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We report synthesis of colloidal quantum dots (CQDs), indium gallium phosphide with zinc sulphide shell (In1−xGaxP@ZnS) by a hot injection method and investigate effects of In/Ga ...ratio on the optical properties of the obtained CQDs. The bandgap of CQDs (1.34–3.54eV) is controlled by the In/Ga ratio without the quantum confinement effect. The photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield is also dependent on the In/Ga ratio, and temperature dependent PL results show that the randomness of crystal lattice is the most influential parameter. These results show that the In1−xGaxP alloy CQDs can be useful for absorbing the whole range of visible light. In addition, this article can provide background knowledge regarding effect of core metal composition on the optical properties of produced CQDs.
There are few reports regarding mixed carcinoma, defined as a mixture of glandular and poorly cohesive components, in patients with gastric cancer (GC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the ...proportion and characteristics of mixed carcinoma in GC patients.
A total of 7,215 patients diagnosed with GC at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital were enrolled from March 2011 to February 2020. GC was divided into four groups (well-moderately differentiated GC, poorly differentiated GC, poorly cohesive carcinoma, and mixed carcinoma). The proportion of each GC type and the clinicopathological features were analyzed and divided into early GC and advanced GC.
The proportion of mixed carcinoma was 10.9% (n=787). In early GC, submucosal invasion was the most common in poorly differentiated (53.7%), and mixed carcinoma ranked second (41.1%). Mixed carcinoma showed the highest proportion of lymph node metastasis in early GC (23.0%) and advanced GC (78.3%). In advanced GC, the rate of distant metastasis was 3.6% and 3.9% in well-moderately differentiated GC and mixed carcinoma, respectively, lower than that in poorly differentiated GC (6.4%) and poorly cohesive carcinoma (5.7%), without statistical significance.
Mixed carcinoma was associated with lymph node metastasis compared to other histological GC subtypes. And it showed relatively common submucosal invasion in early GC, but the rates of venous invasion and distant metastasis were lower in advanced GC. Further research is needed to uncover the mechanism underlying these characteristics of mixed carcinoma (Trial registration number: NCT04973631).
A huge increase in the percentage of the world's urban population poses resource management, especially energy management challenges in smart cities. In this paper, the growing challenges of energy ...management in smart cities have been explored and the significance of elimination of energy holes in converge cast communication has been discussed. The impact of mitigation of energy holes on the network lifetime and energy efficiency has been thoroughly covered. The particular focus of this work has been on energy-efficient practices in two major key enablers of smart cities namely, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). In addition, this paper presents a robust survey of state-of-the-art energy-efficient routing and clustering methods in WSNs. A niche energy efficiency issue in WSNs routing has been identified as energy holes and a detailed survey and evaluation of various techniques that mitigate the formation of energy holes and achieve balanced energy-efficient routing has been covered.
The incidence and prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) shows sex difference. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of body mass index (BMI) on GC survival depending on sex.
The sex, age, location, ...histology, TNM stages, BMI, and survival were analyzed in GC patients from May 2003 to February 2020 at the Seoul National University Bundang Hospital.
Among 14,688 patients, there were twice as many males (66.6%) as females (33.4%). However, under age 40 years, females (8.6%) were more prevalent than males (3.1%). Cardia GC in males showed a U-shaped distribution for underweight (9.6%), normal (6.4%), overweight (6.1%), obesity (5.6%), and severe obesity (9.3%) but not in females (p=0.003). Females showed decreased proportion of diffuse-type GC regarding BMI (underweight 59.9%, normal 56.8%, overweight 49.5%, obesity 44.8%, and severe obesity 41.7%), but males did not (p<0.001). Both sexes had the worst prognosis in the underweight group (p<0.001), and the higher BMI, the better prognosis in males, but not females. Sex differences in prognosis according to BMI tended to be more prominent in males than in females in subgroup analysis of TNM stages I, II, and III and the operative treatment group.
GC-specific survival was affected by BMI in a sex-dependent manner. These differences may be related to genetic, and environmental, hormonal factors; body composition; and muscle mass (Trial registration number: NCT04973631).
Multiple-channel systems have several characterizing dimensions, as they encompass the concepts of multiple and dual channels. However, neither has been unambiguously distinguished. To clarify this ...difference, this study separates multichannel system dimensions into two categories: channel variety and duality. We examine how these two dimensions influence vertical and horizontal relationship governance in multichannel systems using survey data from industrial manufacturers. The results of our study show that vertical and horizontal governance positively affect channel performance, and that channel variety has a moderating role in weakening the performance effect of vertical governance, while channel duality strengthens this effect. Thus, the findings imply that diversifying channel types makes channel management difficult for manufacturers because of the negative moderating effect of this strategy. Meanwhile, the analytical results on the positive moderating effect of channel duality imply that the concurrent deployment of integrated and independent channels assists in vertical governance between manufacturers and intermediaries.
Purpose
– This paper aims to examine the influence of the salesperson’s characteristics (organizational commitment OC and disposition to innovate) on buyer’s behaviors in buyer – supplier ...relationships. A model is proposed depicting the effects of the salesperson’s OC and disposition to innovate on buyer’s long-term orientation and opportunism through partner-specific value to the buyer.
Design/methodology/approach
– Data were collected from 155 sales professionals of Japanese manufacturers. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.
Findings
– As predicted, the salesperson’s OC and disposition to innovate enhance buyer’s long-term orientation through providing partner-specific value to the buyer, and in turn, buyer’s long-term orientation mitigates opportunism.
Practical implications
– The salesperson plays an important role for developing and maintaining Buyer-seller relationships. Based on authors’ results, firms should promote salespeople’s OC because a highly committed salesperson is likely to be more innovative when managing the relationship with the buyer and, in turn, increase the relationship-specific value to the buyer.
Originality/value
– This study makes two contributions to Buyer-seller relationship literature. First, previous studies on the salesperson focus on the social aspects in the relationship. This study, however, examines the salesperson characteristics in the exchange, and the results reveal the importance of including the salesperson characteristics in studying Buyer-seller relationships. Second, this study proposes the salesperson’s partner-specific value as a key boundary-spanning aspect mediating the salesperson characteristics and buyer’s behaviors in Buyer-seller relationships. The results confirm the argument, thus providing impetus for further studying different types and dimensions of transaction-specific assets in Buyer-seller relationships.
Although immunomodulators are widely prescribed in patients with Crohn's disease (CD), it is unclear whether there is a difference in treatment outcomes between thiopurines and methotrexate (MTX).
To ...compare the risk of clinical failure between thiopurines and MTX in bio-naïve patients with CD.
Nationwide, population-based study.
We used claims data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service. After inverse probability of treatment weighting, logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard analyses were used to evaluate the risk of clinical failure in bio-naïve patients with CD treated with thiopurine (thiopurine group) or MTX (MTX group).
Overall, 10,296 adult and pediatric patients with CD 9912 (96.3%) and 384 (3.7%) in the thiopurine and MTX groups, respectively were included. The odds ratios (ORs) of failure to induce remission were significantly higher in the MTX group than in the thiopurine group adjusted OR (aOR), 1.115; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.045-1.190;
= 0.001. However, the opposite result was observed only in patients without concomitant steroid use: the MTX group had a lower risk of induction failure than the thiopurine group (aOR, 0.740; 95% CI, 0.673-0.813;
< 0.001). The risk of overall maintenance failure was higher in the MTX group than in the thiopurine group adjusted hazard ratio (aHR), 1.117; 95% CI, 1.047-1.191;
= 0.001. The risk of overall maintenance failure was higher in the standard-dose MTX group than in the low-dose MTX group (aHR, 1.296; 95% CI, 1.134-1.480;
< 0.001). There was no significant difference in the risk of maintenance failure according to the administration route of MTX.
Thiopurine is more effective than MTX in inducing and maintaining remission in bio-naïve patients with CD; however, the concomitant use of steroids influences inducing remission.
The
extract GCWB104 has been shown to have significant protective effects against gastritis and gastric ulcers
. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of GCWB104 in ...subjects with functional dyspepsia (FD).
In this single-center, double-blind, randomized clinical trial, 92 subjects diagnosed with FD using the Rome III criteria were allocated to either the test group (300 mg of GCWB104, containing 125 mg of
extract, twice daily) or the placebo group (300 mg placebo, twice daily). The total score improvement on the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) for individual symptoms, changes in antioxidant levels, changes in dyspepsia-related quality of life according to the Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI), and adverse effects were compared before and after 8 weeks of treatment.
The differences in total GSRS scores and score improvements after 8 weeks of treatment were significant between the GCWB104 and control groups (p=0.0452 and p=0.0486, respectively). Thirteen of 15 individual symptoms on the GSRS improved in the GCWB104 group, while six symptoms improved in the control group. In addition, statistically significant changes in rumbling, loose stool, and stool urgency were observed in the GCWB104 group. Blood 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels, known as antioxidants, showed significant reductions after 8 weeks of administration of GCWB104. There were no adverse events related to treatment with GCWB104.
GCWB104 safely contributed to improvements in mild to moderate FD and irritable bowel syndrome symptoms. Antioxidant effects of GCWB104 were also suggested (Clinicaltrials.gov number NCT04008901).
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