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Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) of cancer patients has been known to be a useful marker for minimal residual disease detection and treatment monitoring. However, there are a few studies which showed correlation of cfDNA with pancreatic cancer treatment. Here we investigated applicability of cfDNA as a response and prognosis biomarker through comparing the qualitative and quantitative changes of the KRAS mutant in the patients with pancreatic cancer before and after treatment. Total of 44 pancreatic cancer patients who treated by gemcitabine and cisplatin included in the study. Serum from the blood samples was separated by centrifugation through the method established. cfDNA was extracted through the QIAamp Circulating Nucleic Acid Kit (Qiagen, Germany) from 0.8 ml of serum. Extracted cfDNA was quantified using the Qubit dsDNA HS Assay Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA). QX200 Droplet Digital PCR System (Biorad, USA) was applied to measure frequency of KRAS mutation. We performed digital PCR with KRAS screening multiplex droplet digital PCR kit which covers G12A, G12C, G12D, G12R, G12S, G12V and G13D sites (Biorad, USA). Mutant concentration and fractional abundance were analyzed by QuantaSoft software (Biorad, USA). The positive rate of KRAS mutation was 61% (27/44) and 47% (16/34) in before and after treatment. When we analyzed the treatment response according to the positive presence of KRAS mutation before treatment, 50% and 61% of KRAS mutations were observed in patients who showed either partial response (PR) or stable disease (SD) after chemotherapy, respectively. However, all the 5 patients (100%) with progressive disease (PD) showed KRAS mutation implicating significant correlation (p = 0.046) with treatment response. The fraction change of KRAS mutation was showed decrease in 18 (58.1%) patients and increase in 13 (41.9%) patients comparing before and after treatment status. When we observed the association the fraction change direction (decrease vs. increase) with the survival, there was no significant difference. These results implicate that KRAS mutation in cell-free DNA might be associated with treatment response to gemcitabine/cisplatin chemotherapy. In further studies, we will conduct in prospective study for pancreatic cancer patients. (This study was supported by National cancer center, Korea, Grant no. 1510203-1) Citation Format: Min Kyeong Kim, Yoon Kyong-Ah, Woo Sang Myung, Kim Yun Hee, Park Sang Jae, Kong Sun-Young. KRAS mutation in cell-free DNA was correlated with treatment response to gemcitabine/cisplatin chemotherapy in patients with pancreatic cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 512.

The ESTEMA (Expanded Study on Stellar Masers) project is one of three Large Programs of the KaVA (the combined array of the Korean VLBI Network and Japanese VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry), and conducted in 2015-2016. It aims to publish a database of the largest sample of VLBI images of circumstellar water (H2O) and silicon-monoxide (SiO) maser sources towards circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of 80 evolved stars in late AGB to early post-AGB phase. Here we present the specifications of the ESTEMA observations and the planned scientific goals in order to share the basic information of the ESTEMA with astronomical community and encourage future collaborations with the ESTEMA and future follow-up observations for the targeted stars.

Cytokine gene polymorphism studies in women with recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) are reviewed to provide comprehensive understanding and a direction for the future investigation.A search of PubMed was made to identify the published data between 2001 and 2007 regarding RSA and cytokine gene polymorphisms.Either allele and/or genotype frequencies of the following polymorphisms were reported to be significantly different between women with RSA and controls: IFN-gamma +874A--T, TA (P = 0.01), AA (P = 0.04); IL-6, -634C--G CG/GG (P = 0.026); IL-10, -592C--A CC (P = 0.016); IL-1B -511C (P = 0.035), -31T (P = 0.029); IL-1RA, IL1RN*2 (P = 0.002), and IL1RN*3 (P = 0.002). None of these studies was repeatedly reported by others to be significantly different. Among these, four cytokine polymorphisms (IFN-gamma, +874A--T; IL-1B -511C; IL-1RA, IL1RN*2, IL1RN*3) were refuted by others and rest of them were studied once.Multiple cytokine polymorphisms were reported to be associated with RSA. However, a majority of studies were not confirmed by other investigators or refuted by others. Inconsistent study results might be related to: (i) the production of these cytokines is partly under genetic controls and other factors affect cytokine levels; (ii) ethnic background, environmental factors, and selection criteria for study populations are different and (iii) the possibilities exist that multiple cytokine gene polymorphisms or other genes in linkage disequilibrium may play a role in RSA.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of cerebral ischemia on Type I(soleus) and Type II(plantaris, gastrocnemius) muscles, and to determine the effects of isometric contraction training by electrostimulation on Type I and II muscles in cerebral ischemia model rats. METHOD: Twenty-five male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: ST(stroke), STES(stroke+electrostimulation), SH(sham) and SHES (sham+electrostimulation). The ST and STES groups received a transient right middle cerebral artery occlusion operation. The SH and SHES groups received a sham operation. The STES and SHES groups had daily isometric contraction training by electrostimulation(100 Hz, 45 mA, 7.5 V) on hindlimb muscles for 7 days. RESULT: Plantaris and gastrocenmius muscle weight, myofibrillar protein contents of soleus and gastrocnemius, and the muscle fiber cross-sectional area of gastrocnemius in the ST group significantly decreased compared with the SH group. Soleus, plantaris, gastrocnemius muscle weight, myofibrillar protein contents of soleus and gastrocnemius, and the Type I muscle fiber cross-sectional area of soleus and the Type II muscle fiber cross-sectional area of gastrocnemius in the STES group significantly increased compared with the ST group. CONCLUSION: Hindlimb muscle atrophy occurs after acute stroke and isometric contraction training by electrostimulation during early stages of a stroke attenuates muscle atrophy of Type I and Type II muscles.

This study examined the effects of daily low-intensity exercise following acute stroke on mass, Type I and II fiber cross-sectional area, and myofibrillar protein content of hind-limb muscles in a rat model. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups (n = 7-9 per group): stroke (occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery [RMCA]), control (sham RMCA procedure), exercise, and stroke-exercise. Beginning 48 hours post-stroke induction/sham operation, rats in the exercise group had 6 sessions of exercise in which they ran on a treadmill at grade 10 for 20 min/day at 10 m/min. At 8 days poststroke, all rats were anesthetized and soleus, plantaris, and gastrocnemius muscles were dissected from both the affected and unaffected sides. After 6 sessions of exercise following acute ischemic stroke, the stroke-exercise group showed the following significant (p < .05) increases compared to the stroke-only group: body weight and dietary intake, muscle weight of affected soleus and both affected and unaffected gastrocnemius muscle, Type I fiber cross-sectional area of affected soleus and both affected and unaffected gastrocnemius muscle, Type II fiber cross-sectional area of the unaffected soleus, both affected and unaffected plantaris and gastrocnemius muscle, Type II fiber distribution of affected gastrocnemius muscle, and myofibrillar protein content of both affected and unaffected soleus muscle. Daily low-intensity exercise following acute stroke attenuates hind-limb muscle atrophy in both affected and unaffected sides. The effects of exercise are more pronounced in the soleus and gastrocnemius as compared to the plantaris muscle.

The concept of wearability will be recognized very important in future robotics as in computer science. There is a strong possibility that wearable robots suggest a new direction for human-robot interaction. We propose RoboWear, a robot that an operator wears on his arm. It can be used to amplify human power, to control a remote robot dexterously, to interact with humans in virtual environment. It has 7 DOF. Based on the anatomical analysis of a human arm and the distribution of multiple DOF over the space, authors designed a wearable robot with a hybrid structure consisting of two parallel manipulators and three separate joints. An operator wearing the robot arm can move around freely, because this robot is designed to have its base supported at the shoulder part of the operator. The total weight of the proposed robot arm is approximately 4 kg. Pneumatic actuators are used to reduce the total weight of the robot to improve compliance with human motion and to generate high reactive forces. The feasibility of the wearable robot is demonstrated by examining the control performance and by incorporating the wearable robot with virtual environment.