• Title/Summary/Keyword: relationship variables

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A Study on Factors Affecting BigData Acceptance Intention of Agricultural Enterprises (농업 관련 기업의 빅데이터 수용 의도에 미치는 영향요인 연구)

  • Ryu, GaHyun;Heo, Chul-Moo
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.157-175
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    • 2022
  • At this moment, a paradigm shift is taking place across all sectors of society for the transition movements to the digital economy. Various movements are taking place in the global agricultural industry to achieve innovative growth using big data which is a key resource of the 4th industrial revolution. Although the government is making various attempts to promote the use of big data, the movement of the agricultural industry as a key player in the use of big data, is still insufficient. Therefore, in this study, effects of performance expectations, effort expectations, social impact, facilitation conditions, based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology(UTAUT), and innovation tendencies on the acceptance intention of big data were analyzed using the economic and practical benefits that can be obtained from the use of big data for agricultural-related companies as moderating variables. 333 questionnaires collected from agricultural-related companies were used for empirical analysis. The analysis results using SPSS v22.0 and Process macro v3.4 were found to have a significant positive (+) effect on the intention to accept big data by effort expectations, social impact, facilitation conditions, and innovation tendencies. However, it was found that the effect of performance expectations on acceptance intention was insignificant, with social impact having the greatest influence on acceptance intention and innovation tendency the least. Moderating effects of economic benefit and practical benefit between effort expectation and acceptance intention, moderating effect of practical benefit between social impact and acceptance intention, and moderating effect of economic benefit and practical benefit between facilitation condition and acceptance intention were found to be significant. On the other hand, it was found that economic benefits and practical benefits did not moderate the magnitude of the influence of performance expectations and innovation tendency on acceptance intention. These results suggest the following implications. First, in order to promote the use of big data by companies, the government needs to establish a policy to support the use of big data tailored to companies. Significant results can only be achieved when corporate members form a correct understanding and consensus on the use of big data. Second, it is necessary to establish and implement a platform specialized for agricultural data which can support standardized linkage between diverse agricultural big data, and support for a unified path for data access. Building such a platform will be able to advance the industry by forming an independent cooperative relationship between companies. Finally, the limitations of this study and follow-up tasks are presented.

Examining Entrepreneurial Competences of Asian Female University Students: A Four Country Comparison (아시아여성대학생의 기업가역량 연구: 4개국 비교)

  • Kim, Myonghee;Ah, Jinwon;Kim, Misung;Kim, Miran
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.33-50
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    • 2022
  • While the number of female entrepreneurs has been increasing, and female entrepreneurship has been increasingly perceived as a driving force of sustainable economic development, there is a lack of studies of female entrepreneurship, particularly in the non-Western regions. This study aims to explore current levels of entrepreneurial competences of female college students in four Asian countries (i.e., Indonesia, Korea, Philippines, and Vietnam), differences in the competences between countries, and factors affecting their entrepreneurial competences. Using online surveys, the present study collected data from 516 female Asian college students and examined their entrepreneurial competences in six dimensions-entrepreneurship, sensibility, business management, relationship management, strategic management, and multi-tasking. This study also investigated effects of four variables (i.e., entrepreneurship course taking experiences, on-campus entrepreneurship experiences, off-campus entrepreneurship experiences, and entrepreneurial intentions) on the six aspects of entrepreneurial competences. Data analysis reveals that female Asian college students as a whole group possess quite high levels of entrepreneurial competences while the Filipino students show the biggest competence in all the six dimensions measured. As regards affecting factors, this study finds that, in the total sample, regression equations are significant in all the six dimensions of entrepreneurial competences. On-campus experiences have significantly positive effects on those six dimensions while course taking experiences and entrepreneurial intentions positively affect three different dimensions each. However, out-of-campus experiences turn out to be negative though their effects are insignificant. Meanwhile, in individual samples, different factors affect different dimensions of entrepreneurial competences. Based on these findings, the present study suggests some actions for promoting female entrepreneurship and for conducting future studies.

Association of delivered food consumption with dietary behaviors and obesity among young adults in Jeju (제주지역 젊은 성인의 배달음식 섭취실태와 식생활 및 비만과의 연관성)

  • Minjung Ko;Kyungho Ha
    • Journal of Nutrition and Health
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    • v.57 no.3
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    • pp.336-348
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    • 2024
  • Purpose: The use of food delivery services is increasing continuously in Korea, which may lead to nutritional problems and obesity. Despite this, the research on the association between delivered food consumption and obesity has been insufficient. This study examined the relationship between delivered food consumption and dietary behaviors and obesity among young adults in Jeju. Methods: An online survey was conducted from March 15 to April 5, 2023; 312 participants aged 19-39 years were included in the final analysis. The frequency, types, and time of delivered food consumption were measured using a questionnaire. The dietary behaviors included the following: eating out, breakfast consumption, recognition of nutrition labels, and eating salty foods, vegetables, and fruit. Obesity was defined using the body mass index based on self-reported body weight and height. Results: Approximately 59.3% of the participants ordered delivery foods more than one time/week. The frequency of delivered food consumption was higher in people who consumed breakfast < 5 times/week than those who consumed ≥ 5 times/week (p = 0.0088). People who usually eat salty foods tended to consume delivered food more frequently than those who did not (p = 0.0377). On the other hand, people who consumed fruits ≥ 1 time/day had a higher frequency of delivered food consumption than those who consumed fruits < 1 time/day (p = 0.0110). After adjusting for the confounding variables, the group who consumed delivered foods more than three times/week had an increased odds ratio (OR) of obesity compared to those who consumed less one time/week (OR, 2.38; 95% confidence intervals, 1.12-5.06). Conclusion: Young adults in Jeju who frequently consume delivered foods tended to have poor dietary habits including skipping breakfast and eating salty, and they had an increased odds of obesity. The overall dietary patterns can be improved by providing nutrition education and developing policies to promote or support healthy food choices when ordering delivered foods or eating out.

The Influence of Store Environment on Service Brand Personality and Repurchase Intention (점포의 물리적 환경이 서비스 브랜드 개성과 재구매의도에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Hyoung-Gil;Kim, Jung-Hee;Kim, Youn-Jeong
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.141-173
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    • 2007
  • The study examines how the environmental factors of store influence service brand personality and repurchase intention in the service environment. The service industry has been experiencing the intensified competition with the industry's continuous growth and the influence from rapid technological advancement. Under the circumstances, it has become ever more important for the brand competitiveness to be distinctively recognized against competition. A brand needs to be distinguished and differentiated from competing companies because they are all engaged in the similar environment of the service industry. The differentiation of brand achievement has become increasingly important to highlight certain brand functions to include emotional, self-expressive, and symbolic functions since the importance of such functions has been further emphasized in promoting consumption activities. That is the recent role of brand personality that has been emphasized in the service industry. In other words, customers now freely and actively express their personalities or egos in consumption activities, taking an important role in construction of a brand asset. Hence, the study suggests that it is necessary to disperse the recognition and acknowledgement that the maintenance of the existing customers contributes more to boost repurchase intention when it is compared to the efforts to create new customers, particularly in the service industry. Meanwhile, the store itself can offer a unique environment that may influence the consumer's purchase decision. Consumers interact with store environments in the process of,virtually, all household purchase they make (Sarel 1981). Thus, store environments may encourage customers to purchase. The roles that store environments play are to provide informational cues to customers about the store and goods and communicate messages to stimulate consumers' emotions. The store environments differentiate the store from competing stores and build a unique service brand personality. However, the existing studies related to brand in the service industry mostly concentrated on the relationship between the quality of service and customer satisfaction, and they are mostly generalized while the connective studies focused on brand personality. Such approaches show limitations and are insufficient to investigate on the relationship between store environment and brand personality in the service industry. Accordingly, the study intends to identify the level of contribution to the establishment of brand personality made by the store's physical environments that influence on the specific brand characteristics depending on the type of service. The study also intends to identify what kind of relationships with brand personality exists with brand personality while being influenced by store environments. In addition, the study intends to make meaningful suggestions to better direct marketing efforts by identifying whether a brand personality makes a positive influence to induce an intention for repurchase. For this study, the service industry is classified into four categories based on to the characteristics of service: experimental-emotional service, emotional -credible service, credible-functional service, and functional-experimental service. The type of business with the most frequent customer contact is determined for each service type and the enterprise with the highest brand value in each service sector based on the report made by the Korea Management Association. They are designated as the representative of each category. The selected representatives are a fast-food store (experimental-emotional service), a cinema house (emotional-credible service), a bank (credible-functional service), and discount store (functional-experimental service). The survey was conducted for the four selected brands to represent each service category among consumers who are experienced users of the designated stores in Seoul Metropolitan City and Gyeonggi province via written questionnaires in order to verify the suggested assumptions in the study. In particular, the survey adopted 15 scales, which represent each characteristic factor, among the 42 unique characteristics developed by Jennifer Aaker(1997) to assess the brand personality of each service brand. SPSS for Windows Release 12.0 and LISREL were used in the analysis of data verification. The methodology of the structural equation model was used for the study and the pivotal findings are as follows. 1) The environmental factors ware classified as design factors, ambient factors, and social factors. Therefore, the validity of measurement scale of Baker et al. (1994) was proved. 2) The service brand personalities were subdivided as sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness, which makes the use of the brand personality scales by Jennifer Aaker(1997) appropriate in the service industry as well. 3) One-way ANOVA analysis on the scales of store environment and service brand personality showed that there exist statistically significant differences in each service category. For example, the social factors were highest in discount stores, while the ambient factors and design factors were highest in fast-food stores. The discount stores were highest in the sincerity and excitement, while the highest point for banks was in the competence and ruggedness, and the highest point for fast-food stores was in the sophistication, The consumers will make a different respond to the physical environment of stores and service brand personality that are inherent to the corresponding service interface. Hence, the customers will make a different decision-making when dealing with different service categories. In this aspect, the relationships of variables in the proposed hypothesis appear to work in a different way depending on the exposed service category. 4) The store environment factors influenced on service brand personalities differently by category of service. The factors of store's physical environment are transferred to a brand and were verified to strengthen service brand personalities. In particular, the level of influence on the service brand personality by physical environment differs depending on service category or dimension, which indicates that there is a need to apply a different style of management to a different service category or dimension. It signifies that there needs to be a brand strategy established in order to positively influence the relationship with consumers by utilizing an appropriate brand personality factor depending on different characteristics by service category or dimension. 5) The service brand personalities influenced on the repurchase intention. Especially, the largest influence was made in the sophistication dimension of service brand personality scale; the unique and characteristically appropriate arrangement of physical environment will make customers stay in the service environment for a long time and will lead to give a positive influence on the repurchase intention. 6) The store environment factors influenced on the repurchase intention. Particularly, the largest influence was made on the social factors of store environment. The most intriguing finding is that the service factor among all other environment factors gives the biggest influence to the repurchase intention in most of all service types except fast-food stores. Such result indicates that the customers pay attention to how much the employees try to provide a quality service when they make an evaluation on the service brand. At the same time, it also indicates that the personal factor is directly transmitted to the construction of brand personality. The employees' attitude and behavior are the determinants to establish a service brand personality in the process of enhancing service interface. Hence, there should be a reinforced search for a method to efficiently manage the service staff who has a direct contact with customers in order to make an affirmative improvement of the customers' brand evaluation at the service interface. The findings suggest several managerial implications. 1) Results from the empirical study indicated that store environment factors have a strong positive impact on a service brand personality. To increase customers' repurchase intention of a service brand, the management is required to effectively manage store environment factors and create a friendly brand personality based on the corresponding service environment. 2) Mangers and researchers must understand and recognize that the store environment elements are important marketing tools, and that brand personality influences on consumers' repurchase intention. Based on such result of the study, a service brand could be utilized as an efficient measure to achieve a differentiation by enforcing the elements that are most influential among all other store environments for each service category. Therefore, brand personality established involving various store environments will further reinforce the relationship with customers through the elevated brand identification of which utilization to induce repurchase decision can be used as an entry barrier. 3) The study identified the store environment as a component of service brand personality for the store's effective communication with consumers. For this, all communication channels should be maintained with consistency and an integrated marketing communication should be executed to efficiently approach to a larger number of customers. Mangers and researchers must find strategies for aligning decisions about store environment elements with the retailers' marketing and store personality objectives. All ambient, design, and social factors need to be orchestrated so that consumers can take an appropriate store personality. In this study, the induced results from the previous studies were extended to the service industry so as to identify the customers' decision making process that leads to repurchase intention and a result similar to those of the previous studies. The findings suggested several theoretical and managerial implications. However, the situation that only one service brand served as the subject of analysis for each service category, and the situation that correlations among store environment elements were not identified, as well as the problem of representation in selection of samples should be considered and supplemented in the future when further studies are conducted. In addition, various antecedents and consequences of brand personality must be looked at in the aspect of the service environment for further research.

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State of Mind in the Flow 4-Channel Model and Play (플로우 4경로모형의 마음상태와 플레이(play))

  • Sohn, Jun-Sang
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.1-29
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    • 2007
  • The flow theory becomes one of the most important frameworks in the internet research arena. Hoffman and Novak proposed a hierarchical flow model showing the antecedents and outcomes of flow and the relationship among these variables in the hyper-media computer circumstances (Hoffman and Novak 1996). This model was further tested after their initial research (Novak, Hoffman, and Yung 2000). At their paper, Hoffman and Novak explained that the balance of challenge and skill leads to flow which means the positive optimal state of mind (Hoffman and Novak 1996). An imbalance between challenge and skill, leads to negative states of mind like anxiety, boredom, apathy (Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi 1988). Almost all research on the flow 4-channel model have been focusingon flow, the positive state of mind (Ellis, Voelkl, and Morris 1994 Mathwick and Rigdon 2004). However, it also needs to examine the formation of the negative states of minds and their outcomes. Flow researchers explain play or playfulness as antecedents or the early state of flow. However, play has been regarded as a distinct concept from flow in the flow literatures (Hoffman and Novak 1996; Novak, Hoffman, and Yung 2000). Mathwick and Rigdon discovered the influences of challenge and skill on play; they also observed the influence of play on web-loyalty and brand loyalty (Mathwick and Rigdon 2004). Unfortunately, they did not go so far as to test the influences of play on state of mind. This study focuses on the relationships between state of mind in the flow 4-channel model and play. Early research has attempted to hypothetically explain state of mind in flow theory, but has not been tested except flow until now. Also the importance of play has been emphasized in the flow theory, but has not been tested in the flow 4-channel model context. This researcher attempts to analyze the relationships among state of mind, skill of play, challenge, state of mind and web loyalty. For this objective, I developed a measure for state of mind and defined the concept of play as a trait. Then, the influences of challenge and skill on the state of mind and play under on-line shopping conditions were tested. Also the influences of play on state of mind were tested and those of flow and play on web loyalty were highlighted. 294 undergraduate students participated in this research survey. They were asked to respond about their perceptions of challenge, skill, state of mind, play, and web-loyalty to on-line shopping mall. Respondents were restricted to students who bought products on-line in a month. In case of buying products at two or more on-line shopping malls, they asked to respond about the shopping mall where they bought the most important one. Construct validity, discriminant validity, and convergent validity were used to check the measurement validations. Also, Cronbach's alpha was used to check scale reliability. A series of exploratory factor analyses was conducted. This researcher conducted confirmatory factor analyses to assess the validity of measurements. All items loaded significantly on their respective constructs. Also, all reliabilities were greater than.70. Chi-square difference tests and goodness of fit tests supported discriminant and convergent validity. The results of clustering and ANOVA showed that high challenge and high skill leaded to flow, low challenge and high skill leaded to boredom, and low challenge and low skill leaded to apathy. But, it was different from my expectation that high challenge and low skill didnot lead to anxiety but leaded to apathy. The results also showed that high challenge and high skill, and high challenge and low skill leaded to the highest play. Low challenge leaded to low play. 4 Structural Equation Models were built by flow, anxiety, boredom, apathy for analyzing not only the impact of play on state of mind and web-loyalty, but also that of state of mind on web-loyalty. According the analyses results of these models, play impacted flow and web-loyalty positively, but impacted anxiety, boredom, and apathy negatively. Results also showed that flow impacted web-loyalty positively, but anxiety, boredom, and apathy impacted web-loyalty negatively. The interpretations and implications of the test results of the hypotheses are as follows. First, respondents belonging to different clusters based on challenge and skill level experienced different states of mind such as flow, anxiety, boredom, apathy. The low challenge and low skill group felt the highest anxiety and apathy. It could be interpreted that this group feeling high anxiety or fear, then avoided attempts to shop on-line. Second, it was found that higher challenge leads to higher levels of play. Test results show that the play level of the high challenge and low skill group (anxiety group) was higher than that of the high challenge and high skill group (flow group). However, this was not significant. Third, play positively impacted flow and negatively impacted boredom. The negative impacts on anxiety and apathy were not significant. This means that the combination of challenge and skill creates different results. Forth, play and flow positively impacted web-loyalty, but anxiety, boredom, apathy had negative impacts. The effect of play on web-loyalty was stronger in case of anxiety, boredom, apathy group than fl ow group. These results show that challenge and skill influences state of mind and play. Results also demonstrate how play and flow influence web-loyalty. It implies that state of mind and play should be the core marketing variables in internet marketing. The flow theory has been focusing on flow and on the positive outcomes of flow experiences. But, this research shows that lots of consumers experience the negative state of mind rather than flow state in the internet shopping circumstance. Results show that the negative state of mind leads to low or negative web-loyalty. Play can have an important role with the web-loyalty when consumers have the negative state of mind. Results of structural equation model analyses show that play influences web-loyalty positively, even though consumers may be in the negative state of mind. This research found the impacts of challenge and skill on state of mind in the flow 4-channel model, not only flow but also anxiety, boredom, apathy. Also, it highlighted the role of play in the flow 4-channel model context and impacts on web-loyalty. However, tests show a few different results from hypothetical expectations such as the highest anxiety level of apathy group and insignificant impacts of play on anxiety and apathy. Further research needs to replicate this research and/or to compare 3-channel model with 4-channel model.

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STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SEROTONIN SYSTEM AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN TOURETTE'S DISORDER (Tourette씨병의 Serotonin계와 정신병리와의 상호관계에 관한 연구)

  • Cho, Soo-Churl;Shin, Yun-O;Suh, Yoo-Hun
    • Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.77-91
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    • 1996
  • In order to elucidate the biological etiology and the effects of comorbidity on biological variables in tic disorders, plasma serotonin (5-hydroxlfryptamine, 5-HT) and 5-hydroxy- indoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) we.e measured in 87 tic disorders and 30 control subjects. The 87 tic disorder were composed of 45 Tourette's disorder(TS), 22 chronic motor tic disorders (CMT) and 20 transient tic disorders (TTD). Among these patients,43 patients were pure tic disorder (PT), 28 subject also had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (T+ADHD) and 16 subjects had obsessive compulsive disorders (T+ OCD) as comorbid disorders. The results are summarized as follows : 1) Plasma 5-HT levels showed significant positive correlations with plasma 5-HIAA levels (Pennon r=0.77, p<0.05). 2) Plasma 5-HT and 5-HIAA levels showed no significant correlation with age in tic disorders. 3) Plasma 5-HIAA and 5-HT levels showed no significant correlations with age in control subjects. 4) There was significant difference in plasma 5-HT levels among TS, CMT, TTD and control groups (ANOVA F=34.48, df=3, 113, p<0.01), and post-hoc test using Scheffe method showed significant differences between control and TS, control and CMT, control and ITD groups. But, post-hoc test showed no significant differences between TS and CMT, TS and TTD, CMT and TTD groups. 5) There was significant difference in plasma 5-HIAA levels among TS, CMT, TTD and control groups (ANOVA F=26.48, df=3, 113, p<0.01), and post-hoc test using Scheffe method showed significant differences between control and TS, control and CMT, control and TTD groups. But, post-hoc test showed no significant differences between TS and CMT, TS and TTD, CMT and TID groups.f) There was significant difference in plasma 5-HT and 5-HIAA levels among PT, T+ADHD, T+OCD and contol groups (ANOVA 5-HT, F=37.59, df=3, 113, p<0.01, 5-HIAA, F=27.37, df=3, 113, p<0.01), and post-hoc test using Scheffe method showed signiscant differences between control and PT, control and T+ADHD and control and T+OCB. But, post-hoc test showed no significant differences between PT and T+ADHD, PT and T+ OCD and T+ADHD and T+ OCD. These results show that decreased 5-HT and 5-HIAA levels may play a role in the genesis of tic disorders, but these findings have no significant correlations with the severity of tic disorders. And the comorbid disorders of tics may have minimal effects on the biochemical abnormalities. Future studies must be focused on the effects of serotonin agonists and antagonists on tic disorders and molecular biological methodology may enhance to elucidate the mechanisms of these abnormal findings.

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Relationship between Systemic Inflammatory Marker, Oxidative Stress and Body Mass Index in Stable COPD Patient (안정된 만성폐쇄성폐질환 환자에서 신체질량지수와 전신 염증인자, 산화 스트레스와의 관련성)

  • Ham, Hyun Seok;Lee, Hae Young;Lee, Seung Jun;Cho, Yu Ji;Jeong, Yi Young;Kim, Ho Cheol;Ham, Jong Ryeal;Park, Chan Hoo;Lee, Jong Deok;Sohn, Hyun Joon;Youn, Hee Shang;Hwang, Young Sil
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.61 no.4
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    • pp.330-338
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    • 2006
  • Background: The main factors associated with weight loss in patients with COPD are not well known. Since chronic inflammation and oxidative stress play a major pathogenic role in COPD, these factors may be responsible for the patients' weight loss. Therefore, this study measured the body mass index (BMI) in COPD patients and evaluated the variables, such as systemic inflammatory marker, oxidative stress and lung function, that correlate with the BMI. Method: The stable COPD patients (M:F=49:4, mean age=$68.25{\pm}6.32$) were divided into the lower (<18.5), normal (18.5-25) and higher (>25) BMI group. The severity of the airway obstruction was evaluated by measuring the $FEV_1$. The serum IL-6 and TNF-$\alpha$ levels were measured to determine the degree of systemic inflammation, and the carbonyl protein and 8-iso-prostaglandin $F_2{\alpha}$ level was measured to determine the level of oxidative stress. Each value in the COPD patients and normal control was compared with the BMI. Results: 1) Serum 8-iso-prostaglandin $F_2{\alpha}$ in COPD patients was significantly higher ($456.08{\pm}574.12pg/ml$) than that in normal control ($264.74{\pm}143.15pg/ml$) (p<0.05). However, there were no significant differences in the serum IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$, carbonyl protein between the COPD patients and normal controls. 2). In the COPD patients, the $FEV_1$ of the lower BMI group was significantly lower ($0.93{\pm}0.25L$) than that of the normal BMI ($1.34{\pm}0.52L$) and higher BMI groups ($1.72{\pm}0.41L$) (p<0.05). The lower $FEV_1$ was significantly associated with a lower BMI in COPD patients (p=0.002, r=0.42). The BMI of very severe COPD patients was significantly lower ($19.8{\pm}2.57$) than that of the patients with moderate COPD ($22.6{\pm}3.14$) (p<0.05). 3). There were no significant differences in the serum IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$, carbonyl protein and 8-iso-prostaglandin $F_2{\alpha}$ according to the BMI in the COPD patients. Conclusion: The severity of the airway obstruction, not the systemic inflammatory markers and oxidative stress, might be associated with the BMI in stable COPD patients. Further study will be needed to determine the factors associated with the decrease in the BMI of COPD patients.

Improvement in Regional Contractility of Myocardium after CABG (관상동맥 우회로 수술 환자에서 심근의 탄성도 변화)

  • Lee, Byeong-Il;Paeng, Jin-Chul;Lee, Dong-Soo;Lee, Jae-Sung;Chung, June-Key;Lee, Myung-Chul;Choi, Heung-Kook
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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    • v.39 no.4
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    • pp.224-230
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    • 2005
  • Purpose: The maximal elastance ($E_{max}$) of myocardium has been established as a reliable load-independent contractility index. Recently, we developed a noninvasive method to measure the regional contractility using gated myocardial SPECT and arterial tonometry data. In this study, we measured regional $E_{max}(rE_{max}$ in the patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), and assessed its relationship with other variables. Materials and Methods: 21 patients (M:F=17:4, $58{\pm}12$ y) who underwent CABG were enrolled. $^{201}TI$ rest/dipyridamole stress $^{99m}Tc$-sestamibi gated SPECT were performed before and 3 months after CABG. For 15 myocardial regions, regional time-elastance curve was obtained using the pressure data of tonometry and the volume data of gated SPECT. To investigate the coupling with myocardial function, preoperative regional $E_{max}$ was compared with regional perfusion and systolic thickening. In addition, the correlation between $E_{max}$ and viability was assessed in dysfunctional segments (thickening <20% before CABG). The viability was defined as improvement of postoperative systolic thickening more than 10%. Results: Regional $E_{max}$ was slightly increased after CABG from $2.41{\pm}1.64 (pre)\;to\;2.78{\pm}1.83 (post)$ mmHg/ml. $E_{max}$ had weak correlation with perfusion and thickening (r=0.35, p<0.001). In the regions of preserved perfusion (${\geq}60%$), $E_{max}$ was $2.65{\pm}1.67$, while it was $1.30{\pm}1.24$ in the segments of decreased perfusion. With regard to thickening, $E_{max}$ was $3.01{\pm}1.92$ mmHg/ml for normal regions (thickening ${geq}40%$), $2.40{\pm}1.19$ mmHg/ml for mildly dysfunctional regions (<40% and ${\geq}20%$), and $1.13{\pm}0.89$ mmHg/ml for severely dysfunctional regions (<20%). $E_{max}$ was improved after CABG in both the viable (from $1.27{\pm}1.07\;to\;1.79{\pm}1.48$ mmHg/ml) and non-viable segments (from $0.97 {\pm}0.59\;to\;1.22{\pm}0.71$ mmHg/ml), but there was no correlation between $E_{max}$ and thickening improvements (r=0.007). Conclusions: Preoperative regional $E_{max}$ was relatively concordant with regional perfusion and systolic thickening on gated myocardial SPECT. In dysfunctional but viable segments, $E_{max}$ was improved after CABG, but showed no correlation with thickening improvement. As a load-independent contractility index of dysfunctional myocardial segments, we suggest that the regional $E_{max}$ could be an independent parameter in the assessment of myocardial function.

The relationships between lead exposure indicies and urinary δ-ALA by HPLC and colorimetric method in lead exposure workers (연노출근로자에 있어서 흡광광도법과 HPLC법에 의한 요중 δ-ALA 배설량과 연노출지표들 간의 관련성)

  • Ahn, Kyu-Dong;Lee, Sung-Soo;Hwangbo, Young;Lee, Gab-Soo;Yeon, You-Yong;Kim, Yong-Bae;Lee, Byung-Kook
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.6 no.1
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    • pp.77-87
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    • 1996
  • In order to compare the difference of the measurement of delta aminolevulinic acid(${\delta}$-ALA) in urine between HPLC method(HALA) and colorimetric method(CALA), and also to provide useful information for the new diagnostic criteria of ${\delta}$-ALA in urine in lead poisoning, if at all possible in the future, authors studied 234 male lead workers who were selected from 7 storage battery factories, 3 secondary smelting industries, and 2 litharge making industries. Study subjects were selected on the basis of blood Zinc protoporphyrin(ZPP) level from low to high concentration to cover wide range of lead exposure. Study variables for this study were ${\delta}$-ALA measured by two different methods, blood lead(PbB), and blood ZPP. The results were as follows: 1. There was very high correlation between ${\delta}$-ALA measured by two method(r = 0.989 : HALA = -0.8194 + 0.8110 ${\times}$ CALA), but the value of CALA was measured about 2mg/L greater than HALA. 2. While the correlations of ${\delta}$-ALA by two method with blood lead and blood ZPP were 0.46 and 0.37 respectively, they were increased to 0.63 and 0.57 if ${\delta}$-ALA values were log-transformed. 3. Simple linear regression of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by two method on ZPP were as follows: CALA = 2.0421 + 0.0341 ${\times}$ ZPP ($R^2=0.1385$ p = 0.0001) HALA = 0.8006 + 0.0280 ${\times}$ ZPP ($R^2=0.1389$ p = 0.0001) 4. Simple linear regression of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by two method on PbB were as follows: CALA = - 0.4134 + 0.1545 ${\times}$ PbB ($R^2=0.2085$ p = 0.0001) HALA = -1.2893 + 0.1287 PbB ($R^2=0.2154$ p = 0.0001), 5. Simple linear regression of log-transformed ${\delta}$-ALA by two method on ZPP and PbB were as follows: logHALA = 0.3078 + 0.0060 ZPP ($R^2=0.3329$ p = 0.0001) logCALA = 1.0189 + 0.0044 ZPP ($R^2=0.3290$ p = 0.0001) logHALA = -0.0221 + 0.0246 PbB ($R^2=0.4046$ p = 0.0001) logCALA = 0.7662 + 0.0184 PbB ($R^2=0.4108$ p = 0.0001) 6. The cumulative percent of colorimetric method to detect lead workers whose value of PbS and ZPP were over screening level such as $40{\mu}/dl$ and $100{\mu}/dl$ respectively was higher than HPLC method if cut-off level of ${\delta}$-ALA for screening of lead poisoning was 5 mg/L. But if cut-off level of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by HPLC was reduced to 3 mg/L which is compatible to 5 mg/L of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by colorimetric method, there were good agreement between two methods and showed dose-response relationship with other lead exposure indices such as PbB and ZPP.

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Optimization and Development of Prediction Model on the Removal Condition of Livestock Wastewater using a Response Surface Method in the Photo-Fenton Oxidation Process (Photo-Fenton 산화공정에서 반응표면분석법을 이용한 축산폐수의 COD 처리조건 최적화 및 예측식 수립)

  • Cho, Il-Hyoung;Chang, Soon-Woong;Lee, Si-Jin
    • Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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    • v.30 no.6
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    • pp.642-652
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    • 2008
  • The aim of our research was to apply experimental design methodology in the optimization condition of Photo-Fenton oxidation of the residual livestock wastewater after the coagulation process. The reactions of Photo-Fenton oxidation were mathematically described as a function of parameters amount of Fe(II)($x_1$), $H_2O_2(x_2)$ and pH($x_3$) being modeled by the use of the Box-Behnken method, which was used for fitting 2nd order response surface models and was alternative to central composite designs. The application of RSM using the Box-Behnken method yielded the following regression equation, which is an empirical relationship between the removal(%) of livestock wastewater and test variables in coded unit: Y = 79.3 + 15.61x$_1$ - 7.31x$_2$ - 4.26x$_3$ - 18x$_1{^2}$ - 10x$_2{^2}$ - 11.9x$_3{^2}$ + 2.49x$_1$x$_2$ - 4.4x$_2$x$_3$ - 1.65x$_1$x$_3$. The model predicted also agreed with the experimentally observed result(R$^2$ = 0.96) The results show that the response of treatment removal(%) in Photo-Fenton oxidation of livestock wastewater were significantly affected by the synergistic effect of linear terms(Fe(II)($x_1$), $H_2O_2(x_2)$, pH(x$_3$)), whereas Fe(II) $\times$ Fe(II)(x$_1{^2}$), $H_2O_2$ $\times$ $H_2O_2$(x$_2{^2}$) and pH $\times$ pH(x$_3{^2}$) on the quadratic terms were significantly affected by the antagonistic effect. $H_2O_2$ $\times$ pH(x$_2$x$_3$) had also a antagonistic effect in the cross-product term. The estimated ridge of the expected maximum response and optimal conditions for Y using canonical analysis were 84 $\pm$ 0.95% and (Fe(II)(X$_1$) = 0.0146 mM, $H_2O_2$(X$_2$) = 0.0867 mM and pH(X$_3$) = 4.704, respectively. The optimal ratio of Fe/H$_2O_2$ was also 0.17 at the pH 4.7.