• International Journal of Quality Innovation
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.46-57
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• 2001

As the products which innovated usability have succeeded in the market, the usability of products is now considered as a new dimension of product design. This paper deals with the following questions: How has usability been embedded in the design and development of products? In the usability context, why have some breakthrough products succeeded commercially and others failed? What should be learned from the successes and the failures? For the purpose of discussing these questions, the photography industry was examined and the results were used as an illustration of the important points.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.10 no.11
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• pp.3340-3353
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• 2009

This paper aims to study the effect of academia-industrial cooperation on the technical innovation of small and medium-sized companies. A survey was conducted on about 1,100 businesses located in the Sihwa-Banwol industrial estate to analyze the consequence of three factors of academia-industrial cooperation. the joint use of equipments, technological support of universities to businesses, and cooperative technological development through technical guidance-on entrepreneurial capability and their knowledge-absorption ability, and ultimately on their technological innovation,. The validity of the survey result was tested through the Structural Equation Model. On the basis of the comparison between companies which have participated in academy-industry cooperation and companies which have not, this paper suggests that venture businesses should take advantage of the cooperation with universities to boost their competitiveness. The analysis of the three individual factors of the academy-industry cooperation based on the Structural Equation Model shows that all of them have remarkable influence on entrepreneurial capability, but that they don't have as much impact on businesses' knowledge absorption ability. However, the outcome of technological innovation of businesses is primarily influenced by entrepreneurial capability rather than their knowledge absorption ability. The survey also shows that the three factors of the cooperation have an equal impact on the competitiveness of companies regardless of their business type or their products' growth stages. As the companies involved in academy industry cooperation outweigh other businesses, in terms of technological innovation, the numbers of new product development, and the numbers of their process improvement cases, this paper argues that new strategies should be taken for the businesses to fully take advantage of academy-industry cooperation.

• Journal of Breast Cancer
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.363-370
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• 2018

Purpose: Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer among women worldwide, and therefore, improved approaches for its early detection are urgently needed. As microRNAs (miRNAs) are increasingly recognized as critical regulators in tumorigenesis and possess excellent stability in plasma, this study focused on using miRNAs to develop a method for identifying noninvasive biomarkers. Methods: To discover critical candidates, differential expression analysis was performed on tissue-originated miRNA profiles of 409 early breast cancer patients and 87 healthy controls from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. We selected candidates from the differentially expressed miRNAs and then evaluated every possible molecular signature formed by the candidates. The best signature was validated in independent serum samples from 113 early breast cancer patients and 47 healthy controls using reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: The miRNA candidates in our method were revealed to be associated with breast cancer according to previous studies and showed potential as useful biomarkers. When validated in independent serum samples, the area under curve of the final miRNA signature (miR-21-3p, miR-21-5p, and miR-99a-5p) was 0.895. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 97.9% and 73.5%, respectively. Conclusion: The present study established a novel and effective method to identify biomarkers for early breast cancer. And the method, is also suitable for other cancer types. Furthermore, a combination of three miRNAs was identified as a prospective biomarker for breast cancer early detection.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.313-323
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• 2022

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common supraventricular arrhythmia, and it corresponds highly with exercise intensity. Here, we induced AF in mice using acetylcholine (ACh)-CaCl₂ for 7 days and aimed to determine the appropriate exercise intensity (no, low, moderate, high) to protect against AF by running the mice at different intensities for 4 weeks before the AF induction by ACh-CaCl₂. We examined the AF-induced atrial remodeling using electrocardiogram, patch-clamp, and immunohistochemistry. After the AF induction, heart rate, % increase of heart rate, and heart weight/body weight ratio were significantly higher in all the four AF groups than in the normal control; highest in the high-ex AF and lowest in the low-ex (lower than the no-ex AF), which indicates that low-ex treated the AF. Consistent with these changes, G protein-gated inwardly rectifying K⁺ currents, which were induced by ACh, increased in an exercise intensity-dependent manner and were lower in the low-ex AF than the no-ex AF. The peak level of Ca²⁺ current (at 0 mV) increased also in an exercise intensity-dependent manner and the inactivation time constants were shorter in all AF groups except for the low-ex AF group, in which the time constant was similar to that of the control. Finally, action potential duration was shorter in all the four AF groups than in the normal control; shortest in the high-ex AF and longest in the low-ex AF. Taken together, we conclude that low-intensity exercise protects the heart from AF, whereas high-intensity exercise might exacerbate AF.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.268-274
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• 2015

${\gamma}$-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system, is involved in sleep physiology. Caffeine is widely used psychoactive substance known to induce wakefulness and insomnia to its consumers. This study was performed to examine whether GABA extracts from fermented rice germ ameliorates caffeine-induced sleep disturbance in mice, without affecting spontaneous locomotor activity and motor coordination. Indeed, caffeine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) delayed sleep onset and reduced sleep duration of mice. Conversely, rice germ ferment extracts-GABA treatment (10, 30, or 100 mg/kg, p.o.), especially at 100 mg/kg, normalized the sleep disturbance induced by caffeine. In locomotor tests, rice germ ferment extracts-GABA slightly but not significantly reduced the caffeine-induced increase in locomotor activity without affecting motor coordination. Additionally, rice germ ferment extracts-GABA per se did not affect the spontaneous locomotor activity and motor coordination of mice. In conclusion, rice germ ferment extracts-GABA supplementation can counter the sleep disturbance induced by caffeine, without affecting the general locomotor activities of mice.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.107-132
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• 2013

Despite the importance of knowledge complementarities (KC) to firm performance, very little is known about exactly what constitutes KC and how synergistic knowledge is created in KC. This research looks into the dimensionality of KC and how synergistic knowledge as an essential component of KC is generated in a process innovation (PI) project. We propose that KC consists of potential complementary knowledge, collaborative elaboration (CE) process, and synergistic knowledge. The model is investigated quantitatively, using a sample of 26 matched-pairs of client and consultant who participated in a PI project, and then qualitatively using interviews of a sub-sample of 7 matched-pairs of client and consultant. Data were collected in a longitudinal way at four different points during the four month project period. Results show that consultant's learning about the client's business occurs first and then client learning about IT capabilities follows through CE. With this enhanced clients' knowledge about IT capabilities, clients play an initiative role in designing the To-Be business processes, while consultants play a supporting role by introducing best practices or making suggestions based on their experiences. Future research implications as well as practical implications are also discussed.

• Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.252-257
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• 2014

Global economic recession, global market reduction, and the deteriorating economic recession are forcing the industry to reconsider the business plan and strategy related to supply chain regardless of the size of the companies. During the economic recession caused by financial anxiety, development of international collaborative producer is the key theme for a manufacturing industry to get over the situation. Especially, development of high-skilled people who are capable of handling global manufacturing management is the key factor in China which shifted from a world factory to a world market. In this background, we started the international project of global manufacturing education and training for Chinese company managers from 2009. In this paper, based on the research conducted by the universities and companies in China, a design of global manufacturing education and training is proposed. This presented design is based on the theory of Japanese production strategy and investigation of actual conditions for Chinese companies and the research methodology of business management practice with efficiency and productive for international level management organization. The effectiveness of the education design is evaluated by applying the international education and training project of Aoyama Gakuin Human Innovation Consulting Inc. and Vigor Management Technology Association.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.83-96
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• 2014

Accumulated annual reservoir sedimentation in Taiwan was 14.6 million m3 in 2010, seriously endangering reservoir safety and the water supply. In addition, the sintering temperature of reservoir-sediment aggregates (RSAs) is very high, and very energy consuming consequently. Therefore, to explore the effects of admixtures on sintering behavior and performance of the aggregates, two different admixtures are blended, waste-glass and municipal sewage sludge, into reservoir sediment to make artificial aggregates. Experimental results show that the lightweight characteristics of waste-glass/reservoir-sediment aggregates (WGRSAs) are more significant than those of sewage sludge/reservoir-sediment aggregates (SSRSAs). Moreover, as sintering temperature increases, the specific gravity of WGRSAs drops more apparently. The optimum sintering temperature of pure reservoir-sediment aggregates (PRSAs), SSRSAs, and WGRSAs was $1150^{\circ}C$, $1100^{\circ}C$, and $1050^{\circ}C$, respectively. The PRSAs are normal weight with better strength; the WGRSAs are lightweight and energy-saving; and the SSRSAs are lightweight with normal strength.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.157-162
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• 2015

SKD11(ASTM D2) tool steel is a versatile high-carbon, high-chromium, air-hardening tool steel that is characterized by a relatively high attainable hardness and numerous, large, chromium rich alloy carbide in the microstructure. SKD11 tool steel provides an effective combination of wear resistance and toughness, tool performance, price, and a wide variety of product forms. Adding of CNTs increased the performance of mechanical properties more. 1, 3 vol.% CNTs was dispersed in SKD11 matrix by mechanical alloying. SKD11 carbon nanocomposite powder was sintered by spark plasma sintering process. FE-SEM, HR-TEM and Raman analysis were carried out SKD11 carbon nanocomposites.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.89-94
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• 2017

In order to improve national competitiveness through technological research and development, the government puts in R&D budget every year and manages to improve the R&D results. Accordingly, various R&D project management methods have applied for successful advancement of technology and product. TRL is a measurement system developed by NASA to assess the maturity of technology since the 1970s. To apply medical device, the characteristics such as regulation, clinical trials are considered as a significant influence. In this study, we would like to derive PMI(performance measures index) for medical device R&D projects by using TRL and stage-gate model. As a result of this study, it is possible to use the PMI for decision making and evaluation in the R&D projects and believed that the objectivity can be ensured by the approval or certification of regulatory authority.