA. DAC treatment for 48 h induced 1.4-, 14.6-, and 15.5-fold increment of WT1 mRNA level, compared to untreated sample, at 0.1, 1, and $10{\mu}M$, respectively. Further increment of WT1 expression in the presence of 1 and $10{\mu}M$ DAC was evident at 72 h. AZA treatment also induced up-regulation of mRNA, but not to the same degree as with DAC treatment. The correlation between the incremental increases in WT1 mRNA by DAC was confirmed by Western blot and concomitant down-regulation of WT1 promoter methylation was revealed. Conclusion: The in vitro data show that HMA can induce reactivation of WT1 transgene and that DAC is more effective, at least in mWT1-C1498 cells, which suggests that the combination of DAC and mWT1-C1498 can be used for the development of the experimental model of HMA-combined WT1 immunotherapy targeting leukemia.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.6073-6080
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• 2015

Background: Melanoma differentiation-associated gene-7 (MDA-7)/interleukin-24 (IL-24), a unique tumor suppressor gene, has killing activity in a broad spectrum of cancer cells. Herein, plasmids producing mda-7 proteins fused to different RGD peptides (full RGD4C and shortened RGD, tRGD) were evaluated for apoptosis induction with a hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, Hep-G2. The study aim was to improve the apoptosis potency of mda-7 by tethering to RGD peptides. Materials and Methods: Three plasmids including mda-7, mda-7-RGD and mda-7-tRGD genes beside a control vector were transfected into Hep-G2 cells. After 72 hours incubation, cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay. In addition, the rate of apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry using PI/annexin staining. To detect early events in apoptosis, 18 hours after transfection, expression of the BAX gene was quantified by real time PCR. Modeling of proteins was also performed to extrapolate possible consequences of RGD modification on their structures and subsequent attachment to receptors. Results and Conclusions: In MTT assays, while all mda-7 forms showed measurable inhibition of proliferation, unmodified mda-7 protein exhibited most significant effect compared to control plasmid (P<0.001). Again, flow cytometry analysis showed a significant apoptosis induction by simple mda-7 gene but not for those RGD-fused mda-7 proteins. These findings were also supported by expression analysis of BAX gene (P<0.001). Protein modelling analysis revealed that tethering RGD at the end of IL-24/Mda7 disrupt attachment to cognate receptor, IL-20R1/IL-20R2. In conclusion, fusion of RGD4C and shortened RGD peptides to carboxyl terminal of mda7, not only reduce apoptosis property in vitro but also disrupt receptor attachment as demonstrated by protein modelling.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.5775-5781
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• 2013

Background: The gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasm (GEP-NEN) is the most common type of neuroendocrine neoplasm. We summarized data in our centre to investigate the clinicopathological features, diagnostic methods, therapeutic approaches and prognosis for this neoplasm to increase knowledge of this disease in Asian populations. Method: A total of 122 patients treated at Sun Yet-san Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University between January 2000 and December 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. Results: Pancreas was the most common site of involvement (65/122, 53.3%); this disease has no special symptoms; positive rates of chromogranin A (CgA) and synaptophysin (Syn) were 81.1% and 87.7%, respectively. The positive rate of Syn had statistical difference among the three grades, but not CgA. Some 68 patients had G1 tumors, 32 G2 tumors and 22 G3 tumors, and Chi-square test showed that higher grading was correlated with worse prognosis (${\chi}^2=32.825$, P=0.0001). A total of 32 patients presented with distant metastasis, and 8 cases emerged during following up. Cox proportional hazards regression modeling showed that the tumor grade (P=0.01), lymphatic metastasis (P=0.025) and distant metastasis (P=0.031) were predictors of unfavorable prognosis. The overall 5-year survival rate was 39.6%, the 5-year survival rate of G1 was 55.7%, and the G2 and G3 were 34.2% and 0%, respectively. Conclusions: The incidence of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors has risen over the last 12 years. All grades of these diseases metastasize readily, and further research regarding the treatment of patients after radical surgery is needed to prolong disease-free survival.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1053-1056
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• 2013

Background: Leukemia and lymphoma demonstrate significantly incidence rates throughout the world and particularly in Iran they cause serious mortality and diagnosis and treatment expenditures for both families and the health system. Combined they account for about 11 percent of cancers in Mazandaran province, ranking number 2 in prevalent cancers. The purpose of this study was to provide a first general and specific description of leukemia and lymphoma in Mazandaran province. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive retrospective study, entire patient's data were reviewed which had confirmed diagnosis of leukemia and lymphoma with valid laboratory or pathology reports in the period 2001-2008. The data were collected by Babol health research site related to Tehran University of Medical Science. Incidence rates based on age groups, gender, city of residence and type of malignancy were calculated and analyzed. Results: In Mazandaran province, 1,146 cases of leukemia and lymphoma were encountered, 5.9 in 100,000 persons on average annually. The highest incidence rates were obtained at age of 70 or above (26.4) and the lowest at age of 0-9 (2.3).The incidence rates in males and females were 7.1 and 4.8 respectively with a ratio of 1.5. The highest incidence rate was in Babol (7.3) and the lowest was calculated in Neka and Tonekabon equally (1.5). According to the type of malignancy, non Hodgkin lymphoma, with 2.5/100,000 have the most incidence rate and myeloid leukemia with 1.8 had the lowest. Conclusions: The obtained findings indicate clear differences in incidence rates based on age, gender, residence, and type of malignancy. Therefore it's suggested that in addition to promote data collecting programs, research projects should be programmed to define leukemia and lymphoma risk factors in this province.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.6 no.12
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• pp.1-11
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• 2006

Many research demonstrations and commercial applications have been tried to develop face detection and recognition systems. Human face detection plays an important role in applications such as access control and video surveillance, human computer interface, identity authentication, etc. There are some special problems such as a face connected with background, faces connected via the skin color, and a face divided into several small parts after skin region segmentation in generally. It can be allowed many face detection techniques to solve the first and second problems. However, it is not easy to detect a face divided into several parts of regions for reason of different illumination conditions in the third problem. Therefore, we propose an efficient modified skin segmentation algorithm to solve this problem because the typical region segmentation algorithm can not be used to. Our algorithm detects skin regions over the entire image, and then generates face candidate regions using our skin segmentation algorithm For each face candidate, we implement the procedure of region merging for divided regions in order to make a region using adjacency between homogeneous regions. We utilize various different searching window sizes to detect different size faces and a face detection classifier based on a back-propagation algorithm in order to verify whether the searching window contains a face or not.

• Archives of design research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2001

Thanks to the inter-connection of information servers throughout the world based on the internet technology, the new sphere which actual transaction can be made like in the visible market has become conspicuous as the virtual space. The movement to realize the new business through the cyber space has been actively ongoing. In the domestic market, a lot of corporations knowing the needs of internet shopping malls have entered into this e-business but they have not made a big success comparing with internet's potentials. And, it can be attributed to the simple planes and the limitations of information provided by the cyber malls, which means that the needs of better information transfer we apparent Accordingly, in this thesis, the research on the 3-D based products and shopping malls has been made through the inter-complementary composition between the 2-D shopping malls and 3-B ones. This research consists of 3 parts. Firstly, through the research on references and existing data, it presents the analysis on consumer's characteristics and sales limits of the internet shopping mall's products. Secondly, the background of 3-D shopping mall's advent and the virtual reality technology data are put together. Finally, it presents how the development of 3-D based product modeling and shopping malls can increase the consumer's purchase power and furthermore the directions of shopping malls to go.