Purpose Trastuzumab is effective in early and advanced human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer. However, few studies have reported the effect of trastuzumab on ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR), whose incidence is higher in the HER2-positive subtype than in other subtypes. Methods We retrospectively investigated 959 patients who underwent breast-conserving surgery (BCS), chemotherapy, and radiotherapy for HER2-positive breast cancer between 2000 and 2017. IBTR was compared between the patients who received neoadjuvant or adjuvant trastuzumab (Tmab group) for a total duration of 1 year and those who received no trastuzumab (N-Tmab group). Results Propensity score matching designated 426 and 142 patients in the Tmab and N-Tmab groups, respectively. The median follow-up period for all patients after matching was 73.79 months. The IBTR-free survival rate was significantly higher in the Tmab group than in the N-Tmab group (10-year IBTR-free survival rate, 92.9% vs. 87.3%; p = 0.002). The multivariate analysis showed a significant association between the N-Tmab and Tmab group (hazard ratio, 3.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.07–8.59) and IBTR in addition to close or positive resection margin and hormone receptor (HR) positivity. The subgroup analysis showed that adjuvant treatment with trastuzumab significantly reduced IBTR among the patients with HR-negative or lymph node-negative breast cancer. Conclusion Significantly reduced IBTR after BCS was observed in the patients who received 1 year of adjuvant/neoadjuvant trastuzumab treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the acid tolerance, bile acid tolerance, and fermentation activity of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Kimchi in the presence of hydrolysates of whey protein concentrate. Kimchi isolates DK109, DK119, DK121, DK128, DK211, DK212, and DK215, which were identified as Lactobacillus sp., and L. casei DK128 showed the highest acid and bile acid tolerance. To produce whey hydrolysates, enzymes were added to a 10% (w/v) whey protein concentrate (WPC) solution at 1:50 (w/v, protein). The viabilities of the DK strains were determined in the presence of low pH and bile salts. Then, yogurt was produced via fermentation with L. casei DK128, an isolate from Kimchi, in the presence of the following additives: CPP, WPC, and WPC hydrolysates (WPCH) generated by alcalase (A) or neutrase (N). The produced yogurts were subjected to various analyses, including viable cell counts (CFU/mL), pH, titratable activity, and sensory testing. After 8 h of fermentation, the pH and titratable activity values of all test samples were 4.2 and 0.9, respectively. The viable counts of LAB were 3.49×10 , for the Control, CPP, A, and N samples, respectively. These results suggest that whey proteins have potential as dietary supplements in functional foods and that WPCH could be used in yogurt as a low-cost alternative to CPP.

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A crisis is inevitable. Any organization needs crisis communication plans and response strategies to protect themselves from reputational damage. This study examines whether employing sadness-expressive words and black-and-white logos in crisis response messages can be an effective strategy that leads to a more positive organizational reputation in the wake of a crisis. A 2 (emotion: presence of sadness vs. absence) x 2 (logo color: standard vs. black-and-white) within-subject factorial experiment was conducted with 188 participants. The experimental stimuli were crisis response messages in the form of Facebook posts from four existing airline companies, including Air France, Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, and Germanwings, in response to their real-life crisis incidents. Participants were introduced to each crisis (a total of 4) through a news article developed from a previously published story. Then, after each article reporting on the airline crisis, they were exposed to a response message from the airline. The findings show that when organizations express sadness in their messages, their sad emotion is transferred to the readers and leads to a higher organizational reputation and behavioral intention. Also, the use of a black-and-white logo in the context of sadness-present crisis response messages results in a better organizational reputation.

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