Comparison of selected canine vector-borne diseases between urban animal shelter and rural hunting dogs in Korea

A serological survey for Dirofilaria immitis, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia canis, and Borrelia burgdorferi infections in rural hunting and urban shelter dogs mainly from southwestern regions of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was conducted. From a total of 229 wild boar or pheasant hunting dogs, the number of serologically positive dogs for any of the four pathogens was 93 (40.6%). The highest prevalence observed was D. immitis (22.3%), followed by A. phagocytophilum (18.8%), E. canis (6.1%) and the lowest prevalence was B. burgdorferi (2.2%). In contrast, stray dogs found within the city limits of Gwangju showed seropositivity only to D. immitis (14.6%), and none of the 692 dogs responded positive for A. phagocytophilum, E. canis or B. burgdorferi antibodies. This study indicates that the risk of exposure to vector-borne diseases in rural hunting dogs can be quite high in Korea, while the urban environment may not be suitable for tick infestation on dogs, as evidenced by the low infection status of tick-borne pathogens in stray dogs

Serum Levels of Advanced Glycation End Products Are Associated with In-Stent Restenosis in Diabetic Patients

The formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), in various tissues has been known to enhance immunoinflammatory reactions and local oxidant stresses in long standing diabetes. Recently, AGEs have been reported to play a role in neointimal formation in animal models of arterial injury. We attempted to determine whether the serum levels of AGEs are associated with coronary restenosis in diabetic patients. Blood samples were collected from diabetic patients with coronary artery disease undergoing stent implantation and the serum levels of AGEs were analyzed by the fluorescent intensity method. The development of in-stent restenosis (ISR) was evaluated by a 6-month follow-up coronary angiography. A total of 263 target lesions were evaluated, in 203 patients. The ISR rate in the high-AGE (>170 U/ml) group (40.1%) was significantly higher than in the low-AGE group (≤170 U/ml) (19.6%) (p<0.001). Furthermore, multivariate analysis revealed that a high level of serum AGEs is an independent risk factor for the development of ISR (odds ratio, 2.659; 95% CI, 1.431-4.940; p=0.002). The serum levels of AGEs constitute an excellent predictive factor for ISR, and should be one of the guidelines for medical therapy and interventional strategy to prevent ISR in diabetic patients

Erratum to: Population attributable risks of modifiable reproductive factors for breast and ovarian cancers in Korea

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made

Population attributable risks of modifiable reproductive factors for breast and ovarian cancers in Korea

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Abstract Background Breast and ovarian cancers are predominant female cancers with increasing prevalence. The purpose of this study was to estimate the population attributable risks (PARs) of breast and ovarian cancer occurrence based on the relative risks (RRs) of modifiable reproductive factors and population-specific exposure prevalence. Methods The PAR was calculated by using the 1990 standardized prevalence rates, the 2010 national cancer incidence with a 20 year lag period, the meta-analyzed RRs from studies conducted in the Korean population for breast cancer, and the meta-analyzed RRs from a Korean epithelial ovarian cancer study and a prior meta-analysis, and ovarian cancer cohort results up to 2012. For oral contraceptive and hormone replacement therapy use, we did not consider lag period. Results The summary PARs for modifiable reproductive factors were 16.7 % (95 % CI 15.8–17.6) for breast cancer (2404 cases) and 81.9 % (95 % CI 55.0–100.0) for ovarian cancer (1579 cases). The modifiable reproductive factors included pregnancy/age at first birth (8.0 %), total period of breastfeeding (3.1 %), oral contraceptive use (5.3 %), and hormone replacement therapy use (0.3 %) for breast cancer and included breastfeeding experience (2.9 %), pregnancy (1.2 %), tubal ligation (24.5 %), and oral contraceptive use (53.3 %) for ovarian cancer. Conclusions Despite inherent uncertainties in the risk factors for breast and ovarian cancers, we suggest that appropriate long-term control of modifiable reproductive factors could reduce breast and ovarian cancer incidences and their related burdens by 16.7 % and 81.9 %, respectively

A Decision-Making Model for Selecting Product Suppliers in Crop Protection Retail Sector

This study aims to determine the importance of factors affecting supplier selection in the pesticide distribution sector as a global emerging market and present a decision-making model for the corporate marketing strategy. Specifically, a comparative study between suppliers and retail distribution experts was conducted to compare differences in the perception of supplier selection factors according to organizational characteristics. Based on previous studies, a decision-making model based on the AHP methodology was constructed with a total of 20 factors in five areas: product quality, price, flexibility, promotion support, and brand. Then, 42 Korean experts were surveyed to measure the importance of these factors. The results showed that product quality is the most critical factor in supplier selection, followed by price, brand, promotional support, and flexibility, in that order. Manufacturers consider product quality as the most important factor, while retailers consider price as the most important factor. Among the 20 factors, ‘quality excellence’, ‘expected return’, and ‘technological competitiveness’ were found to be the most important factors. In addition, while manufacturers considered factors such as ‘corporate reputation’ and ‘corporate trust’ as more important, retailers considered factors related to product characteristics, such as ‘product awareness’ and ‘brand reputation’ as more important

Effects of Supplier&rsquo;s Competitive Factors on Relationship Performance and Product Recommendation in Crop Protection Retail Sector

The changes in distribution channels of the crop protection industry are accelerating the influence of crop protection retailers on farmers&rsquo; product purchase decisions. This study aims to identify the critical competitive factors; &lsquo;product quality&rsquo;, &lsquo;supply price&rsquo;, &lsquo;brand awareness&rsquo;, &lsquo;flexibility&rsquo;, and &lsquo;promotion support&rsquo;; of crop protection manufacturers. And it empirically analyzes effects of the critical factors on relationship performance and product recommendation of crop protection retailers. This research also examined the difference among these major factors according to the level of trust of crop protection companies as suppliers. Survey data were collected from 660 retailers by the crop protection distribution market in South Korea. As for the results, the five factors were defined as the crop protection suppliers&rsquo; competitive factors. Supply price, promotion support, brand awareness, and flexibility had a positive (+) effect on relationship performance. Brand awareness, promotion support, product quality, and flexibility had a positive (+) effect on customer recommendation. Furthermore, supply price significantly affected relationship performance in a group with high trust, and promotion support significantly affected a group with low trust