Is Basic Memory Structure Invariant Across Epilepsy Patient Subgroups?

How Does Corporate Social Responsibility Affect Sustainability of Social Enterprises in Korea?

Social enterprises (SEs) are a new concept, integrating corporate profitability and social purposes. SEs seek to realize sustainable social values, rather than short-term profits. It is therefore important to study the factors that affect the sustainable management of SEs. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is known to improve corporate image and performance; it can also promote the sustainable development of companies. Innovation has been described as the driving force behind corporate growth and ultimate performance. This study aims to investigate whether CSR can affect sustainability through the economic and social performance of SEs. In addition, it attempts to verify the moderating role of innovativeness in the relationship between CSR and social enterprise (SE) performance. Using survey data from 226 employees of 204 SEs in Korea, we have empirically tested this conceptual framework. The results suggest that, while CSR can improve sustainability through economic and social performance, innovativeness has no moderating effect on the relationship between CSR and SE performance. This study enriches our understanding of the important role played by CSR in driving SE sustainability. It provides new insights into the mechanisms through which SEs can achieve sustainable development. It also contributes to the literature by emphasizing the need for innovation through technical support for SEs.

Reduced interhemispheric hippocampal BOLD signal coupling related to early epilepsy onset

In order to investigate the factors influencing interhemispheric hippocampal connectivity we used fMRI to assess the time course of hippocampal activity during a spatial memory task. Data were obtained from 14 patients with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis and focal unilateral medial temporal lobe epilepsy. Correlation coefficients between left and right hippocampal BOLD signal fluctuations were determined in each patient as a measure for interhemispheric hippocampal coupling. On the group level a non-parametric Spearman correlation analysis was performed to assess relations of hippocampal connectivity to age, age at epilepsy onset, disease duration, and task performance. In all except for one patient correlation coefficients between left and right hippocampal time courses reached significance. Interhippocampal connectivity exhibited the strongest correlation to age at onset, i.e. patients with later onset showed greater connectivity. It was negatively correlated with disease duration, but not with age. Our findings underline the malicious effect of epileptic seizures on brain structures inevitably engaged with core cognitive functions. The results suggest that a measure of interhemispheric interplay - even at a coarse time-scale - might reflect the functional status of brain structures.