A Study on financial distress of firms

Thesis(Master) --KDI School:Master of Business Administration,2000This thesis analyzes financial distress of firms from the financial point of view through a case study of Midopa Department Store which went bankrupt in 1998. Financial distress of firms throughout the world is a frequent occurrence with important implications to many stakeholders. In Korea since the IMF crisis, people have experienced great hardship due to financial distress of firms. Financially distressed firms can either be restructured and successfully emerge as continuing entities or be liquidated for the benefit of creditors before their asset value is dissipated. The treatment of financially distressed firms, however, does not entirely depend on financial analysis. Political consideration, long-term economic plan, and the social atmosphere including reaction of labor union are implicitly or explicitly involved in the process. This thesis examines the implications of financial distress by analyzing the causes and possible restructuring options of Midopa Department Store.Chapter Ⅰ. Introduction Chapter Ⅱ. Literature Review on Financial Distress Chapter Ⅲ. Analysis of Financial Distress of Midopa Chapter Ⅳ. Valuation and Restructuring of Midopa Chapter V. Conclusionmasterpublishedby Young Chang Son

Understanding The Impact Of IT Service Innovation On Firm Performance: The Case Of Cloud Computing

Recently we have witnessed a new kind of IT advancement. It is a phenomenon where various types of IT capabilities are centralized into data centers to ensure that such resources are available wherever and whenever they are needed. Cloud computing is the latest version of IT service practice reflecting such new IT trends. Although cloud computing is considered a paradigm shift of IT service design and delivery in IS communities and intrigues large amounts of interest from business entities, few studies have examined this new IT and business phenomenon. To better understand the organizational application of cloud computing, the current study aims to investigate economic payoff from cloud computing investment. Employing the event study methodology, we analyze 183 firm-level announcements regarding cloud computing adoption. The results indicate that cloud computing adoption announcements are associated with positive increases in the market value of the firm. In addition, we identified differences in the effect of cloud computing adoption on market returns according to strategic adoption intention, firm size, and industry sector. These results can be used as useful references for the firm’s decision-making about whether, when, and how to adopt cloud computing to maximize its business value

Discordance between Train-of-Four Response and Clinical Symptoms in a Patient with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

A 47-year-old woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis was scheduled for total thyroidectomy with cervical node dissection. During anesthetic management by total intravenous anesthesia using remifentanil, propofol, and rocuronium, train-of-four (TOF) monitoring findings were not consistent with clinical signs. Sugammadex successfully reversed shallow respiration

Application of Artificial Neural Network to Search for Gravitational-Wave Signals Associated with Short Gamma-Ray Bursts

We apply a machine learning algorithm, the artificial neural network, to the search for gravitational-wave signals associated with short gamma-ray bursts. The multi-dimensional samples consisting of data corresponding to the statistical and physical quantities from the coherent search pipeline are fed into the artificial neural network to distinguish simulated gravitational-wave signals from background noise artifacts. Our result shows that the data classification efficiency at a fixed false alarm probability is improved by the artificial neural network in comparison to the conventional detection statistic. Therefore, this algorithm increases the distance at which a gravitational-wave signal could be observed in coincidence with a gamma-ray burst. In order to demonstrate the performance, we also evaluate a few seconds of gravitational-wave data segment using the trained networks and obtain the false alarm probability. We suggest that the artificial neural network can be a complementary method to the conventional detection statistic for identifying gravitational-wave signals related to the short gamma-ray bursts.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figure

Association between shift work and obesity among female nurses: Korean Nurses’ Survey

Background: Shift work has been hypothesized as a risk factor for obesity. In this study, we investigated the association between current shift work and body mass index (BMI) among female nurses in Korea. The relationship between duration of shift work and BMI of the participants was also evaluated. Methods: This cross-sectional survey evaluated participants in the Korean Nurses’ Survey, conducted from October to December 2011, using web-based self-administered questionnaires. A total of 9,989 nurses were included among 10,000 who registered on the survey web site (5,287 shift workers and 4,702 non-shift workers). Current shift workers were divided into tertiles of shift work duration (0.08–3.00 years, n = 1,732; 3.08–6.75 years, n = 1,731; and 6.83–38.00 years, n = 1,686). The BMI thresholds of overweight and obesity were ≥23 kg/m2 and ≥25 kg/m2, respectively. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: Mean participant age was 33.2 ± 8.6 years and the mean BMI was 20.9 ± 2.5 kg/m2. There were statistically significant differences in current smoking status, regular drinking habit, dietary habits, regular exercise, sleep problems and self-perceived health status according to duration of shift work. The overall prevalence of overweight/obesity (18.6%) and obesity (7.4%) increased significantly as shift work duration increased from the lowest to highest tertile (P for trend <0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed no association between current shift work and BMI. However, after adjusting for potential confounders, the participants with the longest duration of shift work were 1.63 (95% CI, 1.22–2.17) times more likely to be overweight or obese than those with the shortest duration. There was a significant positive association between obesity and shift work duration in the unadjusted analysis; however, it was attenuated and no longer significant in the multivariate model. Conclusions: The duration of shift work was positively associated with prevalence of overweight/obesity in nurses in Korea. Although these findings need to be confirmed in prospective studies, they suggest that special attention should be paid to female nurses with a long duration of shift work

A Study of ICU Nursing Core Skill Design for Nursing Practice Education and Nursing Students’ Performance Competency

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to provide fundamental information for the establishment of ICU Nursing Core Skill for nursing students of Cheju Halla University, South Korea by clarifying contemporary nursing skills/activities used in an ICU. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a Nursing Activities Questionnaire that included 99 questions in a 4-Likert scale. Data were collected from 111 nurses working in ICUs within 6 different hospitals in Jeju and 168 3rd year students who were enrolled in the ICU core skills course with a response rate of 78.87%. The Important Index was calculated from the urgency multiplied by four and added frequency of nursing activities (The Important Index = the urgency×4 + frequency). The data was analysed with SPSS 20.0 program using descriptive statistics for frequency, urgency, importance and performance competency of nursing activities. Results: Fifty nursing activities that had ranked upper 25 % of the Important Index score among 99 nursing activities were examined. When 14 ICU Nursing Skills used at the Cheju Halla University were matched with 50 nursing activities identified by the ICU RNs, upper 25% of the Importance Index score, 9 items were found to be consistent. Conclusions: This research showed the frequency of relevant nursing interventions ranked within an Importance Index, and the focus of performance competency elements of nursing activities in ICU of hospitals in Jeju Island. Based on the results of this study, there is need to correct and revise ICU Core Skill elements within programs at Cheju Halla University. Future study is suggested to examine and evaluate the ability of nursing students who perform nursing activities shown as relevant and critical on the Importance Index in this study

Isolation and characterization of differentially expressed genes in the mycelium and fruit body of Pleurotus ostreatus

The fruiting body of one of the most widely cultivated mushrooms, the oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) is highly interesting, both commercially and scientifically. In the present study, we performed comparative proteomic profiling of P. ostreatus at two unique developmental stages; mycelium and fruit body, using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). Seven hundred fourteen (714) spots were detected and 29 spots (showing a high level of difference in their expressions) were identified by tandem mass spectrometry and basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) searching of an expressed sequence tag (EST) database of P. ostreatus. Among them, six proteins (putative fatty acid oxygenase, heat shock sks2, PriA homologue, Ap-1 like transcription factor YAP7, mung bean seed albumin, and C2H2 Zinc finger domain protein) and one protein (peroxisomal biogenesis factor 6) showed increased expression levels at the fruiting process and the mycelial stage, respectively. Through reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis, priA homologue and AP-1 like transcription factor yap7 showed gradually increased expression from mycelia to fruit body, whereas putative fatty acid oxygenase and heat shock protein sks2 were expressed only in the fruit body. These results provide useful information for future studies of mushroom development of P. ostreatus.Keywords: Developmental stage, mushroom fruiting, Pleurotus ostreatus, protein, two-dimensional gel electrophoresisAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(24), pp. 3790-379

Electro-acupuncture at acupoint ST36 reduces inflammation and regulates immune activity in Collagen-Induced Arthritic Mice

This study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic and immuno-regulatory effects of electro-acupuncture (EA) at ST36 on Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice. Male DBA/1J mice were divided into five groups: Normal, Control, NR (needle retention), EAI and EAII. All mice except those in the normal group were immunized with Collagen II for arthritis induction. Acupuncture needles were inserted into mice ST36 and electrical currents at a frequency of 2 Hz in a continuous rectangular wave form were conducted through the needles for 15 min, 3 times a week. EA treatments were administered for 5 weeks in the EAI group and for 9 weeks in the EAII group. The mice in the NR group were acupunctured in the same manner as the EA groups and the needles were retained for 15 min without electrical stimulation. CIA incidence analysis, ELISA, histological analysis and FACS analysis were performed to evaluate the effect of EA on CIA. EA at ST36 significantly reduced CIA incidence, IL-6, TNF-a, INF-γ, collagen II antibody, IgG and IgM levels in CIA mice serum and prevented knee joint destruction. EA at ST36 also reduced CD69+/CD3e+ cells and CD11a+/CD19+ cells in CIA mice lymph nodes, and CD11b+/Gr1+ cells in CIA mice knee joints. The ratios of CD3e+ cells to CD19+ cells, and CD8+ cells to CD4+ cells were maintained closer to the normal range in the EA groups as compared with the control group or the NR group. EAII was more effective than EAI throughout all the measurements. The NR was effective as well, though less effective than EA. EA at ST36 may have an anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic and immuno-regulatory effects on CIA in mice. The effectiveness is stronger when EA starts earlier and is applied longer. Needle retention without electrical stimulation may be effective on CIA as well, however less effective than EA. Electrical stimulation and acupoint ST36 may have synergistic effects on CIA