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Social media marketing plays an increasingly important role in the hotel and tourism industry. This study examines how social networking services, microblogs and social commerce sites are used in the field of tourism in a case study of KAL (Korean Airline) Tour, one of the leading travel agencies based in Korea. This study shows that companies make a substantial amount of profits from their investments in social media marketing activities. KAL Tour uses a variety of social media for effective social marketing activities. By understanding the characteristics of each social medium, the effectiveness of the company’s marketing activities is maximized. As such, this case study provides opportunities to understand consumer behaviors influenced by new information technologies.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is considered the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in many industrialized nations. AMI is defined currently by detection of a rise and/or fall of cardiac biomarkers at least above the 99th percentile of the upper limit. Early detection of AMI could conceivably provide important information for understanding the molecular functions of heart disease, and would enable more effective diagnosis and treatment of patients. However, diagnostic approaches currently in use for the evaluation of patients, associated with chest pain or other symptoms suggestive of AMI are acceptable, but they are time-consuming, high-cost and labour-intensive in most cases. Thus, much work is needed in the development of biomarkers for accurate and cost-effective diagnosis of AMI and for effective management of patients. In this article, we give an overview of proteomic biomarkers for rapid and reliable diagnosis of AMI, focusing on biochemical characteristics and their clinical applications for point-of-care of AMI. We also postulate the future directions in the pursuit of integrated multiplex assay systems for multifunctional diagnosis in AMI.

This study was undertaken to determine the ability of protein expression in primary colorectal cancer and metastatic liver tumour tissues to predict hepatic metastasis and intrahepatic recurrence.Sixty patients with colorectal cancer were enrolled in this study. The expression of the following five proteins was assessed by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining: carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA); vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1; MMP-7; and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1. Protein expression was measured in patients with primary colorectal cancer without liver metastasis (Group A), in patients with primary colorectal cancer with liver metastasis (primary tumour; Group B), and in patients with resected metastatic liver tumour tissues (liver metastasis; Group C).IHC staining revealed more protease activity (MMP-1 and -7) in Group B than in Group A. Angiogenic activity (positive VEGF expression) was significantly greater in Group C than in Group B. Multivariate analysis showed that positive MMP-1 expression, the presence of lymphovascular invasion, and an elevated pre-operative serum CEA level (5 ng/ml) were significantly related to synchronous liver metastasis. However, intrahepatic recurrence was not related to protein expression, the presence of lymphovascular invasion, or the pre-operative CEA level.Our findings suggest that protease activity is important for metastasis, and that angiogenic activity is essential for metastatic tumour growth. Furthermore, positive MMP-1 expression in primary colorectal tumour tissues was a significant predictor of liver metastasis. However, the prognostic impact of protein marker expression in terms of intrahepatic recurrence appears to be minimal.

Previous works have reported that the transplantation of neural stem cells (NSCs) may improve functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI), but these results have been mainly obtained in rat models. In the present work, the authors sought to determine whether the transplantation of human NSCs improves functional outcome in a canine SCI model and whether transplanted NSCs survive and differentiate.Human NSCs (HB1. F3 clone) were used in this work. Lateral hemisection at the L2 level was performed in dogs and either (1) Matrigel (200 microl) alone as a growth-promoting matrix or (2) Matrigel seeded with human NSCs (10(7) cells/200 microl) were transplanted into hemisected gaps. Using a canine hind limb locomotor scale, functional outcomes were assessed over 12 weeks. Immunofluorescence staining was performed to examine cell survival, differentiation and axonal regeneration.Compared with dogs treated with Matrigel alone, dogs treated with Matrigel + human NSCs showed significantly better functional recovery (10.3 +/- 0.7 versus 15.6 +/- 0.7, respectively, at 12 weeks; p0.05). Human nuclei-positive cells were found mainly near hemisected areas in dogs treated with Matrigel + NSCs. In addition, colocalization of human nuclei and neuronal nuclei or myelin basic protein was clearly observed. Moreover, the Matrigel + NSC group showed more ascending sensory axon regeneration.The transplantation of human NSCs has beneficial effects on functional recovery after SCI, and these NSCs were found to differentiate into mature neurons and/or oligodendrocytes. These results provide baseline data for future clinical applications.

Surface modification techniques that create surfaces capable of killing adherent bacteria are promising solutions to infections associated with implantable medical devices. Antimicrobial peptoid oligomers (ampetoids) that were designed to mimic helical antimicrobial peptides were synthesized with a peptoid spacer chain to allow mobility and an adhesive peptide moiety for easy and robust immobilization onto substrates. TiO2 substrates were modified with the ampetoids and subsequently backfilled with an antifouling polypeptoid polymer in order to create polymer surface coatings composed of both antimicrobial (active) and antifouling (passive) peptoid functionalities. Confocal microscopy images show that the membranes of adherent E. coli were damaged after 2 h exposure to the modified substrates, suggesting that ampetoids retain antimicrobial properties even when immobilized onto substrates.

Nuclear vendors and utilities perform numerous simulations and analyses in order to ensure the safe operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs). In general, the simulations are carried out using vendor-specific design codes and best-estimate system analysis codes, most of which were developed based on one-dimensional lumped parameter models. During the past decade, however, computers, parallel computation methods, and three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes have been dramatically enhanced. The use of advanced commercial CFD codes is considered beneficial in the safety analysis and design of NPPs. The present work analyzes the flow distribution in the downcomer and lower plenum of Korean standard nuclear power plants using STAR-CD. The lower plenum geometry of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) is very complicated, as there are many reactor internals, which hinders CFD analysis for real reactor geometry up to now. The present work takes advantage of 3D CAD model so that real geometry of a PWR is used. The results give a clear figure about flow fields in the downcomer and lower plenum of a PWR, which is one of major safety concerns. The calculated pressure drop across the downcomer and lower plenum appears to be in good agreement with the data in engineering calculation. An algorithm that can evaluate the head loss coefficient, which is necessary for thermal-hydraulic system code running, was suggested based on these CFD analysis results.