The impact of Value Incentive Program (VIP) on the quality of hospital care for acute stroke in Korea.

Objectives: This study aims to analyze the impact of Value Incentive Program (VIP) on the quality improvement of acute stroke care, and to determine the difference of effect by the size of hospitals.

Interventions: Adopting the VIP on the fifth acute stroke quality assessment.

Design/setting/participants: Using paired t-test and student t-test, we compared the quality assessment results of the third assessment, which was publicly reported without the VIP implementation and the fifth assessment, on which the VIP was applied.

Functional characterization of the gels prepared with pectin methylesterase (PME)-treated pectins.

High- and low-methoxyl pectins were treated with pectin methylesterase (PME) and the functional properties of the resulting pectin gels were characterized. The degree of esterification of high- and low-methoxyl pectins decreased from 74.5% to 6.

Heterologous expression and characterization of glycogen branching enzyme from Synechocystis sp. PCC6803.

A gene (sll0158) putatively encoding a glycogen branching enzyme (GBE, E.C. 2.