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Background. Forkhead Box Protein 3 (FOXP3) is a marker for immunosuppressive CD4 + CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs). We investigated whether there were significant numbers of FOXP3-positive Tregs in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) using immunohistochemistry, and whether the presence of FOXP3-positive Tregs was associated with other prognostic factors, such as stage or histologic grade. We investigated the number of tumor-infiltrating FOXP3-positive Tregs in formalin-fixed TNBC specimens obtained from patients who received palliative treatment between 1999 and 2007. Material and methods. Immunohistochemistry was used to assess the number of CD4 + , CD25+, and FOXP3+ Tregs in tumor tissue and normal breast tissue from 86 TNBC patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses evaluated outcomes according to the number of FOXP3-positive Tregs. Results. Of the 86 tumor specimens, 22 (25.6%) expressed more than 15 FOXP3-positive Tregs per 10 high power fields in the peritumoral area. On multivariate analysis, staining showing > 15 FOXP3-positive Tregs was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival and progression free survival with hazard ratios of 2.4 (95% CI 1.0-5.6; p = 0.049) and 2.0 (95% CI 1.1-3.6; p = 0.032), respectively. In TNBC, FOXP3-positive Tregs had stronger prognostic significance than did FOXP3-negative Tregs. The finding of improved survival associated with highly infiltrating FOXP3-positive Tregs in TNBC contrasted with several other types of solid cancer. Conclusion. TNBC may be differently driven by FOXP3 via an immune mechanism. The inclusion of FOXP3+ Tregs may help to improve prognostication for TNBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study evaluated baseline patient- or tumor-related prognostic factors in patients with advanced gastric adenocarcinoma. A total of 304 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed metastatic or recurrent gastric cancer treated with one or more cycles of cisplatin-based chemotherapy at the Korea Cancer Center Hospital were enrolled in the current study. Among the original 304 patients, only 4 patients were alive at the time of this analysis. The median survival for all patients was 7.3 (95% CI, 6.3–8.2) months. Five independent prognostic factors were identified by a multivariate analysis: poor performance status (hazard ratio [HR], 1.46; 95% CI, 1.32–2.92), elevated total bilirubin (HR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.73–2.35), presence of peritoneal metastasis (HR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.57–1.90), presence of bone metastasis (HR, 3.11; 95% CI, 2.69–3.53), and more than 1 metastatic site (HR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.06–1.38). A prognostic index was constructed that divided the patients into a good ( n = 162), moderate ( n = 82), or poor ( n = 60) risk group. The 1-year survival rates for the good, moderate, and poor risk groups were 34.6, 20.7, and 1.7%, respectively, and the survival differences among the groups were highly significant ( P < 0.0001). Five prognostic factors were identified from patients receiving first-line cisplatin-based chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer. A simple prognostic index was then developed that produced distinct survival rates among the different risk groups. Therefore, this prognostic model could help clinicians and patients in clinical decision-making and treatment tailoring based on the estimated prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the Korean consortia models generally and discuss how the consortium governing body, Korea Education & Research Information Service (KERIS), manages the e-book consortium effectively from the Korean perspective. Design/methodology/approach - This research is conducted with overall consortia models of online resources by KERIS. Over several years of modeling it has contrived to develop a few consortia modeling patterns in Korea and assess their effectiveness on collection management. The e-book consortium modeling process entailed the following: identifying the appropriate consortium model, sampling the consortium size for pricing models and selecting the criteria for e-book title selection. Findings - Two types of e-book consortium models are presented. One is the subscription model and the other is the purchasing model. Both sharing and purchasing options are quite cost-effective for Korean universities since they try to balance the digital and paper collections. The consortium model for e-books in Korean universities was successful and fit into the conservative collection management in Korea for academic use. Also, perpetual access and purchase model is preferred rather than annual access and lease model. Originality/value - Online resources including e-books need a sustainable model for continuous access due to budget constraints. Considering the life-span of information we need to find the appropriate business and service models for all the resources available online, Various criteria for consortia have been presented. No previous research has been conducted on the nationwide consortium model in Korean universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the properties of "shinurai" fruit in cold-pressed peel oil process in Korea. The process was done to reveal the content of the citrus fruit's oil, limonene, which was extracted from its rind. It was hypothesized that limonene is the main source of oil in both countries where it constitutes 86.4% of oils in the country and 91.8% in all oils generated in Japan.