We empirically investigate whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) INTRODUCTIONhis paper examines whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) is really profitable in Korea. Specifically, we investigate whether the relationship between CSR and corporate financial performance (CFP) is affected by potential measurement problem of CSR scores measured by KEJI (Korea Economic Justice Institute) index in Korea setting. During the last four decades, stakeholders such as customers, employees, suppliers, and community groups have been asking firms to undertake CSR activities (McWilliams & Siegel, 2000). Some firms have proactively made an effort to meet these demands by investing more resources to CSR activities. Other firms have resisted insisting that investments on CSR activities do not benefit them to accomplish their goal to maximize profits.Reflecting these concerns in the business, researchers have primarily explored whether the relationship between CSR and CFP exists. However, they have not reached agreement on the definite relationship between two variables in international setting (Cochran & Wood, 1984;Akpinar et al., 2008;Hull & Rothenberg, 2008;Aguinis & Glavas, 2012) as well as Korea setting (J.-S. Choi et al., 2010;Heo & Chung, 2010;Jang & Choi, 2010;Na & Hong, 2011). Despite the inconsistent results, in Korea setting, the majority of studies to date report the positive relationship between CSR and CFP. Copyright by author(s); CC-BY 2168The Clute Institute Does CSR really contribute to enhancing firm value or increasing operating income in Korea setting? Is there no measurement problem in CSR score? If it exists, does the positive relationship maintain when adjusted CSR score is used? Waddock and Graves (1997) suggest CSR measurement problem is related to mixed results on the relationship between CSR and CFP. In Korea setting, prior studies have been widely employing KEJI CSR score to measure the level of a firm's CSR activities (e.g. Black et al., 2006;J.-S. Choi et al., 2010;Heo & Chung, 2010;Oh et al., 2011;B. B. Choi et al., 2013;H. Choi & Moon, 2013).We suspect that prior studies that report positive relationship between CSR and CFP using KEJI index is biased upward due to potential measurement problem of KEJI index that includes operating performance component. Then, our research question is "Does KEJI index have the measurement problem to proxy for the level of CSR activities in explaining the CSR-CFP relation? If yes, does the measurement problem significantly affect the positive relationship between CSR and CFP reported in prior studies? Given the strong impact of CSR score on CFP, it is meaningful to assess the measurement problem of KEJI CSR score. However, little study to date has addressed the KEJI index measurement problem in Korea setting. Moreover, C. H. Kim et al. (2013Kim et al. ( , p. 2588) point out that Korean firms' CSR activities tend to be a short term version with public relations focus because CSR in Korea is driven by government and societal regulative and norma...
Most malignant tumors originate from epithelial tissues in which tight junctions mediate cell–cell interactions. Tight junction proteins, especially claudin-3 (CLDN3), are overexpressed in various cancers. Claudin-3 is exposed externally during tumorigenesis making it a potential biomarker and therapeutic target. However, the development of antibodies against specific CLDN proteins is difficult, because CLDNs are four-transmembrane domain proteins with high homology among CLDN family members and species. Here, we developed a human IgG1 monoclonal antibody (h4G3) against CLDN3 through scFv phage display using CLDN3-overexpressing stable cells and CLDN3-embedded lipoparticles as antigens. The h4G3 recognized the native conformation of human and mouse CLDN3 without cross-reactivity to other CLDNs. The binding kinetics of h4G3 demonstrated a sub-nanomolar affinity for CLDN3 expressed on the cell surface. The h4G3 showed antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) according to CLDN3 expression levels in various cancer cells by the activation of FcγRIIIa (CD16a). The biodistribution of h4G3 was analyzed by intravenous injection of fluorescence-conjugated h4G3 which showed that it localized to the tumor site in xenograft mice bearing CLDN3-expressing tumors. These results indicate that h4G3 recognizes CLDN3 specifically, suggesting its value for cancer diagnosis, antibody-drug conjugates, and potentially as a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) for CLDN3-expressing pan-carcinoma.
We propose two measures of performance for a confidence interval for a binomial proportion p: the root mean squared error and the mean absolute deviation. We also devise a confidence interval for p based on the actual coverage function that combines several existing approximate confidence intervals. This "Ensemble" confidence interval has improved statistical properties over the constituent confidence intervals. Software in an R package, which can be used in devising and assessing these confidence intervals, is available on CRAN.
The receptor tyrosine kinase c-MET regulates processes essential for tissue remodeling and mammalian development. The dysregulation of c-MET signaling plays a role in tumorigenesis. The aberrant activation of c-MET, such as that caused by gene amplification or mutations, is associated with many cancers. c-MET is therefore an attractive therapeutic target, and inhibitors are being tested in clinical trials. However, inappropriate patient selection criteria, such as low amplification or expression level cut-off values, have led to the failure of clinical trials. To include patients who respond to MET inhibitors, the selection criteria must include MET oncogenic addiction. Here, the efficacy of ABN401, a MET inhibitor, was investigated using histopathologic and genetic analyses in MET-addicted cancer cell lines and xenograft models. ABN401 was highly selective for 571 kinases, and it inhibited c-MET activity and its downstream signaling pathway. We performed pharmacokinetic profiling of ABN401 and defined the dose and treatment duration of ABN401 required to inhibit c-MET phosphorylation in xenograft models. The results show that the efficacy of ABN401 is associated with MET status and they highlight the importance of determining the cut-off values. The results suggest that clinical trials need to establish the characteristics of each sample and their correlations with the efficacy of MET inhibitors.
Limonene from citrus peel oil is valued as fragrance and flavor additives in food and beverages; however, D-limonene is highly volatile and oxygen-sensitive, thus present storage and stability challenges in food products. A novel, industrially-scalable microencapsulation by in situ complex coacervation during spray drying process (CoCo process) was applied to encapsulate limonene in alginate-gelatin matrix microparticles. Specifically, we investigated the potential to improve upon prior work demonstrating volatile retention and enteric release of limonene from the complex coacervated (CoCo) microcapsules by incorporating ethylcellulose to improve moisture and oxygen barrier properties of the encapsulation matrix. We hypothesized that ethylcellulose, commonly used as a water-barrier coating with pharmaceuticals, would enhance the ability of CoCo microcapsules to retain and shelf-stabilize limonene. The CoCo process alone could achieve limonene retention of 77.7% ± 1.3% during spray drying, with only ∼10% limonene loss and low oxidation rate after 3-weeks of storage in ambient conditions. Contrary to expectations, incorporating ethylcellulose with the CoCo formulation increased volatile losses of limonene during spray drying and during prolonged storage. Moreover, CoCo powders with ethylcellulose accelerated limonene release in water and simulated gastric fluid, and decelerated release in simulated intestinal fluid—a result that was contrary to targeting enteric release. Instead of simply forming a protective water barrier film in the microparticles during spray drying as envisioned, ethylcellulose appeared to bring limonene to the particle surfaces, thereby enhancing volatile losses, facilitating oxidation and accelerating release in acidic aqueous media. Using ethylcellulose as a model, this study demonstrated the potential to formulate CoCo microparticles using latex excipients to control burst release of the payload followed by long-lasting sustained release in air and in aqueous environments.
Rationale:Dapagliflozin (a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 [SGLT2] inhibitor) represents the most recently approved class of oral medications for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Dapagliflozin lowers plasma glucose concentration by inhibiting the renal reuptake of glucose in the proximal renal tubules. In 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration released a warning concerning a potential increased risk of ketoacidosis in patients taking this medication.Patient concerns:We present the case of a 23-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes treated with dapagliflozin (10 mg, once a day) for 2 years who presented to the emergency department with abdominal pain.Diagnoses:We diagnosed her with severe ketoacidosis with a normal glucose level (177 mg/dL) due to dapagliflozin, accompanying acute pancreatitis due to hypertriglyceridemia. We concluded that the precipitating factor for euglycemic ketoacidosis was pseudomembranous colitis.Interventions:She was treated with intravenous infusions of insulin, isotonic saline, and sodium bicarbonate as diabetic ketoacidosis treatment.Outcomes:She was in shock with severe metabolic acidosis. After continuous renal replacement therapy, the uncontrolled metabolic ketoacidosis was treated, and she is currently under follow-up while receiving metformin (500 mg, once a day) and short- and long-acting insulins (8 units 3 times and 20 units once a day).Lessons:We report an unusual case of SGLT2 inhibitor-induced euglycemic ketoacidosis recovered by continuous renal replacement therapy in a patient with type 2 diabetes and recurrent acute pancreatitis due to hypertriglyceridemia. We diagnosed a rare complication of the SGLT2 inhibitor in a patient with type 2 diabetes in whom uncontrolled metabolic ketoacidosis could be effectively managed via continuous renal replacement therapy.
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