Recent proposal of grading system for lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) from the pathology committee of International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer emphasizes the amount of high-grade components (HGC) in the prognostic stratification of LUAD. Underlying pathobiologic features supporting the biologic significance of HGC in LUAD has not been fully evaluated yet.

Serum lipid levels and its association with gastric cancer is controversial with inconsistent study results being reported. We aimed to further clarify the role of serum lipids level as a risk factor for gastric cancer risk. A total of 434 consecutive patients pathologically diagnosed gastric cancer were prospectively enrolled between December 2013 to March 2017, and 3053 controls from Health Promotion Center who received health examination during the same period were collected for this case-control study. All patients had measured laboratory data including total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, and apolipoprotein A-I. A total of 434 consecutive patients pathologically diagnosed gastric cancer were prospectively enrolled between December 2013 to March 2017, and 3053 controls from Health Promotion Center who received health examination during the same period were collected for case-control. All patients had measured laboratory data including total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, and apolipoprotein A-I. After adjusting for age and gender, lower HDL level (< 40 mg/dL, adjusted OR =1.629, 95% CI=1.252–2.119), higher LDL levels (LDL=100-129 mg/dL: adjusted OR=1.742; LDL=130-160: adjusted OR=1.857; LDL≥160: adjusted OR=1.663), and lower apolipoprotein A-I level (< 178 mg/dL, adjusted OR=1.795, 95% CI=1.190–2.710) were significantly associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer. After adjusting multivariate factors including age, gender, Helicobacter pylori infection, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol drinking status and family history of gastric cancer, higher LDL level (LDL=100-129 mg/dL: adjusted OR=1.655; LDL=130-160: adjusted OR=1.787) and lower apolipoprotein B (adjusted OR=1.381, 95% CI=1.034–1.848) were identified as significant factors for gastric cancer. In subgroup analysis of gastric cancer patients, triglyceride level was inversely correlated with advanced cancer stage and poor differentiation. Low serum HDL level, high LDL level, low apolipoprotein A-I and lower apolipoprotein B level were significantly associated with increased risk of gastric cancer, and low triglyceride level was correlated with advanced cancer stage and poorer differentiation.

Employee training and development are usually believed to improve various elements of firm outcomes including customer outcomes and capabilities. However, theory and substantial evidence suggests that training outcomes differ by firm size, with larger firms potentially benefitting more. Theory may also suggest that that training and development have a greater overall impact in emerging economies which may lack the depth of educational systems as well as digitization and automation of customer service enjoyed in advanced economies. The current article extends this literature, testing the main effect of training and development on customer loyalty and moderation effects of firm size and market type on this main relationship among 2056 listed firms across 66 countries and using annual panel data spanning 2010-2016. However, the empirical results find support for neither strong effects of training and development on customer loyalty nor for the proposed moderation effects. Unique elements of this research include the longitudinal and large-sample, global methodology as well as the unusual null-effects findings which contradict earlier findings and may provide food for thought in this field.

Aims We aimed to develop endoscopic scoring system to evaluate atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia using narrowing band imaging (NBI) and magnification view and to compare endoscopic scores with Operative link for gastritis assessment (OLGA) and Operative link for gastric intestinal metaplasia assessment (OLGIM).

Two monoclonal antibodies, RP215 and GHR106, were selected, respectively, for the research and development of anti-cancer drugs targeting ovarian cancer and other types of human cancer. RP215 was shown to react with a carbohydrate-associated epitope located mainly in the variable regions of immunoglobulin heavy chains expressed on the surface of almost all cancer cells in humans. GHR106 was generated against a synthetic peptide corresponding to N1-29 amino acid residues in the extracellular domains of human GnRH receptor, which is surface-expressed by most cancer cells as well as the anterior pituitary. This monoclonal antibody was shown to serve as a bioequivalent analog to GnRH-derived decapeptides currently used clinically. The molecular mechanisms of action of these two antibody-based anti-cancer drug candidates were well elucidated following numerous biochemical, immunological, and molecular biological studies, mainly by using ovarian cancer as the model. Further preclinical studies with humanized forms of these two antibodies are essential.

Self-service check in has become a norm for passengers in the worldwide airline industry. However, this broader methodology of check-in is dominated by the use of the internet over other self-service check-in channels such as kiosks and mobile. Check in options such as mobile do, however, remain important to airlines for a variety of reasons. This paper therefore examines some factors involved in the choice to enact mobile check-in within a sample of over 700 South African airline passengers. Notably, we examine whether technological readiness of passengers moderates the relationships between attitude towards mobile check-in and positive response to the experience, as well as adoption of mobile check-in and positive response. These moderation relationships are supported for technological optimism specifically, which when higher is associated with stronger positive relationships between attitudes and responses and adoption and responses. Implications and recommendations are discussed.

Orientation: Talent measurement is a critical input to talent management (TM). Involving the application of measurement methodologies in order to determine the current and longer-term potential, competencies and contribution of employees and their roles, talent measurement is a growing field of interest in human resources. Research purpose: This article reviews and integrates the practice of talent measurement, including developing a model of talent measurement, rooting the practice in theory and suggesting several relatively unexplored aspects of talent measurement that may have potential for improvement or controversy. Motivation for the study: Talent measurement has not been adequately discussed and critiqued. Research approach/design and method: A theory review and development approach is taken in this article. Main findings: A holistic model for talent measurement is presented, including elements that have not received much prior attention such as theoretical foundations, the practicalities of including a role element, the advisability of using talent pools, the question of whether talent measures or status should be revealed to employees, the integration of talent pools with diversity or transformation imperatives, and others. Practical/managerial implications: Managers who employ TM should benefit from this review and set of challenges regarding the practice of talent measurement. Contribution/value-add: Although TM has been extensively discussed, the specific measurement options involved have been less well examined. Development of a holistic model and identification of outstanding controversies within it provide value to practitioners and to the evolution of TM.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate and recommend formal guidelines for the initial design of country-level or sectoral payroll levy systems that are intended to incentivize new firm training. The paper presents and illustrates two necessary conditions for new training to be stimulated, one involving transaction costs and the other the incentive payback. Ultimately, the purpose is to guide more successful designs for such systems in future. Design/methodology/approach The paper is principally theoretical, but the South African levy-grant system of the late 1990s is used as a case study. The paper illustrates how World Bank data may have been used to guide the design. Findings The paper demonstrates how during the design phase, policy makers can employ knowledge of pre-incentive training levels of firms, and possibly also estimates of unit transaction costs, to estimate the number of employees that may be positively affected. In the South African case, the actual system used may have been underspecified and unlikely to reach many employees with new training. Research limitations/implications Future research may employ these guidelines in empirical studies of the relative success of payroll levies. Practical implications The practical value of the paper is formal guidelines for policy makers seeking to implement such payroll levy systems. Social implications Better design for these systems may have positive implications for productivity and social externalities while avoiding unnecessary waste. Originality/value While there have been several more general reflections of payroll levy systems, and empirical investigations of their efficacy, this is the first paper formally modeling and testing design guidelines that can be implemented practically in the pre-implementation phase.

Executive pay has long been a point of contention in the world of work (e.g. Thomas & Hill 2014). The sheer scale of remuneration afforded to executives often dwarfs that of lower-level employees (e.g. Ferdman 2014; Kiatpongsan & Norton 2014; PE Corporate Services 2014; Preston 2014; PWC 2014). The notion that such pay is just reward for the application, acquisition and retention of complex and scarce skills has been challenged for many reasons, notably when companies do poorly yet executive pay remains high Chapter 6 Transcending paradox in the realm of South African executive pay

This article seeks to examine factors that affect consumer attitudes and intentions towards online apparel shopping in South Africa. This is achieved by testing Monsuwe et al.'s (2004) expanded version of the well-known Technology Acceptance Model, which adds consumer, situational, product, trust and past experience contextual factors. The purpose of this article is to better understand this model as it applies to several less-studied contextual factors such as enjoyment, interaction and past buying experiences within a developing market context and focusing on the complex apparel sector. Results of the structural equation models highlight the particular importance of enjoyment and interaction in online apparel shopping, and find vast differences based on differentiation by past buying experience. With the exception of prior experience, consumer, situational, product and trust contextual factors do not moderate the main relationships. These findings contribute to our understanding of online apparel shopping in the South African context, notably informing important managerial possibilities surrounding website design, product offering, market research and other issues.

Uterine cervical varix is a rare but important cause of antepartum bleeding. The imagings of ultrasonography and Magnetic Resonance imaging are useful tools used to diagnose uterine cervical varix during pregnancy. In the present case, we describe the clinical course and imaging results of a 36-year-old woman who was diagnosed with uterine cervical varix during pregnancy. She had a history of uterine cervical conisation because of uterine cervical cancer Ia1. She visited to our clinic because of profuse vaginal bleeding at a gestational age of 16 weeks. The result of PAP smear was negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy. Her hemoglobin level was 6.2 g/dl. The findings of color ultrasonography and Magnetic resonance imaging without contrast led to suggestion of uterine cervical varix. Fortunately the varix was spontaneously regressed and vaginal bleeding did not occurred after 20 weeks of gestation. At 35 weeks of gestation, a boy weighing 2300 g was delivered by vaginal delivery.

To determine the factors associated with success of emergency cerclage in pregnant women with single gestation. A retrospective study of pregnant woman who underwent emergency cerclage from 2010 to 2014 at St. Vincent's Hospital of Catholic university was performed. Inclusion criteria of the study were that there must be 1) a singleton pregnancies between 16+0 weeks and 27+6 gestational weeks, 2) no regular painful contractions or 3) no premature rupture of membranes, 4) cervical length was below 2 cm. Subjects were divided into two groups depending on cervical length at time of cerclage (<1 cm, ≥1 cm) for comparison. Outcomes used were gestational age at delivery and latency. Success pregnancy was defined as delivery after 34 weeks. Univariate and multivariate regression tests were used to evaluate associated factors with outcomes. And survival analysis was constructed for cervical length at cerclage and gestational age at cerclage. A total 59 pregnant women with complete data were available for analysis. Women with cervical length < 1 cm delivered at an earlier mean gestational age than women with cervical length ≥1 cm (32.5 weeks vs. 37.1 weeks, p = 0.001). The latency of women with cervical length <1 cm was shorter than women with cervical length ≥ 1 cm (9.4 weeks vs. 14.2 weeks, p = 0.001). Maternal age, gestational age at cerclage and cervical length after cerclage independently predicted success of pregnancy outcome. The factors associated with success of emergency cerclage are cervical length at cerclage, cervical length after cerclage, maternal age and gestational age at cerclage.

Introduction: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), as well as Helicobacter pylori, has been accepted as an infective agent causing gastric cancer (GC). In conventional gastric adenocarcinoma of the diffuse and intestinal types, EBV is found in 7%-14% of cases. Moreover, EBV associated GC (EBVaGC) occur more frequently in male and in young age group, in the proximal stomach. However, the incidence of EBV associated GC (EBVaGC) in patients that received solid organ transplantation (SOT) and immunosuppression therapy is still unknown. Methods: The aims of this study were to evaluate the pathological characteristics and clinical outcomes of EBVaGC in patients who had performed SOT. Between January 1994 and December 2011, total 29 gastric carcinomas on 28 consecutive were confirmed and treated with endoscopic resection or operation in patients undergone SOT at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue from these resection specimens were re-assessed for EBV by in situ hybridization and data from medical record were also reviewed retrospectively. Results: Of the 6,491 patients who underwent SOT during the study periods, 30 patients (0.46%) with 31 lesions were diagnosed with gastric cancer. Among them, 28 patients with 29 lesions were treated by endoscopic resection or operation. The median age of patients was 59 years (IQR, 54-64 years) and men were 23. The median duration between transplantation and diagnosis of GC was 45 months (IQR, 34.5-80.5 months). Of total 29 GCs, 8 were found as EBVaGCs (27.5%) (6/23 males and 2/6 females). The location of tumor, histologic differentiation, initial stage and organ of transplantation showed no differences between EBVaGC and GC. The Helicobacter pylori was infected in 12.5% of EBVaGC and 23.8% in GC (p=0.615). The survival rate was 62.5% (5/8) in EBVaGC and 81.0% (17/21) in GC (p=0.299). Conclusion: Although the incidence of EBVaGC was higher in SOT recipients than well-known incidence of EBVaGC in non-transplant patients, the pathological characteristics and clinical outcomes were not different according to the infection of EBV.

Training is widely believed to have the potential to improve key workplace outcomes such as the in‐role behaviours and organisational citizenship of employees. However, this article argues that match of actual training provision to requirements leads to the greatest possible improvement in key behaviours, an assertion that lacks prior validation. Undertraining relative to requirements would typically be associated with lower behavioural gain, or even negative behaviours. Overtraining may have both positive and negative implications; however, this article argues that on aggregate excess training will be associated with worse outcomes compared with match. An analysis of 699 matched employee–manager dyads supports the assertion that match is associated with the best relative levels of key workplace behaviours, and associates either undertraining or overtraining with degradation in outcomes. This research highlights the importance of training needs analysis and encourages active management of trained workers to match work to skills.

This study defines a “Benefaction–Contribution Ratio” (BCR), describing the extent to which households are net beneficiaries of or contributors to the economy in relation to income and consumption. Such issues are central to assessment and targeting of policies such as social welfare and taxation. We apply the ratio to 21,144 South African households. South Africa employs various taxation‐funded social grants and subsidized services. A central question is how such transfers affect real household income and consumption. We find that the constitution of social transfers as a function of tax adjusted earned income significantly augments household buying power. Furthermore, we hypothesize and find a negative curvilinear shape which has implications for design of taxation and welfare. This constitution and distribution of this ratio may be useful for international benchmarking and household planning, and as an economic predictor of outcomes such as job seeking, entrepreneurial behavior, family planning, migration, and tax evasion.

OBJECTIVE:Desipramine is a tricyclic antidepressant with a negative side effect of dry mouth. The Na(+) /H(+) exchanger was suggested to be a target of desipramine in salivary gland cells. However, it is unclear whether desipramine has other targets in the salivary secretion pathway. Here, we studied the effect of desipramine on salivary Ca(2+) signaling.MATERIALS AND METHODS:Cytosolic free Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+) ]i ) was determined with the fluorescent Ca(2+) indicator fura-2/AM. Aquaporin translocation was analyzed by Western blotting and immunocytochemistry of confocal microscopy.RESULTS:Desipramine inhibited the carbachol- and histamine-mediated increase in cytosolic Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+) ]i ) in a concentration-dependent manner. However, desipramine did not affect increases in [Ca(2+) ]i mediated by extracellular ATP, sphingosine-1-phosphate, or thapsigargin. The adrenergic receptor blockers prazosin and propranolol did not reverse the desipramine-mediated inhibition of carbachol- and histamine-induced increases in [Ca(2+) ]i . We also found that desipramine inhibits the increase in membrane aquaporin-5 level triggered by carbachol and histamine treatments.CONCLUSIONS:These results imply that desipramine blocks muscarinic and histamine receptor-mediated Ca(2+) signaling and the subsequent translocation of aquaporin-5 in human salivary gland cells, suggesting a novel mechanism for the xerogenic effects of desipramine.