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Purpose The aim of this study was to compare the diameter and volume of liver metastases on CT images in relation to overall survival and tumor response in patients with gastric cancer liver metastases (GCLM) treated with chemotherapy. Materials and Methods We recruited 43 patients with GCLM who underwent chemotherapy as a first-line treatment. We performed a three-dimensional quantification of the metastases for each patient. An independent survival analysis using the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) was performed and compared to volumetric measurements. Overall survival was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and compared using Cox proportional hazard ratios following univariate analyses. Results When patients were classified as responders or non-responders based on volumetric criteria, the median overall survival was 23.6 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 8.63–38.57] and 7.6 months (95% CI, 3.78–11.42), respectively (p = 0.039). The volumetric analysis and RECIST of the non-progressing and progressing groups showed similar results based on the Kaplan- Meier method (p = 0.006) and the Cox proportional hazard model (p = 0.008). Conclusion Volumetric assessment of liver metastases could be an alternative predictor of overall survival for patients with GCLM treated with chemotherapy.

To investigate occurrence of root-knot nematode (RKN) in plastic house of central area of Korea, 132 soil samples were collected in cucumber, water melon, tomato, red pepper and strawberry fields from 2013 to 2015. Among 132 soil samples, 65 soil samples (49%) were infested with RKN and mean density of RKN was 178 second-stage juveniles per 100 cm³ soil (min. 1 ~ max. 3,947). The frequency of RKN by regional was the highest in Chuncheon with 80%, followed by Cheonan (68%), Nonsan (36%), Buyeo (33%) and Yesan (30%). The frequency of RKN by crops was the highest in tomato with 83%, followed by cucumber (61%), strawberry (41%), red pepper (30%), watermelon (26%). To identify the species of RKN, fifteen populations were selected for representative populations. As a phylogenetic analysis of 15 populations, southern root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita), peanut root-knot nematode (M. arenaria) and northern root-knot nematode (M. hapla) were identified with 47%, 20% and 33% ratio, respectively. In crops, M. incognita, M. arenaria and M. hapla were detected in tomato, M. incognita and M. arenaria were detected in cucumber and watermelon, and M. hapla was detected in strawberry and lettuce. Thus, there should be a continuous management to major species of each crops to prevent dispersal of RKN damages.

The purpose of this study was to develop rapid methods for distinguishing between Heterodera schachtii and H. glycines detected from chinese cabbage fields of highland in Gangwon, Korea. To do this, we performed PCR-RFLP and PCR with the primers set developed in this study for GC147, GC408 and PM001 population, H. schachtii, and YS224, DA142 and BC115 population, H. glycines. Eight restriction enzymes generated RFLP profiles of mtDNA COI region for populations of H. schachtii and H. glycines, repectively. As a result, treatment of two restriction enzymes, RsaI and HinfI, were allowed to distinguish H. schachtii from H. glycines based on the differences of DNA band patterns. The primer set, #JBS1, #JBG1 and #JB3R, amplified specific fragments with 277 and 339 bp of H. schachtii, 339 bp of H. glycines, respectively, while it did not amplify fragments from three root-knot nematodes and two root-lesion nematodes. Thus, the primer set developed in this study could be a good method, which is used to distinguish between H. schachtii and H. glycines.

To survey the incidence of plant-parasitic nematode in strawberry nursery, 117 soil samples were collected from main producing area of strawberry nursery plants in 2016. The incidences of two major problematic nematodes such as root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus spp.) and root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) were 11% and 3%, respectively. Strawberry nurseries using upland soil either in fields or in plastic-houses showed were higher infection rates of Pratylenchus spp. or Meloidogyne spp. than others. On the other hand, a strawberry nursery using pots filled with bed soil in plastic-house was the lowest infection rate with 0%. Phylogenetic relationships and distance analysis were performed for identification of Pratylenchus spp. and Meloidogyne spp. detected from strawberry nurseries. As the results, they were identified as Pratylenchus penetrans, Pratylenchus vulnus and Meloidogyne hapla. Meanwhile, when nursery plants of strawberry infested with P. vulnus transplanted to pots filled with sterilized soil, P. vulnus was detected from soil in pots as 33% frequency. Thus, P. vulnus can be spread through nursery plants of strawberry infested with that. These studies suggested that Pratylenchus spp. and Meloidogyne spp. were ploblematic nematodes in major areas of strawberry nursery plants and P. vulnus could be spread through nursery plants of strawberry.

This study improved the roundness error of the side portion of a lead wire produced by rolling operations. In the conventional method, the side portion is cut after rolling. As an improvement, a side roller was designed for use after flat rolling to directly form the side portion of the lead wire to reduce the roundness error. A rolling analysis of lead wires was performed using LS-DYNA, which is a simulation program capable of analyzing the dynamic behavior of the material. Finite element modeling of the lead wire was carried out, and the change of the cross section was observed after the wire rolling process. The shape of the side roller was optimized to reduce the roundness error. The angle of the side roller, the installation position, and the shape radius were selected as the design variables. PIAnO (Process Integration, Automation, and Optimization), a commercial PIDO (Process Integration and Design Optimization) tool, was used for the optimum design of the side roller, and the results confirmed that the roundness error was reduced.

In this research, the vibration damping characteristics of the laminated aluminum sheets (LAS) were evaluated in a sheet specimen and an automotive dash panel and compared with those of the monolithic aluminum sheet (MAS). The LAS was fabricated with two 5xxx series aluminum alloy (AA) sheets (AA5052-O) with a thickness of 0.7 mm by inserting an acryl-based adhesive in between. The automotive dash panels were manufactured by multi-step stamping processes for the LAS and the MAS with a similar thickness. The shaker vibration test in a sheet specimen and the impact hammer test in an automotive dash panel were conducted to measure the frequency response function (FRF) of LAS, compared with those of MAS. The results show that the frequency response function made by the LAS has less noise and fluctuation than that of the MAS in a sheet specimen and an automotive dash panel. The damping ratios in a sheet specimen and an automotive dash panel made by the LAS have higher values than those of the MAS. This proves that the LAS has better vibration damping characteristics and a larger damping effect than the MAS in a sheet specimen and an automotive dash panel.

Due to their low coefficient of thermal expansion, Invar sheets are used as the material for fine metal masks (FMM). In producing theses masks, the sheets are often chemically etched to produce arrays of micro-holes. Because etching behavior of a material depends not only on the chemical composition of the material, but also on the surface microstructure of the material, an in depth exploration on the role of the surface microstructure of an Invar alloy on the etching behavior of the alloy is fundamental in manufacturing high quality FMMs. In this study, microstructure dependent etching behavior of a partially recrystallized Invar sheet is investigated. The Invar alloy was partially recrystallized at 750℃ to examine how recrystallized and non-crystallized grains differ in their etching behaviors using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and atomic force microscope (AFM) techniques. The results show that the overall etching behavior of the partially recrystallized Invar sheet not only depends on the properties of individual grains such as orientation dependent surface energy and geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) content, but also on the properties of aggregates of grains such as grain boundary density.

To investigate the effects of Brassicaceae cover crops on clover cyst nematode, Heterodera trifolii, 10 cultivars consisting of six of oil radish and four of white mustard were planted in the nematode infected field at Jeongseon city. Two months after planting, the cover crops were plow down and incorporated into the soil using rotavator, decomposed for 1 month, then transplanted kimchi-cabbages. After 70 days, the density of eggs inside of the cyst and the number of females in the soil were examined. As a result, the reproduction rates of eggs in each plots of Adios and Anaconda cultivars, which were 0.04 and 0.02, respectively, were greatly reduced. The number of females in the plots of above two cultivars showed means at 2.5 and 3.5 per 300 cm3 soil, which were lower than those of other plots. In addition, fresh weights of three plants in the two plots, which were 7.67 and 7.35 kg, were significantly higher than that of the control plot. Collectively, these results suggest that the two cultivars of Brassicaceae cover crops, Adios and Anaconda, could be used for reducing the cyst nematode density.

Vimentin, an intermediate filament protein induced during epithelialto- mesenchymal transition, is known to regulate cell migration and invasion. However, it is still unclear how vimentin controls such behaviors. In this study, we aimed to find a new integrin regulator by investigating the H-Ras-mediated integrin suppression mechanism. Through a proteomic screen using the integrin β3 cytoplasmic tail protein, we found that vimentin might work as an effector of H-Ras signaling. H-Ras converted filamentous vimentin into aggregates near the nucleus, where no integrin binding can occur. In addition, an increase in the amount of vimentin filaments accessible to the integrin β3 tail enhanced talin-induced integrin binding to its ligands by inducing integrin clustering. In contrast, the vimentin head domain, which was found to bind directly to the integrin β3 tail and compete with endogenous vimentin filaments for integrin binding, induced nuclear accumulation of vimentin filaments and reduced the amount of integrin-ligand binding. Finally, we found that expression of the vimentin head domain can reduce cell migration and metastasis. From these data, we suggest that filamentous vimentin underneath the plasma membrane is involved in increasing integrin adhesiveness, and thus regulation of the vimentin-integrin interaction might control cell adhesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrins are the major cell adhesion molecules responsible for cell attachment to the extracellular matrix. The strength of integrin-mediated adhesion is controlled by the affinity of individual integrins (integrin activation) as well as by the number of integrins involved in such adhesion. The positive correlation between integrin activation and integrin clustering had been suggested previously, but several trials to induce integrin clustering by dimerization of the transmembrane domain or tail region of integrin α subunits failed to demonstrate any change in integrin activation. Here, using platelet integrin αIIbβ3 as a model system, we showed that there is intermolecular lateral interaction between integrins through the transmembrane domains, and this interaction can enhance the affinity state of integrins. In addition, when integrin clustering was induced through heteromeric lateral interactions using bimolecular fluorescence complementation, we could observe a significant increase in the number of active integrin molecules. Since the possibility of intermolecular interaction would be increased by a higher local concentration of integrins, we propose that integrin clustering can shift the equilibrium in favor of integrin activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) participates in the innate immune response by recognizing viral pathogens. In this study, human brain astrocytes were found to constitutively express TLR3, and this expression was increased by interferon-γ (IFN-γ) or double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Treatment employing dsRNA in astrocytes induced IFN regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) phosphorylation, dimer formation and nuclear translocation followed by STAT1 activation. This treatment also activated nuclear factor-κB, p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase significantly, while activating extracellular signal-regulated kinase to a lesser extent. Treatment with anti-TLR3 antibody inhibited dsRNA-mediated interleukin-6 (IL-6) production. In the presence of mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors, astrocytes failed to secrete IL-6 in response to dsRNA treatment. Therefore, dsRNA-induced IL-6 production is dependent on mitogen-activated protein kinases and type I IFN production is dependent on IRF3 in brain astrocytes. These results suggest that brain inflammation, which produces inflammatory cytokines and type I IFNs, may enhance TLR3 expression in astrocytes. Additionally, upregulated TLR3 might modulate inflammatory processes by producing proinflammatory cytokines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many tumors, including hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), resist Fas-mediated cell death, which is one of the effector mechanisms in the host's anti-tumor response; however, this resistance can be abolished by interferon-γ (IFN-γ). IFN-γ may sensitize Fas-mediated cell death in several ways, but the exact mechanism in HCCs is uncertain. In this study, we thoroughly investigated the effect of IFN-γ on the susceptibility of one human normal liver cell line and 12 HCC cell lines to Fas-mediated cell death. We also investigated the effect of IFN-γ on the expression of various apoptosis-related genes such as the Fas/TNF-related genes, the bcl-2 family, and the caspase family of genes. Although most cell lines showed considerable constitutive expression of Fas, all tested cell lines resisted Fas-mediated cell death without IFN-γ. When cells were pretreated with IFN-γ, only three cell lines were made significantly susceptible to Fas-mediated cell death (SNU-354, SNU-387 and SNU-423); the other 10 cell lines were not affected. IFN-γ increased the mRNA expression of Fas, TRAIL and caspase-1, and surface Fas was also increased. The strongly sensitized cell lines (SNU-354, SNU-387 and SNU-423) showed a particularly potent increment in surface Fas after IFN-γ treatment (increase in surface Fas >1.7-fold). This result enabled us to conclude that a potent increment of surface Fas expression is a major sensitizing mechanism of IFN-γ. We conclude that IFN-γ cannot play a sensitizing role in most HCC cell lines and that IFN-γ makes HCC cells susceptible to Fas-mediated cell death through a marked up-regulation of surface Fas in some HCC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Advanced high strength steel (AHSS) is a steel of multi-phase microstructure that is processed under several conditions to meet the current high-performance requirements from the industry. Deep neural network (DNN) has emerged as a promising tool in materials science for the task of estimating the phase volume fraction of these steels. Despite its advantages, one of its major drawbacks is its requirement of a sufficient amount of training data with correct labels to the network. This often comes as a challenge in many areas where obtaining data and labeling it is extremely labor-intensive. To overcome this challenge, an unsupervised way of learning DNN, which does not require any manual labeling, is proposed. Information maximizing generative adversarial network (InfoGAN) is used to learn the underlying probability distribution of each phase and generate realistic sample points with class labels. Then, the generated data is used for training an MLP classifier, which in turn predicts the labels for the original dataset. The result shows a mean relative error of 4.53% at most, while it can be as low as 0.73%, which implies the estimated phase fraction closely matches the true phase fraction. This presents the high feasibility of using the proposed methodology for fast and precise estimation of phase volume fraction in both industry and academia.

Invar alloy possesses a uniquely low coefficient of thermal expansion, making it an ideal material for fine metal masks. To manufacture fine metal masks, Invar alloys are often cold-rolled, during which residual stress develops. Heat treatment is an effective means to control residual stress that develops within Invar sheets after cold rolling, but the treatment should be carried out with care. In this article, a comprehensive study on the effect of heat treatment on the residual stress, microstructure, and mechanical properties of a cold-rolled Invar sheet is reported. We show that while both recovery and recrystallization are effective means of reducing residual stress, substantial microstructural changes and, therefore, notable changes in mechanical properties and residual stress, occur after recrystallization. Moreover, residual stress release due to recrystallization can be affected by microstructure and texture prior to heat treatment as these factors play a significant role in recrystallization.

The high-temperature deformation behavior of metals and alloys undergoes complex mechanisms depending on the deformation conditions. The microstructure and mechanical properties after deformation are important factors that determine the strength and durability of the final product. Therefore, many studies to predict the microstructure and mechanical properties have been conducted. In this regard, numerous mathematical approaches for predicting microstructure and flow stress have been proposed over the past half century. Accordingly, many advances have been made in the field of material science. Nevertheless, there are limitations in the mathematical modeling method as there is a complex relationship between the deformation conditions and the mechanical properties. Therefore, in this study, flow stress prediction was performed by applying conventional constitutive equation and artificial intelligence technology, which is known to be effective in modeling complex relationships. As a result, it was confirmed that the flow stresses modeled by the artificial neural network showed a higher accuracy than the flow stresses modeled by the conventional Arrhenius hyperbolic sine equation.

In this paper, the extrusion process of titanium seamless tubes was studied using several finite element (FE) analyses. First, the finite element result was compared with experimental extrusion data acquired to validate the current analysis. Then, the effect of design parameters of the die shape was numerically analyzed using commercial FE software, Forge NxT, for the metal forming process. Elastic FE analyses were also conducted for dies to analyze the maximum principal stress that affects the early fracture of dies during the extrusion process and the maximum von Mises stress that causes the severe deformation of dies. Consequently, the effect of the corner radius at the exit and land length on the extrusion load and die stress is negligible compared to that of the corner radius at the entrance and die angle. Finally, we suggested a die angle of 60° and a corner radius at the die entrance between 10 and 15 mm as an optimal design for the current extrusion process.

In molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) systems, it is known that the shape of corrugated plates has a significant influence on performance, durability, and cost. A corrugated plate with a repeating open trapezoidal-shaped slot supports membrane electrode assembly and provides a gas flow channel. To increase the efficiency of the MCFC, the slot between the corrugated and center plates has a relatively large contact length. However, increasing the contact length of the slot increases the risk of necking or fracture generation at the corner of the slot. Therefore, we focus on the development of forming technology of corrugated plate which has large contact length of slots without any necking or fracture. To this end, numerical simulation was conducted to determine the appropriate process and tool design. In the simulation, to capture shear fracture during the forming process of slots, the normalized Cockroft–Latham ductile fracture model was used. The critical value for slitting and fracture was evaluated by comparing the deformed shapes in the slitting plane obtained from experimental and simulation results. Based on simulation results, a reasonable design concept of the two-stage forming process was suggested to increase the contact length of the slot without necking or fracture. In addition, the experiment results confirmed the validity of the proposed forming process and tool design.

We have investigated the effect of initial microstructures on the change in critical current density (Jc) of Nb-46.5 wt%Ti (NbTi) superconducting material. It is well known that α-Ti phases distributed in NbTi material act as a flux pinning center, resulting in an improvement in critical current density. Therefore, it is crucial to obtain the grain-refined microstructure, which is strongly related with precipitation of uniformly distributed fine α-Ti phases and higher volume faction of α-Ti phases, as α-Ti phases are precipitated at the grain boundaries and triple points during heat treatments. Therefore, in order to characterize the effect of initial microstructure of NbTi on critical current density, different initial microstructures were obtained by applying equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and hot rolling with different strains. It was revealed experimentally that hot rolling with a higher strain is efficient for obtaining the initial microstructure, which has equiaxed fine grains of β-NbTi with the aid of dynamic recrystallization, and which is helpful for precipitating fine α-Ti phases during intermediate heat treatment. Furthermore, it was confirmed that critical current density can be enhanced by obtaining a smaller α-Ti phase, a higher aspect ratio of α-Ti phase, a higher volume fraction of α-Ti phase and a ribbon-like folded α-Ti phase.

A convolutional neural network (CNN), which exhibits excellent performance in solving image-based problem, has been widely applied to various industrial problems. In general, the CNN model was applied to defect inspection on the surface of raw materials or final products, and its accuracy also showed better performance compared to human inspection. However, surfaces with heterogeneous and complex backgrounds have difficulties in separating defects region from the background, which is a typical challenge in this field. In this study, the CNN model was applied to detect surface defects on a hierarchical patterned surface, one of the representative complex background surfaces. In order to optimize the CNN structure, the change in inspection performance was analyzed according to the number of layers and kernel size of the model using evaluation metrics. In addition, the change of the CNN’s decision criteria according to the change of the model structure was analyzed using a class activation map (CAM) technique, which can highlight the most important region recognized by the CNN in performing classification. As a result, we were able to accurately understand the classification manner of the CNN for the hierarchical pattern surface, and an accuracy of 93.7% was achieved using the optimized model.

Objectives : This study was conducted to classify the TA(traffic accident) patients who admissed in Oriental Medical Hospital. Methods : We divided TA patients who admissed in Oriental Medical Hospital by age, sex, visited period after onset, impact region, disease, and chief complaint according to a patient classification table, and analyzed their characteristics. Results and Conclusion : The patients who visited within 1 week after TA numbered most(65.4%) in classification by period. Most impact region was neck(80%). Most of TA patients were suffered and treated by cervical(80%) and lumbar(56.9%) sprain.

Objectives : The purpose of this report is to examine the effects of direct moxibustion on the Low back pain and Lowerlimb radiating pain. Methods : The patients were hospitalized in Daejeon Univ. Oriental Hospital and treated with acupuncture treatment, physical treatment and direct moxibustion. After treatments, we measured the Results & Conclusions : VAS(Visual Analogue Scale) and PRS(Pain Rating Scale). VAS(Visual Analogue Scale) and PRS(Pain Rating Scale) scores were improved in 3 cases of Low back pain and Lowerlimb radiating pain treated with direct moxibustion. So it is suggested that direct moxibution have the possibility to treat on sciatica