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The effect of Al content on the castability, tensile and creep properties of Mg-xAl-Zn alloy was investigated. The molten Mg-(3~11)Al-Zn alloys of 700 °C were poured into the mould designed to estimate castability. Tensile and creep tests were performed for the alloys. It has been shown that creep resistance decreased while tensile strength improved with increasing Al amount. Microstructure study revealed that morphology of Mg17Al12 is main factor determining the tensile and creep properties of as cast Mg-xAl-Zn alloys. The final purpose of this study is to develop the heat resistant Mg alloys to apply transportation systems such as automobile. Further study on effect of heat treatment and additional alloying elements on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-xAl alloys is going to be performed.

A study has been made on the effects of antimony (Sb) and strontium (Sr) additions on the microstructure of Mg-Al-Si alloys. Results showed that the additions of Sb and Sr can modify the morphology of Mg2Si particles from Chinese script shape to refined polygonal shape. Tensile strength and creep resistance were improved and tensile elongation was also increased in the modified alloy with Sb and Sr. The addition of Sr was more effective than Sb modification of AS52 alloy for refining microstructure and thus improving properties.

The effect of Al content on the castability, tensile and creep properties of Mg-xAl-Zn alloy was investigated. The molten Mg-(3~11)Al-Zn alloys of 700°C were poured into the mould designed to estimate castability. Tensile and creep tests were performed for the alloys. The results show that the castability increased with higher Al content. Creep resistance decreased while tensile strength improved with increasing Al amount. Our microstructure study revealed that morphology of Mg17Al12 is the main factor determining the tensile and creep properties of as cast Mg-xAl-Zn alloys. The final purpose of this study is to develop the heat resistant Mg alloys to be applied in transportation systems such as automobile. Further research will be conductedon the effect of heat treatment and additional alloying elements on the microstructure and properties of Mg-xAl alloys.

The effects of antimony (Sb) and strontium (Sr) additions on the microstructure of Mg-Al-Si alloys were studied. The results show that the additions of Sb and Sr can modify the Mg2Si particles from Chinese script shape to refined polygonal shape. Tensile strength and creep resistance are improved, and tensile elongation is also increased in the modified alloy. Sr modification is more effective than Sb modification of AS52 alloy for refining the microstructure and thus improving its properties.

Rationale Lymph node is a preferred site for extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB). In the thorax, mediastinal tuberculous lymph nodes can erode adjacent structures such as heart, aorta, and esophagus, forming fistula, and causing fatal consequences. However, tuberculous bronchonodal fistula as a complication of lymph node TB in adults is rarely known in terms of imaging or clinical findings. Here, a case of isolated tuberculous bronchonodal fistula appearing as the first presentation of TB in a 74-year-old male with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is reported. Patient concern A 74-year-old male with SLE visited the hospital with dry cough. In family history, his son was treated for pulmonary TB 9 years previously. Laboratory test revealed increased C-reactive protein level and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Chest computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a necrotic lymph node in the right hilar area connected to the inferior wall of the right upper lobe bronchus and the lateral wall of bronchus intermedius. Diagnoses On bronchoscopy performed under guidance of 3-dimensionally reconstructed CT image, fistula formation between the right hilar lymph node and 2 bronchi (the right upper lobe and intermediate bronchus) was confirmed. Sputum culture revealed growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Intervention Anti-TB medication with isoniazid, ethambutol, pyrazinamide, and moxifloxacin for 9 months. Outcome The patient's symptom was gradually improved. Follow-up bronchoscopy performed at 3 months after starting the medication revealed decreased size of the fistula. Lessons This is a rare case of bronchonodal fistula appearing as the first presentation of TB in a 74-year-old male patient with SLE. CT provided useful information regarding the origin and progress of the disease.

Duplicated gallbladder (GB) is a rare congenital disease. Surgical management of a duplicated GB needs special care because of concurrent bile duct anomalies and the risk of injuring adjacent arteries during surgery. An 80-year-old man visited an emergency room with right upper quadrant abdominal pain. Computed tomography (CT) revealed cholecystitis with a 2-bodied GB. Because of this unusual finding, magnetic resonance choledochopancreatography was performed to detect possible biliary anomalies. The 2 GB bodies were unified at the neck with a common cystic duct, a so-called V-shaped duplicated GB. The patient's right posterior hepatic duct joined the common bile duct (CBD) near the cystic duct. The patient underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy without adjacent organ injury, and was discharged uneventfully. Surgeons should carefully evaluate the patient preoperatively and select adequate surgical procedures in patients with suspected duplicated GB because of the risk of concurrent biliary anomalies.

Myoferlin is a protein that is associated with cellular repair following injury. The expression of myoferlin in breast cancer and pancreatic adenocarcinoma has been reported to correlate with tumor invasiveness, epithelial to mesenchymal transition and an adverse prognosis. In the present study, myoferlin expression was investigated in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), along with its association with patient prognosis and the expression of a number of other proteins. A total of 148 patients exhibiting NSCLC were enrolled in the present study. The survival data of all patients was examined, and myoferlin, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2), epidermal growth factor receptor, E-cadherin, β-catenin, thyroid transcription factor-1 and tumor protein p63 expression was investigated via immunohistochemical staining of tissue microarrays. Myoferlin expression was detected in the cytoplasm of 75/148 (50.7%) of the NSCLC cases. In the adenocarcinoma cases, myoferlin-positive patients possessed a poorer prognosis (odds ratio, 2.94; P=0.339). In the squamous cell carcinoma cases, myoferlin expression was significantly associated with VEGFR-2 expression (P=0.001). Immunohistochemical staining for VEGFR-2 and myoferlin expression indicated similar features and cytoplasmic staining in tumor cells. As VEGFR-2 is a significant target for novel anticancer therapies, it is anticipated that myoferlin may also possess the potential to become a novel clinical target for the treatment of NSCLC.

Kirsten rat sarcoma 2 viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) mutation in pulmonary adenocarcinoma is clinically important due to its association with resistance to EGFR inhibitors and poor prognosis. To our knowledge, there has not been a comparative study focusing on cytological nuclear features of pulmonary adenocarcinoma harboring KRAS mutation (KRAS-AD). Hence, we compared the cytomorphology of metastatic KRAS-AD and EGFR-positive adenocarcinoma (EGFR-AD) in aspiration specimens from lymph nodes.Forty lymph node aspiration specimens from forty KRAS-AD patients were collected at Samsung Medical Center (Seoul, Korea) from 2009 to 2013. As a control group, 40 EBUS-FNA lymph node specimens from 20 EGFR-AD patients were collected. EGFR-AD specimens were evaluated at Samsung Medical Center (Seoul, Korea) from 2012 to 2013. All 80 specimens were histologically confirmed to metastatic adenocarcinoma. Two pathologists performed a blinded review of all specimens.Compared with EGFR-AD, KRAS-AD exhibited more severe nuclear pleomorphism (P0.001), coarse chromatin (P = 0.001), cherry-red nucleoli (P0.001) and naked tumor cells (P = 0.002) with necrotic (P0.001) and neutrophilic (P = 0.008) background.Our study provides the first demonstration of cytomorphologic differentiation between metastatic KRAS-AD and metastatic EGFR-AD in lymph node aspiration specimens.

Background Previous studies have suggested an association between usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) and lung cancer (Ca). However, clinical and histological information is not enough to determine such an association, due to the low incidence and short survival time of patients with both conditions. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the clinical and histological records of Ca patients with UIP between January 1999 and August 2013 at the Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. We found 43 patients who had Ca with UIP (UIP-Ca). Previously reported data of eighty-four patients with UIP-only were included as a comparison group. Results Smoking is related to poor prognosis in patients with UIP-Ca, and the number of patients with a high smoking index of more than 30 pack-years significantly increased in UIP-Ca patients compared with UIP-only patients. There is no significant prognostic differentiation between UIP-Ca patients and UIP-only patients. Microscopically, UIP-Ca patients showed characteristically heterogeneous histological patterns and degrees of differentiation. There were many foci of squamous metaplasia or dysplasia at the peripheral area of squamous cell carcinomas. Conclusions We report 43 cases of UIP-Ca. Our results suggest that smoking is related to cancer occurrence in UIP patients and poor prognosis in UIP-Ca patients.

Background/Aims: Ribonucleotide reductase subunit M2 (RRM2) catalyzes the production of deoxynucleotide triphosphates, which are necessary for DNA synthesis. RRM2 has been reported to play an active role in tumor progression, and elevated RRM2 levels have been correlated with poor prognosis for colorectal cancer patients. This study aimed to elucidate the prognostic significance of RRM2 protein expression in hepatocellular carcinoma after surgery. Methods: RRM2 protein expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry in tumor tissues from 259 hepatocellular carcinoma patients who underwent curative hepatectomy. Results: High RRM2 expression was observed in 210 of 259 patients (81.1%) with hepatocellular carcinomas. High RRM2 expression was significantly associated with viral etiology (p=0.035) and liver cirrhosis (p=0.036). High RRM2 expression was correlated with early recurrence (p=0.004) but not with late recurrence (p=0.144). Logistic regression analysis revealed that high RRM2 expression (p=0.040) and intrahepatic metastasis (p

Glomus tumors of the lung are rare benign neoplasm, originating from modified smooth muscle cells. The patients are usually presented with no or non-specific symptoms such as cough, dyspnea or hemoptysis. Although surgical treatment is considered as the treatment of choice, the endobronchial therapy can be applied to the patients who are unfit for surgical excision. Herein, we describe two rare cases of glomus tumor originated at large airway (trachea and main bronchus) without respiratory symptoms and review their characteristic radiologic, macroscopic and pathological features.

Objectives Epithelial myoepithelial carcinoma (EMC) of the lung is a very rare tumor that is characterized by biphasic differentiation of epithelial and myoepithelial cells. Current discussion about this entity focuses on the malignant potential of the tumor and the role of myoepithelial cells in diagnosis and patient prognosis. This study reports five EMC cases in the lung and discusses issues related to EMC prognosis. Materials and methods The five EMC cases were diagnosed and collected at the Samsung Medical Center (Seoul, Korea) from 1998 to 2012. Four patients with EMC were received a lobectomy and one patient was given a bronchoscopy to excise the tumor. All cases were evaluated with hematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemical staining, which included S-100 protein, smooth muscle actin, TTF-1, cytokeratin, vimentin, and p27 analysis. Results and conclusion All cases revealed biphasic differentiation of epithelial and myoepithelial tumor cells with various stromal patterns. One of the cases contained predominantly myoepithelial and focal epithelial differentiation, and the tumor showed recurrence and metastasized to the chest wall. This was the first case of metastatic pulmonary EMC. Therefore, we suggest that EMC of the lung has a malignant potential, and that myoepithelial tumor cells may be associated with a pulmonary EMC prognosis.

A 24-year-old man was admitted due to an incidentally detected mass in his left testis, which showed radiopaque calcification on plain X-ray film. Left orchiectomy was performed, and the resected testis contained a well-demarcated, hard mass measuring 1.1 cm. Histological analysis revealed that the tumor was composed of neoplastic cells, fibrotic stroma, and laminated or irregularly shaped calcific bodies. The individual cells had abundant eosinophilic or clear cytoplasm with round nuclei, each of which contained one or two conspicuous nucleoli. They were arranged in cords, trabeculae, clusters, and diffuse sheets. There were several foci of intra-tubular growth patterns, with thickening of the basal lamina. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells were positive for S-100 protein and vimentin, focally positive for inhibin alpha, and negative for cytokeratin, CD10, and Melan-A. In addition to reporting this rare case, we also review the relevant literature regarding large cell calcifying Sertoli cell tumors.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a poor prognosis and surgical resection improves the survival rates for patients. However, the prognosis after surgical resection of HCC remains grave because of a high rate of recurrence.1,2 It is critical to determine which individual patients need adjuvant therapy in order to prevent tumor recurrence after surgical resection. Although there are many reports on histologic parameters for predicting HCC prognosis, molecular markers for HCC recurrence and prognosis could provide additional information.3 BCL9 was identified as a gene overexpressed in a precursor-B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line with t(1;14)(q21;q32) translocation4 and it is involved in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway by mediating the recruitment of pygopus to the nuclear β-catenin-TCF complex.5 Upregulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway appears to play an important role in the development or progression of certain cancers, including colorectal cancer and HCC.6 Deregulated expression of β-catenin leads to the stabilization of β-catenin and the stabilized β-catenin translocates into the nucleus, where it can serve as a transcriptional factor through binding with the TCF transcriptional factor.7 BCL9 enhances the β-catenin-mediated transcriptional activity regardless of the mutational status of the Wnt signaling components and increases the cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastatic potential of tumor cells, while knocking down BCL9 increases the survival outcomes among xenograft mouse models of multiple myeloma and colon cancer.8 Brembeck et al.9 reported that the highly up-regulated BCL9-2 protein was found in almost all of the human colorectal carcinomas, independently of the occurrence of metastasis. A copy number gain on 1q is frequently observed in HCCs.10,11 The BCL9 gene is located at chromosome 1q21 and the regional chromosomal gain represents a primary mechanism in the activation of protooncogenes during HCC progression.12 However, the prognostic significance of BCL9 in HCC remains uncertain. In the present study, we evaluated BCL9 protein expression by immunohistochemistry in order to elucidate the prognostic significance of BCL9 in HCC patients with long-term follow-up and extensive information on the clinicopathologic characteristics.

Fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19)-mediated activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase and the β-catenin pathway may be involved in the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma. This study aimed to elucidate the prognostic significance of FGF19 protein expression in hepatocellular carcinoma patients. By immunohistochemistry, we investigated the expression of FGF19 protein in tumor tissue from 281 hepatocellular carcinoma patients who underwent curative hepatectomy. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate its predictive value for tumor recurrence and survival of patients. The median follow-up period was 75.6 months. FGF19 protein expression was observed in 135 (48.0 %) of the 281 hepatocellular carcinomas. FGF19 expression was significantly associated with larger tumor size (P

The prognostic significance of O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) inactivation was evaluated in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who received cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) in addition to rituximab. In this retrospective study, we used the methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction to investigate MGMT promoter methylation status and immunohistochemistry to evaluate MGMT expression in patients with DLBCL who received rituximab plus CHOP (R-CHOP) chemotherapy. No difference in patient characteristics, disease characteristics, response, or survival in patients with DLBCL who received front-line R-CHOP chemotherapy was observed according to MGMT methylation status and MGMT expression. On multivariate analysis, Grade 3-4 mucositis in the MGMT methylated group was significantly higher than that in the MGMT unmethylated group (hazard ratio (HR) 2.40, 95% CIs: 1.26-7.26, p = 0.014). This study demonstrated that inactivation of MGMT does not appear to play an important role in patients with DLBCL who received R-CHOP chemotherapy either with regard to the response rate or overall survival. Additionally, Grade 3-4 mucositis was found to be significantly related with inactivation of MGMT by a multivariate analysis.

Primary tracheal amyloidosis (PTA) can lead to airway obstructions, and patients with severe PTA should undergo bronchoscopic interventions in order to maintain airway patency. Focal airway involvements with amyloidosis can only be treated with mechanical dilatation. However, the PTA with diffused airway involvements and concomitant cartilage destructions requires stent placement. Limited information regarding the usefulness of silicone stents in patients with PTA has been released. Therefore, we report a case of diffused PTA with tracheomalacia causing severe cartilage destruction, which is being successfully managed with bronchoscopic interventions and silicone stent placements.

A macroscopically oriented lamello-columnar mesophase was obtained from a newly designed and synthesized symmetric tetrathiafulvalene-based molecule (symTTF11) containing four flexible alkyl chains chemically attached to the periphery of TTF mesogens (L. Wang, et al., J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 60), and its phase behaviors and physical properties were investigated by the combined experimental techniques. Based on the experimental results and structure analyses, it was revealed that there are two ordered columnar phases below the isotropic phase: a columnar crystalline phase (ColK) and a columnar smectic liquid crystal phase (ColL). From two-dimensional wide angle X-ray diffraction patterns of the macroscopically oriented samples, phase structures of ColK and ColL were identified and their biaxial molecular packing structures were also proposed. Since the assembled symTTF11 columns were well organized in the ordered layer structures over a macroscopic domain, symTTF11 exhibited a good charge carrier mobility in the ColL phase.