A study of the causal relationship between IT governance inhibitors and its success in Korea enterprises

노트 : Proceedings of the 41st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2008 행사명 : 41st Hawaii International Conference on System Sc

Establishment, Regeneration, and Succession of Korean Red Pine (Pinus densiflora S. et Z.) Forest in Korea

Seed production of Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora Siebold & Zucc.) was ranging from 25 to 27 seeds/m2 with a viability averaging between 42 and 44%. Seed dispersal reaches about 80 m. Germination rate of seed varied from 19 to 90%, and survival rate of seedling varied from 0 to 30% depending on moisture condition in field experiment. Survivorship curve of the pine population showed type III. Species composition of the pine forest was characterized by possessing plants with resistant capacity to water deficit such as Rhododendron micranthum, Vaccinium hirtum var. koreanum, Spodiopogon sibiricus, and Lespedeza cyrtobotrya. Ecological longevity of the pine was about 140 years based on mean age of gap makers. Natural maintenance of the pine forest depended on disturbance regime, which is dominated by endogenous factor. Natural regeneration of the pine forest is possible only in a very restricted site such as ridgetop with thin and infertile soil condition. Therefore, active and systematic management is required for artificial regeneration of the forest as is known in silivicultural method. Pine gall midge damage accelerated succession of the pine forest to the deciduous broadleaved forest dominated by oak except on the ridgetop where the forest can be maintained naturally

Robotic pylorus preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy with mini-laparotomy reconstruction in patient with ampullary adenoma

Robotic surgical system provides many unique advantages which might compensate the limitations of usual laparoscopic surgery. By using robotic surgical system, we performed robot-assisted laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). A Sixty-two year old female patient with an ampullary mass underwent robot assisted PD due to imcomplete treatment of endoscopic ampullectomy. The removal of specimen and reconstruction were performed through small upper midline skin incision. Robot working time was about 8 hours, and blood loss was about 800 ml without blood transfusion. She returned to an oral diet on postoperative day 3. Grade B pancreatic leak was noted during the postoperative period, but was successfully managed by conservative management alone. We successfully performed da Vinci-assisted laparoscopic PD, and robot surgical system provided three-dimensional stable visualization and wrist-like motion of instrument facilitated complex operative procedures. More experiences are necessary to address real role of robot in far advanced laparoscopic pancreatic surgery

Dynamic Temporal Change of Cerebral Microbleeds: Long-Term Follow-Up MRI Study

Background: Cerebral microbleeds (MBs) are understood as an important radiologic marker of intracerebral hemorrhage. We sought to investigate the temporal changes of MBs and clinical factors associated with the changes using long-term follow-up MRI. Methods/Principal Findings: From October 2002 to July 2006, we prospectively enrolled patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack, and followed-up their brain MRIs with an interval.12 mo. We compared demographic factors, vascular risk factors, laboratory findings, and radiologic factors according to the presence or changes of MBs. A total of 224 patients successfully completed the follow-up examinations (mean, 27 months). Newly developed MBs were noted in 10 patients (6.8%) among those without MBs at baseline (n = 148), and in those with MBs at baseline (n = 76), the MB count had decreased in 11 patients (14.5%), and increased in 41 patients (53.9%). The estimated annual rate of change of MB numbers was 0.80 lesions per year in all patients, a value which became greater in those patients who exhibited MBs at baseline (MBs$5, 5.43 lesions per year). Strokes due to small vessel occlusion and intracerebral hemorrhage, as well as white matter lesions were independently associated with an increased MB count, whereas the highest quartile of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol was associated with a decreased MB count. Conclusion: During the follow-up period, most of MBs showed dynamic temporal change. Symptomatic or asymptomati

High-Throughput Genotyping in Metastatic Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Identifies Phosphoinositide-3-Kinase and BRAF Mutations

Background: Given the high incidence of metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, especially in Asia, we screened for the presence of somatic mutations using OncoMap platform with the aim of defining subsets of patients who may be potential candidate for targeted therapy. Methods and Materials We analyzed 87 tissue specimens obtained from 80 patients who were pathologically confirmed with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and received 5-fluoropyrimidine/platinum-based chemotherapy. OncoMap 4.0, a mass-spectrometry based assay, was used to interrogate 471 oncogenic mutations in 41 commonly mutated genes. Tumor specimens were prepared from primary cancer sites in 70 patients and from metastatic sites in 17 patients. In order to test the concordance between primary and metastatic sites from the patient for mutations, we analyzed 7 paired (primary-metastatic) specimens. All specimens were formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissues and tumor content was >70%. Results: In total, we have detected 20 hotspot mutations out of 80 patients screened. The most frequent mutation was PIK3CA mutation (four E545K, five H1047R and one H1047L) (N = 10, 11.5%) followed by MLH1 V384D (N = 7, 8.0%), TP53 (R306, R175H and R273C) (N = 3, 3.5%), BRAF V600E (N = 1, 1.2%), CTNNB1 D32N (N = 1, 1.2%), and EGFR P733L (N = 1, 1.2%). Distributions of somatic mutations were not different according to anatomic sites of esophageal cancer (cervical/upper, mid, lower). In addition, there was no difference in frequency of mutations between primary-metastasis paired samples. Conclusions: Our study led to the detection of potentially druggable mutations in esophageal SCC which may guide novel therapies in small subsets of esophageal cancer patients

Paradoxical effect of obesity on hemorrhagic transformation after acute ischemic stroke

Background : Among the patients with established coronary artery diseases, obese patients tend to have a more favorable prognosis, which is called as obesity paradox. Interestingly, mildly obese patients who underwent coronary revascularization had a lower risk of bleeding. In this context, we have investigated the association between obesity and hemorrhagic transformation (HTf) after acute ischemic stroke. Methods : A total of 365 patients with first-ever acute ischemic stroke were included in this study. Demographic, clinical and radiological information was collected and HTf was evaluated through follow-up T2*-weighted gradient-recalled echo MRI performed usually within 1 week after occurrence of stroke. Body mass index was calculated, and obesity was defined using the World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office criteria. Results : The HTf was identified in 59 patients (16.2%). As the severity of obesity increased, the occurrence of HTf decreased. Compared with the normal weight group and after controlling possible confounders including acute and previous treatment, stroke severity and subtype, the risk of HTf decreased significantly in the obese group (odds ratio, 0.39; 95% confidence interval, 0.17-0.87). Conclusions : The better outcome for HTf seen in obese patients suggests the existence of a bleeding-obesity paradox in acute ischemic stroke.This work was supported by grants of the Korean Health Technology R&D Project, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea (A111014).Peer Reviewe

The First Experience of Robot Assisted Spleen-Preserving Laparoscopic Distal Pancreatectomy in Korea

Spleen-preservation has recently been emphasized in benign and borderline malignant pancreatic diseases requiring distal pancreatectomy. Reports to suggest that laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy is feasible and safe have been increasingly published. Robotic surgical system has been introduced and is expected to provide unique advantages in laparoscopic surgery. However, robot-assisted pancreatic surgery has not yet been performed by many surgeons. A 45-year-old female patient with abdominal discomfort was found to have pancreatic cyst in the body of the pancreas. Mucinous cystic tumor of the pancreas was the most favourable preoperative diagnosis. She underwent spleen-preserving laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy by using da Vinci surgical robot system. Splenic artery and vein were so tightly adherent to the pancreatic cyst that segmental resection of splenic vessels was required. Postoperative course was uneventful. She was able to come home in 5 days after surgery. Postoperative follow up color doppler ultrasound scan, taken on 2 weeks after surgery, showed minimal fluid collection around surgical field and no evidence of splenic infarction with good preservation of splenic perfusion. Robot-assisted spleen preserving distal pancreatectomy is thought to be feasible and safe. Several unique advantages of robotic system are expected to enhance safer and more precise surgical performance in near future. More experiences are mandatory to confirm real benefit of robot surgery in pancreatic disease