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Background/Aims: Less invasive surgical treatment is performed in East Asia to preserve postoperative digestive function and reduce complications such as post gastrectomy syndromes, but there is an issue of metachronous gastric cancer (GC) in the remaining stomach. This study aimed to analyze the incidence of metachronous GC and its risk factors in patients who had undergone partial gastrectomy. Methods: A total of 3,045 GC patients who had undergone curative gastric partial resection at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital were enrolled and analyzed retrospectively for risk factors, including age, sex, smoking, alcohol, Helicobacter pylori status, family history of GC, histological type, and surgical method. Results: Metachronous GC in the remaining stomach occurred in 35 of the 3,045 patients (1.1%): 23 in the distal gastrectomy group (18 with Billroth-I anastomosis, five with Billroth-II anastomosis), seven in the proximal gastrectomy (PG) group, and five in the pylorus-preserving gastrectomy (PPG) group. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that age ≥60 years (p=0.005) and surgical method used (PG or PPG, p<0.001) were related risk factors for metachronous GC, while male sex and intestinal type histology were potential risk factors. Conclusions: Metachronous GC was shown to be related to older age and the surgical method used (PG or PPG). Regular and careful follow-up with endoscopy should be performed in the case of gastric partial resection, especially in patients with male sex and intestinal type histology as well as those aged ≥60 years undergoing the PG or PPG surgical method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research aims: This paper investigates how family ownership affects firm's earnings quality. The focus is on firms listed on the Korean Stock Exchange (KSE). Design/Methodology/Approach: This study uses panel data to classify family ownership into two categories: pure family ownership and ownership-control disparity (wedge) where wedge is further divided into 1) wedge ratio and 2) wedge multiplier. In addressing the category of ownership-control disparity, it is important to measure how much control rights are greater than ownership rights. Therefore, this study employs the wedge multiplier to overcome the limitation of not separating management control and ownership. Firms' earnings quality is tested by using four proxies proposed by Jonas and Blanchet (2000): 1) persistence, 2) value relevance, 3) conservatism, and 4) accruals quality. Research findings: This research finds family ownership to be positively associated with earnings quality, value-relevance and accruals quality. However, ownership-control disparity does not reduce the earnings quality. This finding is not consistent with previous studies. Thus, it is deduced that the controlling family shareholders of the chaebol firms have a dominant influence on firms which they invested in by using affiliated ownership. Significant ownership-control disparity is prevalent in chaebol firms, resulting in low earnings quality. Theoretical contribution/Originality: Family ownership is predominant in a number of countries, especially in East-Asian countries. In that regard, this study is important. It contributes to the understanding of family ownerships and firms' earnings quality not only for the Korean contexts, but also for other East Asian countries. Research limitation/Implications: The four proxies of earnings quality used in this study do not necessarily reflect all aspects of the earnings quality. In this study, the results between family ownership and earnings quality are mixed. The results based on the association between corporate governance and earnings quality could be attributed to the way earnings quality is defined. The management of the chaebol firms or large business groups should try to improve transparency and the quality of their financial reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new synonyms are proposed for the Gyrophaena Mannerheim species from East Asia: G. cariniventris Cameron, 1933 = G. tricuspidata Assing, 2005; G . triquetra Weise, 1877 = G . sunanica Pasńik, 2001; and G . yotsudeba Cameron, 1933 = G . defecta Cameron, 1933. Redescriptions, habitus photos, and line drawings of diagnostic characters are provided. Gyrophaena cariniventris and G. yotsudeba are reported for the first time in the Korean peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]