The Influence of Boundary Spanning Capability on Cultural Differences--Multi-case Study fromVendors’Perspective

Most offshore IS outsourcing projects were failed. Communication and coordination problems caused by cultural differences between clients and vendors are important reasons. The theory of boundary spanning capability provides a new theoretical perspective for research of coordination and communication mechanisms between clients and vendors. In this paper, we chose three vendors focused on software testing to investigate the influence of boundary spanning capability on cultural differences. We found that high boundary spanning capability can reduce the influence of cultural differences, and improve the succes

Clinical application of spectral CT perfusion scanning in evaluating the blood supply source of portal vein tumor thrombus in hepatocellular carcinoma

PurposeTo evaluate the characteristic of blood supply of liver portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) using perfusion indexes and spectral parameters.MethodsBetween July 2020 and December 2022, the study enrolled 25 liver cancer patients completed with PVTT (male=20, female=5; age 41-74 years (59.48 ± 9.12)) from the Interventional Department of Jiangsu Cancer Hospital. There were 11 cases of type III PVTT, 12 of type II PVTT, and 2 of type I PVTT (Cheng’s classification). All patients underwent spectral perfusion scans through dual-layer spectral detector computed tomography. The PVTTs were divided into proximal and distal groups based on the distance between the tumor thrombus and the main portal vein. The perfusion analysis was performed on the 120-kVp conventional images to generate hepatic perfusion index (HPI). The spectral based images (SBIs) during the artery and venous peak phases were extracted from the perfusion data. The iodine map and 40&100-keV virtual monoenergetic image (VMI) were generated from SBI data. HPI, iodine concentration (IC), CT value at 40 and 100-keV, and spectral slope (40-100keV) of the primary lesion, proximal and distal PVTT, and liver parenchyma were measured and compared. The correlation between the primary lesion and proximal and distal PVTT was analyzed.ResultsThe IC and spectral slope during the arterial and venous peak phases and HPI of the primary lesion, proximal PVTT, and distal PVTT were highly correlated (P<0.001). The differences between the IC and spectral slope during the arterial and venous peak phases and HPI of the primary lesion, proximal PVTT were statistically significant (P<0.001). The differences between the IC during venous peak phase and HPI of primary lesion, distal PVTT were statistically significant (P<0.001), and there was no statistically significant difference in arterial phase IC, arterial and venous phase spectral slopes.ConclusionThe IC, slope, and HPI of the distal and proximal PVTT were highly correlated with the primary lesion, indicating that PVTT was similar to the primary lesion in the liver that they were both mainly supplied by the hepatic artery. However, there was still significant heterogeneity between the proximal PVTT and the primary lesion, while the difference in the distal PVTT was relatively small

PEGylation of lipophilic SN38 prodrug with DSPE-mPEG2000 versus cremophor EL: comparative study for intravenous chemotherapy

The lipophilic prodrug of hydrophobic drugs with well-designed molecular structures can form stable pure prodrug nanoparticles (NPs), but rapid NPs aggregation in plasma greatly restricted their direct use for intravenous chemotherapy. To address this, DSPE-mPEG2000 and Cremophor EL are two of the most widely used lipophilic PEG derivatives to enhance their colloidal stability in plasma. However, their drug delivery performances have never been comparatively studied. Here, a redox-responsive lipophilic prodrug of SN38 was chosen as the model drug for such comparative investigations. We found that Cremophor EL/NPs having a small diameter (∼15 nm) and poor kinetic stability displayed an enhanced cell internalization, higher cytotoxicity and prolonged circulation time as compared with DSPE-mPEG2000/NPs. Most importantly, these superiorities further resulted in a much more potent antitumor activity in CT26 colorectal cancer xenograft, but the increased loss of body weight was also noted. These results suggested that Cremophor EL could be more advantageous than DSPE-mPEG2000 in terms of the improvement of antitumor activity, but the enhanced toxicity warranted further attention in the future study