Intra-organizational integration and innovation: organizational structure, environmental contingency and R&D performance

It is widely thought that intra-firm integration has a positive effect on organizational performance, especially in environments characterized by complex and uncertain information. However, counter arguments suggest that integration may limit flexibility and thereby reduce performance in the face of uncertainty. Research and development activities of a firm are especially likely to face complex and uncertain information environments. Following prior work in contingency theory, this paper analyzes the effects of intra-organizational integration on manufacturing firms’ innovative performance. Based on a survey of R&D units in US manufacturing firms and patent data from the NBER patent database, we examine the relation between mechanisms for linking R&D to other units of the firm and the relative innovativeness of the firm. Furthermore, we argue that the impact of integration may vary by the importance of secrecy in protecting firms’ innovation advantages. We find that intra-firm integration is associated with higher self-reported innovativeness and more patents. We also find some evidence that this effect is moderated by the appropriability regime the firm faces, with the benefits of cross-functional integration being weaker in industries where secrecy is especially important. These results both support and develop the contingency model of organizational performance.Innovation; Organizations; Contingency theory;

Efficacy and safety of rapid intermittent correction compared with slow continuous correction with hypertonic saline in patients with moderately severe or severe symptomatic hyponatremia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (SALSA trial)

Abstract Background Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte imbalance encountered in clinical practice, associated with increased mortality and length of hospital stay. However, no high-quality evidence regarding whether hypertonic saline is best administered as a continuous infusion or a bolus injection has been found to date. Therefore, in the current study, we will evaluate the efficacy and safety of rapid intermittent correction compared with slow continuous correction with hypertonic saline in patients with moderately severe or severe symptomatic hyponatremia. Methods/design This is a prospective, investigator-initiated, multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled study with two experimental therapy groups. A total of 178 patients with severe symptomatic hyponatremia will be enrolled and randomly assigned to receive either rapid intermittent bolus or slow continuous infusion management with hypertonic saline. The primary outcome is the incidence of overcorrection at any given period over 2 days. The secondary outcomes will include the efficacy and safety of two other approaches to the treatment of hyponatremia with 3% hypertonic saline. Discussion This is the first clinical trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of rapid intermittent correction compared with slow continuous correction with hypertonic saline in patients with moderately severe or severe hyponatremia. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier number: NCT02887469 . Registered on 1 August 2016

Analysis of the Relationship between Cerebellar Volume and Psychological Parameters in 20s Male Adults

AbstractThis study measured the cerebellar volume of normal male adults in 20s with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and analysed the relationship between cerebellar volume and various psychological parameters. The cerebellar volume of 58 males (mean age, 24.0-2.8 years) was measured using MRI. The Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) and the Component of Type A Behavior tests were performed. Using linear regression analysis, the relationship between cerebellar volume and psychological parameters was analysed. As phobic anxiety and ambition increased, cerebellar volume of normal male subjects in 20s decreased. This study showed that for even normal male adults, there exists a possible relationship between various psychological parameters and cerebellar volume

Comparative cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes patients taking dapagliflozin versus empagliflozin: a nationwide population-based cohort study

BACKGROUND: Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors displayed cardiovascular benefits in type 2 diabetes mellitus in previous studies; however, there were some heterogeneities regarding respective cardiovascular outcomes within the class. Furthermore, their efficacies in Asians, females, and those with low cardiovascular risks were under-represented. Thus, we compared the cardiovascular outcomes between new users of dapagliflozin and empagliflozin in a broad range of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using a nationwide population-based real-world cohort from Korea. METHODS: Korean National Health Insurance registry data between May 2016 and December 2018 were extracted, and an active-comparator new-user design was applied. The primary outcome was a composite of heart failure (HF)-related events (i.e., hospitalization for HF and HF-related death), myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and cardiovascular death. The secondary outcomes were individual components of the primary outcome. RESULTS: A total of 366,031 new users of dapagliflozin or empagliflozin were identified. After 1:1 nearest-neighbor propensity score matching, 72,752 individuals (mean age approximately 56 years, 42% women) from each group were included in the final analysis, with a follow-up of 150,000 ~ person-years. Approximately 40% of the patients included in the study had type 2 diabetes mellitus as their sole cardiovascular risk factor, with no other risk factors. The risk of the primary outcome was not different significantly between dapagliflozin and empagliflozin users (hazard ratio [HR] 0.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.855-1.006). The risks of secondary outcomes were also similar, with the exception of the risks of HF-related events (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.714-0.989) and cardiovascular death (HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.618-0.921), which were significantly lower in the dapagliflozin users. CONCLUSIONS: This large-scale nationwide population-based real-world cohort study revealed no significant difference in composite cardiovascular outcomes between new users of dapagliflozin and empagliflozin. However, dapagliflozin might be associated with lower risks of hospitalization or death due to HF and cardiovascular death than empagliflozin in Asian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Inhibitory Effects of Chrysanthemum boreale

The aim of the study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of essential oil extracted from Chrysanthemum boreale (C. boreale) on Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans). To investigate anticariogenic properties, and bacterial growth, acid production, biofilm formation, bacterial adherence of S. mutans were evaluated. Then gene expression of several virulence factors was also evaluated. C. boreale essential oil exhibited significant inhibition of bacterial growth, adherence capacity, and acid production of S. mutans at concentrations 0.1–0.5 mg/mL and 0.25–0.5 mg/mL, respectively. The safranin staining and scanning electron microscopy results showed that the biofilm formation was also inhibited. The result of live/dead staining showed the bactericidal effect. Furthermore, real-time PCR analysis showed that the gene expression of some virulence factors such as gtfB, gtfC, gtfD, gbpB, spaP, brpA, relA, and vicR of S. mutans was significantly decreased in a dose dependent manner. In GC and GC-MS analysis, seventy-two compounds were identified in the oil, representing 85.42% of the total oil. The major components were camphor (20.89%), β-caryophyllene (5.71%), α-thujone (5.46%), piperitone (5.27%), epi-sesquiphellandrene (5.16%), α-pinene (4.97%), 1,8-cineole (4.52%), β-pinene (4.45%), and camphene (4.19%). These results suggest that C. boreale essential oil may inhibit growth, adhesion, acid tolerance, and biofilm formation of S. mutans through the partial inhibition of several of these virulence factors

Effects of Capsaicin on Adipogenic Differentiation in Bovine Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cell

Capsaicin is a major constituent of hot chili peppers that influences lipid metabolism in animals. In this study, we explored the effects of capsaicin on adipogenic differentiation of bovine bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The BMSCs were treated with various concentrations of capsaicin (0, 0.1, 1, 5, and 10 μM) for 2, 4, and 6 days. Capsaicin suppressed fat deposition significantly during adipogenic differentiation. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, cytosine-cytosine-adenosine-adenosine-thymidine/enhancer binding protein alpha, fatty acid binding protein 4, and stearoyl-CoA desaturase expression decreased after capsaicin treatment. We showed that the number of apoptotic cells increased in dose- and time-dependent manners. Furthermore, we found that capsaicin increased the expression levels of apoptotic genes, such as B-cell lymphoma 2-associated X protein and caspase 3. Overall, capsaicin inhibits fat deposition by triggering apoptosis

Differences in Clinical Characteristics between Patients with Non-Erosive Reflux Disease and Erosive Esophagitis in Korea

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is caused by abnormal reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus. GERD can be divided into two groups, erosive esophagitis and non-erosive reflux disease (NERD). The aim of this study was to compare the clinical characteristics of patients with erosive esophagitis to those with NERD. All participating patients underwent an upper endoscopy during a voluntary health check-up. The NERD group consisted of 500 subjects with classic GERD symptoms in the absence of esophageal mucosal injury during upper endoscopy. The erosive esophagitis group consisted of 292 subjects with superficial esophageal erosions with or without typical symptoms of GERD. Among GERD patients, male gender, high body mass index, high obesity degree, high waist-to-hip ratio, high triglycerides, alcohol intake, smoking and the presence of a hiatal hernia were positively related to the development of erosive esophagitis compared to NERD. In multivariated analysis, male gender, waist-to-hip ratio and the presence of a hiatal hernia were the significant risk factors of erosive esophagitis. We suggest that erosive esophagitis was more closely related to abdominal obesity

Comparative cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes patients taking dapagliflozin versus empagliflozin: a nationwide population-based cohort study

Background Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors displayed cardiovascular benefits in type 2 diabetes mellitus in previous studies; however, there were some heterogeneities regarding respective cardiovascular outcomes within the class. Furthermore, their efficacies in Asians, females, and those with low cardiovascular risks were under-represented. Thus, we compared the cardiovascular outcomes between new users of dapagliflozin and empagliflozin in a broad range of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using a nationwide population-based real-world cohort from Korea. Methods Korean National Health Insurance registry data between May 2016 and December 2018 were extracted, and an active-comparator new-user design was applied. The primary outcome was a composite of heart failure (HF)-related events (i.e., hospitalization for HF and HF-related death), myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and cardiovascular death. The secondary outcomes were individual components of the primary outcome. Results A total of 366,031 new users of dapagliflozin or empagliflozin were identified. After 1:1 nearest-neighbor propensity score matching, 72,752 individuals (mean age approximately 56 years, 42% women) from each group were included in the final analysis, with a follow-up of 150,000 ~ person-years. Approximately 40% of the patients included in the study had type 2 diabetes mellitus as their sole cardiovascular risk factor, with no other risk factors. The risk of the primary outcome was not different significantly between dapagliflozin and empagliflozin users (hazard ratio [HR] 0.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.855–1.006). The risks of secondary outcomes were also similar, with the exception of the risks of HF-related events (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.714–0.989) and cardiovascular death (HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.618–0.921), which were significantly lower in the dapagliflozin users. Conclusions This large-scale nationwide population-based real-world cohort study revealed no significant difference in composite cardiovascular outcomes between new users of dapagliflozin and empagliflozin. However, dapagliflozin might be associated with lower risks of hospitalization or death due to HF and cardiovascular death than empagliflozin in Asian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.This project is an investigator-initiated trial. This research was funded by a grant (Grant number: E-1906-115-1041) from Samjin Pharmaceutical (Seoul, Korea). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, preparation of the manuscript, or decision to submit result