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Many companies are adopting performance measurement systems(PMS) in order to acquire competitive advantage the promote long-term growth in Coping with the rapidly changing business environment. Prior research has focused on the relation between PMS and organizational performance. However, there is limited empirical research that examines the behavioural consequences of PMS. Further, there is little empirical research that examines whether measurement diversity have direct and/or indirect effects on work performance. As such, I examine how the relation between measurement diversity and managerial performance can be explained by the intervening variables of justice and organizational citizenship behaviour. This study is summarized as follows: this study finds that measurement diversity affect managerial performance indirectly through justice and organizational citizenship behaviour. Key Words : Measurement diversity, Justice, Organizational citizenship behaviors, Managerial Performance

In the soft recoil system, the recoiling parts are initially accelerated to the forward direction. These parts are returned to original position by the firing with intial acceleration speed. The latch of the soft recoil system keeps the high impact load when the recoil parts were recuperated to the forward direction. In this study, the latch of soft recoil system using the ADAMS program was analyzed. The optimal operation parameters were found that max. angle and expansion length of latch was , 180 mm respectively. Dynamic structural analyses of model cases were performed using finite element model. The max. stress and deflection of latch was 230 MPa and 0.45 mm respectively.

The soft recoil mechanism was an effective mechanism for reducing the recoil force by forwarding momentum. There were some parameters such as the fire angle, firing position, and initial pressure of the recuperator, which influenced the forwarding momentum. These parameters affected the generation of the forwarding momentum in the soft recoil mechanism. To design for the mechanism, the parameters affecting momentum were studied to consider some reasonable conditions. Among the various parameters, the initial pressure of the recuperator and firing position was confirmed as a key factor to have affected the momentum. It was determined that the recoil force had a minimum value when the initial pressure of the recuperator was 180.

d-pinitol has been demonstrated to exert insulin-like and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the effects of the maturation and immunostimulatory functions of dendritic cells (DC) remain to be clearly elucidated. In this study, we have attempted to determine whether d-pinitol regulates surface molecule expression, cytokine production, endocytosis capacity, and underlying signaling pathways in murine bone marrow-derived DC. We also attempted to ascertain whether d-pinitol could influence Th1/Th2 immune response in vivo. The DC used in this study were derived from murine bone marrow cells, and were used as immature or LPS-stimulated mature DC. The DC were then assessed with regard to surface molecule expression, dextran-FITC uptake, cytokine production, capacity to induce T-cell differentiation, and underlying signaling pathways. d-pinitol was shown to significantly inhibit CD80, CD86, MHC class I, and MHC class II expression in the LPS-stimulated mature DC. The DC also evidenced impaired IL-12 expression and IFN-gamma production. The d-pinitol-treated DC were found to be highly efficient in regards to Ag capture via mannose receptor-mediated endocytosis. d-pinitol was also demonstrated to inhibit LPS-induced MAPKs activation and NF-kappaB nuclear translocation. Moreover, the d-pinitol-treated DC manifested impaired induction of Th1 responses, and normal cell-mediated immune responses. These novel findings provide new insight into the immunopharmacological role of d-pinitol in terms of its effects on DC. These findings also broaden current perspectives concerning our understanding of the immunopharmacological functions of d-pinitol, and have ramifications for the development of therapeutic adjuvants for the treatment of DC-related acute and chronic diseases.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent antigen presenting cells that are uniquely effective in generating primary immune responses. DCs that are manipulated to present tumor antigens induce antitumor immunity in animal models and preclinical human studies. A myriad of strategies have been developed to load tumor antigen effectively onto DCs. DC-tumor fusion presents a spectrum of tumor-associated antigens to helper T- and cytotoxic T-cell populations in the context of DC-mediated costimulatory signals. In this study, fusion cells (FCs) were generated with MCA-102 fibrosarcoma cells and murine bone marrow-derived myeloid DCs. The FCs coexpressed the DC-derived MHC class II and costimulatory molecules. The FCs also retained the functional properties of DCs and stimulated syngeneic T cell proliferation and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production. Significantly, the results show that syngeneic T cells are primed by FCs to induce MHC class I-dependent lysis of MCA-102 fibrosarcoma. These findings indicate that fusions of tumor cells and DCs activate T-cell responses against syngeneic tumors.

Immunization of dendritic cells (DC) pulsed with tumor antigen can activate tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) which are responsible for protection from tumor challenge and regression of established metastatic tumor. It has been hypothesized that tumor lysate contains factors that may modulate DC maturation. In this study, we examined whether the uptake of tumor lysate (MCA-102 fibrosarcoma) could modulate DC phenotypes in vitro and whether the administration in vivo of tumor lysate-pulsed DC (TP-DC) could elicit efficient tumor specific immune responses followed by a regression of established tumor burdens. It was investigated the uptake of tumor lysate by DC by means of flow cytometry and fluorescent microscope. Murine bone marrow-derived DC efficiently phagocytosed tumor lysate and after the uptake, the phenotype of TP-DC was surprisingly comparable to unpulsed-DC (UP-DC), exhibiting lower levels of CD80 (51%), CD86 (43%), and MHC class II (59%). Also, TP-DC did not enhance secretion of IL-12p70 (UP- vs. TP; 54.5+/-6.4 vs. 50.5+/-4.8 pg/ml, respectively), contrary to those activated with LPS (113.6+/-16.8 pg/ml). However, TP-DC vaccination in vivo increased the IFN-gamma production from splenocytes higher than that of UP-DC (TP- vs. UP-DC; 41029+/-1523 vs. 4752+/-590 pg/ml, respectively). Furthermore, the administration of TP-DC enhanced specific T cell responses against MCA-102 fibrosarcoma. These results demonstrate that augmentation of DC phenotype and function in vitro is not necessarily a prerequisite for TP-DC vaccination to successfully promote anti-tumor immunity in vivo.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a 3.2 kb DNA virus that preferentially replicates in the liver. A number of transcription factors, including nuclear receptors, regulate the activities of HBV promoters and enhancers. However, the association between these metabolic events and HBV replication remains to be clearly elucidated. In the present study, we assessed the effects of bile acid metabolism on HBV gene expression. Conditions associated with elevated bile acid levels within the liver include choleostatic liver diseases and an increased dietary cholesterol uptake. The results obtained in the present study demonstrate that bile acids promote the transcription and expression of the gene for HBV in hepatic cell lines; in addition, farnesoid X receptor alpha and the c-Jun N-terminal kinase/c-Jun signal transduction pathway mediate the regulatory effect of bile acids. Furthermore, an orphan nuclear receptor, small heterodimer partner protein, is also involved in the bile acid-mediated regulation of HBV gene expression. The bile acid-mediated promotion of HBV gene expression counteracts the antiviral effect of interferon-alpha.

Among 145 patients that underwent prosthetic reconstruction between 1985 and 1998, infection developed in 18. Osteosarcoma was the most common primary tumour, and staphylococci were the major pathogenic organisms. Infections were controlled in five patients with debridement only and in two patients with a two-stage revision. Arthrodeses were performed in three and amputations in two. In six patients, infection was suppressed with antibiotics but not cured. Pulmonary metastasis developed in four of ten patients in whom chemotherapy was delayed or interrupted. Infection controls were poor in cases of delayed debridement over 2 weeks, in cementless fixation of implant, and soft tissue defects (P