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Aerodynamic shape optimization of horizontal axis wind turbines was performed to minimize the cost of energy. The optimum blade was obtained by modifying the blade section contours at selected blade radial stations. For the optimization, the design variables were defined as the coordinates of the blade section contours perpendicular to the chord. An aerodynamic performance database was constructed for those blade configurations defined by random combinations of design variables selected within a given range by Latin-Hypercube sampling. An artificial neural network was applied to derive the approximate functions between the design variables and the aerodynamic performance of the database. By utilizing the approximate functions, a genetic algorithm was adopted to search for an optimized blade. To construct the database, a CFD flow solver based on unstructured meshes was utilized. To consider the effects of aeroelastic deformation of the structurally flexible blades, a coupled CFD-CSD method was also adopted. The applications were made for the NREL phase VI and NREL 5 MW reference wind turbine rotor blades. After optimization, the cost of energy was reduced by 0.82% for the NREL phase VI rotor blade and one percent for the NREL 5 MW reference wind turbine blade, respectively.

In the present study, a simulation about the effects of vortex generators on horizontal axis wind turbine rotor blade was numerically conducted using a static coupled CFD–CSD method. A Navier–Stokes CFD flow solver based on unstructured meshes was used to obtain the blade aerodynamic loads. A FEM-based CSD solver employing a nonlinear coupled flap-lag-torsion beam theory was utilized to calculate the blade elastic deformation. The coupling of the CFD and CSD solvers was accomplished in a loosely coupled manner by exchanging the information between the two solvers at infrequent intervals. The static coupled CFD–CSD method was applied to the NREL 5 MW reference wind turbine rotor under steady axial flow conditions. Triangular counter-rotating vortex generators were adopted to control flow separation and radial flow in the inboard section of the NREL 5 MW reference rotor blades. They were installed on the inboard part of the blade from 0.2 to 0.4 R. As a result of the flow analysis considering the counter-rotating vortex generators, strong vortices were generated by counter-rotating vortex generators. It can be seen that the regions where flow separation and radial flow occur in the inboard sections were reduced compared to the baseline wind turbine. For this reason, the maximum power improvement due to counter-rotating vortex generators was 1.04% at the rated wind speed.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE:To predict the prognosis of localized prostate cancer (PCa) patients and evaluate the actual contribution of tumor volume (TV) to the prognosis of PCa.METHODS:We prospect...

Purpose There is still a clinical need to easily evaluate the metastatic status of lymph nodes during breast cancer surgery. We hypothesized that ex vivo shear-wave elastography (SWE) would predict precisely the presence of metastasis in the excised lymph nodes. Methods A total of 63 patients who underwent breast cancer surgery were prospectively enrolled in this study from May 2014 to April 2015. The excised axillary lymph nodes were examined using ex vivo SWE. Metastatic status was confirmed based on the final histopathological diagnosis of the permanent section. Lymph node characteristics and elasticity values measured by ex vivo SWE were assessed for possible association with nodal metastasis. Results A total of 274 lymph nodes, harvested from 63 patients, were examined using ex vivo SWE. The data obtained from 228 of these nodes from 55 patients were included in the analysis. Results showed that 187 lymph nodes (82.0%) were nonmetastatic and 41 lymph nodes (18.0%) were metastatic. There was significant difference between metastatic and nonmetastatic nodes with respect to the mean (45.4 kPa and 17.7 kPa, p

Lipid metabolism has been suggested to be associated with clinical outcomes of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between preoperative cholesterol level (PCL) and postoperative outcomes of patients with localized RCC.We retrospectively analyzed the data of 5022 patients surgically treated for nonmetastatic RCC. According to the receiver operating curve of PCL for cancer-specific mortality, we stratified the patients into 2 groups by using a cutoff value of 161 mg/dL. The propensity scores for having low PCL were calculated, and the low PCL group was matched with the high PCL group at a 1:2 ratio. The oncological profiles and postoperative survival of patients were compared.A low cholesterol level was significantly associated with adverse pathologic findings, such as higher pathologic stage (P .001) and large tumor size (P = .002). Furthermore, the low cholesterol group showed significantly worse progression-free, cancer-specific, and overall survival (all P values .001) compared with the high cholesterol group. Multivariate analysis exhibited a higher PCL as an independent predictor of better progression-free (P .001), cancer-specific (P = .018), and overall survival (P = .001) after matching. Subgroup analysis according to tumor histology revealed that PCL had a significant relationship with patients' survival in clear cell RCC, but not in non-clear cell RCC.Decreased PCL was significantly associated with worse pathologic outcomes and also inferior postoperative survival in patients with localized RCC; however, those relationships were significant only in clear cell subtypes.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES:Ki-67 is known to be useful in estimating the fraction of proliferation tumor cells in various malignancies. We tried to investigate clinical association of Ki-67 (MIB-1...

The purpose of this study is to investigate the microstructural evolution of austenitic stainless steels AISI304 and AISI316 subjected to thermal aging at elevated temperature. Most structural steels are generally subjected to softening of matrix when they are exposed to high temperatures for a long period of time because of the coarsening of the secondary phases and the phase transformation. The test specimens are heat-treated in electrical furnace for up to 5000 h at each predetermined aging time to simulate the degraded microstructure under high temperature. The microstructural changes in test materials have been evaluated by the optical and electron microscope in relation with twins, grains, precipitates, and phase transformation. The mechanical hardening were also discussed in terms of microstructural changes during long-term aging.

The effects of solution heat treatment of Al6Si2Cu aluminum alloy on incipient melting of θ-Al2Cu phase have been investigated. Solution heat treatments, in this study, are applied to improve of mechanical properties through a single-step solution heat treatment. The microstructure of as-cast specimen represents a typical dendrite structure having a secondary dendrite arm spacing of 37um. In addition to the Al matrix, a large amount of coarsen eutectic Si, θ-Al2Cu intermetallic phases and Fe-rich phases are identified. As the solution temperature increases, the Vickers's hardness increases up to 510°C and thereafter hardness decreases at the temperature of 520°C and 530°C. This hardness behavior may closely related with microstructural evolution such as solubility of alloying elements up to 510°C and also melting of θ-Al2Cu intermetallic phases over 510°C in this study. Consequentially, the optimal single-step solution heat treatment temperature should be 510°C to improve mechanical property.

An aerodynamic shape optimization framework of two modules is developed for improving the aerodynamic performance of wind turbine rotor blades. The first module conducts CFD-based aeroelastic analysis for the complete blade configuration to evaluate the turbine performance and to extract the sectional flow conditions at selected blade sections. The second module performs 2-D shape optimization of blade sections to maximize the lift-to-drag ratio under given sectional flow conditions. When the optimization is completed for all selected blade sections, the performance and sectional flow characteristics of the new blade reconfigured from the optimized sections are evaluated again by the CFD-based aeroelastic analysis. The above procedure is repeated until the solution converges satisfactorily. Applications were made for the NREL phase VI and the NREL 5MW reference wind turbines. The results showed that the optimization framework can be effectively utilized in enhancing the aerodynamic performance of wind turbine blades.

Alongside the modern trend of delaying childbirth, the high incidence of breast cancer among young women is causing significant pregnancy-related problems in Korea. We estimated the incidence of childbirth for young Korean breast cancer survivors compared with women who did not have breast cancer using a nationally representative dataset. Using a database from the National Health Insurance Service in South Korea, we analyzed 109,680 women who were between 20 and 40 years old between 2007 and 2013. They were prospectively followed, and childbirth events were recorded until December 31, 2015. We compared childbirth rates and characteristics between the breast cancer survivors and the noncancer controls. Compared to 10,164 childbirths among 91,400 women without breast cancer (incidence rate: 22.3/1000), 855 childbirths occurred among 18,280 breast cancer survivors (incidence rate: 9.4/1000); the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for childbirth was 0.41 (95% CI 0.38–0.44). Chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, and target therapy were associated with the decreasing childbirths among survivors, with corresponding adjusted HRs of 0.61 (0.53–0.70), 0.44 (0.38–0.51), and 0.62 (0.45–0.86), respectively. Breast cancer survivors had a lower probability of full-term delivery and a higher frequency of preterm labor than controls, with corresponding adjusted ORs of 0.78 (0.68–0.90) and 1.33 (1.06–1.65), respectively. We showed that a history of breast cancer has a negative effect on childbirth among young premenopausal women in Korea. Breast cancer survivors should be aware that they have a higher risk for preterm labor and are less likely to have a full-term delivery than women without a history of breast cancer.

Background: Three-dimensional (3D) printing has been introduced as a novel technique to produce 3D objects. We tried to evaluate the clinical usefulness of 3D-printed renal model in performing partial nephrectomy (PN) and also in the education of medical students. Materials and Methods: We prospectively produced personalized renal models using 3D-printing methods from preoperative computed tomography (CT) images in a total of 10 patients. Two different groups (urologist and student group) appraised the clinical usefulness of 3D-renal models by answering questionnaires. Results: After application of 3D renal models, the urologist group gave highly positive responses in asking clinical usefulness of 3D-model among PN (understanding personal anatomy: 8.9 / 10, preoperative surgical planning: 8.2 / 10, intraoperative tumor localization: 8.4 / 10, plan for further utilization in future: 8.3 / 10, clinical usefulness in complete endophytic mass: 9.5 / 10). The student group located each renal tumor correctly in 47.3% when they solely interpreted the CT images. After the introduction of 3D-models, the rate of correct answers was significantly elevated to 70.0% (p < 0.001). The subjective difficulty level in localizing renal tumor was also significantly low (52% versus 27%, p < 0.001) when they utilized 3D-models. Conclusion: The personalized 3D renal model was revealed to significantly enhance the understanding of correct renal anatomy in patients with renal tumors in both urologist and student groups. These models can be useful for establishing the perioperative planning and also education program for medical students.

We evaluated whether the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) mass or free PSA (fPSA) mass (i.e., absolute amount of total circulating PSA or fPSA protein, respectively), versus serum PSA or fPSA concentration, improves the accuracy of predicting the total prostate volume (TPV) in relation to obesity. Among men whose multicore (≥12) transrectal prostate biopsy was negative, 586 who had a PSA of ≤10 ng ml−1 and underwent the fPSA test prior to biopsy were enrolled. The PSA mass or fPSA mass (μ g) was calculated by multiplying the serum level by plasma volume. At each TPV cut-off point (30 ml, 40 ml, and 50 ml), the areas under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUCs) of each variable were compared in obesity-based subgroups. AUCs of fPSA and fPSA mass for predicting TPV were significantly larger than those for PSA and PSA mass by 8.7%–12.1% at all cut-off points. Subgroup analyses based on obesity showed that, although PSA mass and fPSA mass enhanced accuracy by 4% (P = 0.031) and 1.8% (P = 0.003), respectively, for determining TPVs of ≥30 ml and ≥50 ml in obese and overweight men, they did not improve the accuracy in most other combinations of the degrees of obesity with TPV cut-off points. Thus, compared with serum PSA or fPSA, the absolute amount of PSA or fPSA protein mass improved the accuracy of predicting TPV in obese men very minimally and only for certain TPV cut-off points. Hence, these indicators may not provide clinically meaningful improvement in predicting TPV in obese men.

Introduction The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor, node, metastasis classification system (TNM) staging manual has been updated and provides more specified stage grouping for prostate cancer (PCa). We aimed to validate the updated AJCC stage groups for PCa using a radical prostatectomy (RP) cohort. Patients and Methods We analyzed the data of 3032 patients previously treated with RP for localized PCa. We stratified patients into stage groups according to the 8th edition of the AJCC manual and compared biochemical recurrence (BCR)-free survival using Kaplan-Meier analyses. Results There were 217 patients in stage group I, 33 in IIA, 1101 in IIB, 535 in IIC, 129 in IIIA, 781 in IIIB, and 236 in IIIC. There were no significant differences in BCR-free survival between stage groups IIC and IIIA (P = .875). Subsequently, the low–Gleason score (GS) IIIA subgroup (GS ≤ 3 + 4, P = .025) showed superior BCR-free survival than the IIC group, and the high-GS IIIA subgroups (GS ≥ 4 + 3, P = .004) showed a poorer BCR-free survival than the IIC group. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between groups I and IIA (P = 330) and between groups IIA and IIB (P = .942). Our new staging system provided a better ability to discriminate the prognosis of each group. However, our study has several limitations, such as retrospective design, relatively short follow-up period, and need for further validation. Conclusion The current AJCC prognostic groups show some contradictory results, particularly concerning prognosis of the IIC and IIIA groups. We suggest that GS be given more weight than serum prostate-specific antigen level in stage group stratification.

To investigate the factors associated with hospital readmission (HR) after retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) among renal stone patients. The study included patients who underwent RIRS from June 2011 to December 2017. Patients who were readmitted due to surgery-related complications were evaluated retrospectively. Patient demographics including age, medical comorbidity, body mass indices, ASA score, perioperative parameters and stone factors were compared with total cohorts. HR was defined as visits to the Emergency Room or unplanned admission within 30 days after discharge. The factors affecting HR rates were analyzed using uni- and multi-variate analyses. A total of 572 patients were enrolled into the study. The mean age was 57.6 ± 14.1 years and the mean stone diameter was 13.4 ± 6.2 mm. The mean complication rate was 6.1% and the median hospitalization time was 2.1 ± 3.4 days. HR occurred in 20 patients (3.5%). Compared to non-admission patients, readmitted patients had a higher rate of bilateral RIRS (20.0% vs 12.2%, p = 0.035), number of stones (4.65 vs 2.2, p = 0.041) and higher stone complexity score (4.15 vs 2.11, p = 0.003). Multivariate analysis showed bilateral RIRS (OR 1.091, p = 0.031) and stone complexity (OR 1.405, p = 0.003) were significant factors to predict re-admission after RIRS. Patients with complex renal stones or those who underwent bilateral RIRS were more likely to have a higher rate of re-admission. Proper perioperative management to prevent complications should be planned based on these predictive factors.

Purpose We investigated the relationships between metastasis-free interval (MFI) and tumor characteristics, and assessed the prognostic value of MFI for survival after metastasis in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Furthermore, we compared MFI among the subtypes. Methods We identified 335 patients with postoperative tumor recurrence at distant site(s). All patients underwent curative resection and had a MFI of at least 6 months. MFI was categorized as short (

IGZO thin films were deposited on glass substrates via RF magnetron co-sputtering with In2O3 and GZO targets. The films were then vacuum annealed at 100°C, 200°C and 300°C for 30 minutes to investigate the effects of the annealing temperature on the structural, electrical, and optical properties of the films. Although XRD patterns demonstrated that all films had an amorphous phase regardless of annealing temperature, electrical resistivity decreased to as low as 3.2 × 10-4 Ω cm at an annealing temperature of 300°C. The optical transmittance in the visible wavelength region also improved from 80 to 83%. The figure of merit shows that IGZO films annealed at 300°C have the higher optical and electrical performance than other films prepared under different conditions in this study.

Background Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is a standard method for nodal staging and enables to omit axillary lymph node dissection after negative sentinel lymph node (SLN). False-negative rate of SLNB has been reported as 5-7%. To dissolve the concerns regarding the axillary recurrence due to false-negative cases after negative SLNB, we investigated oncologic outcomes of a large number of breast cancer patients with negative SLN after SLNB. Methods A total of 2,475 patients with clinically node-negative breast cancer underwent SLNB at Severance hospitals between December 1998 and December 2013. 99-m Tc radiocolloid or blue dye was used in SLNB with periareolar intradermal injection technique. Intraoperative frozen examination of SLN was performed. If frozen test for SLN showed negative result, further axillary node dissection was omitted. Survival rates were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate survival analysis was performed using the Cox-regression hazard model. Results Among 2,475 patients, 2,217 patients had no metastatic focus on SLN. A mean of 2.4 sentinel lymph nodes was dissected in all of the patients. At a median follow-up of 36 months, only 13 patients (0.6%) had axillary recurrence, and a median time to the recurrence was 20 months (range 7-45 months). During the follow-up period, 22 local, 16 regional, and 44 distant recurrences were observed. In multivariate analysis for axillary recurrence, tumor size and refusal of systemic therapy were demonstrated to be independent risk factors for axillary recurrence (hazard ratio (HR) 1.77, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08-2.89, P=0.024; HR 0.15, 95% CI, 0.03-0.75, P=0.021). Disease-free survival and axillary recurrence-free survival rates at 3 years were 96.5% (95% CI, 0.960-0.970) and 99.2% (95% CI, 0.990-0.994), respectively. Conclusions The axillary recurrence rate was very low in patients with negative SLN. Our findings supported that SLNB is a reliable procedure and its oncologic safety is not affected by the chance of axillary recurrence after negative SLNB. Citation Format: Jong Tae Park, Hak Min Lee, Sung Gwe Ahn, Seung Ah Lee, Joon Jeong. Oncologic outcome of 2,217 patients with breast cancer after negative sentinel lymph node biopsy without axillary lymph node dissection [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2014 Dec 9-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(9 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-13-18.

Objectives To analyse the effect of prolonged warm ischaemia time (WIT) on long-term renal function after partial nephrectomy (PN), as controversy still exists as to whether prolonged WIT adversely affects the incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) after PN. Patients and Methods We reviewed data from 1816 patients who underwent PN for a clinical T1 renal tumour. The propensity scores for prolonged WIT were calculated with the shorter WIT group ( 0.05). Conclusions Prolonged WIT was not associated with increased incidence of CKD or MRFD after PN.

Purpose Although sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) can accurately represent the axillary lymph node (ALN) status, the false-negative rate (FNR) of SLNB is the main concern in the patients who receive SLNB alone instead of ALN dissection (ALND). Materials and methods We analyzed 1,886 patientswho underwent ALND after negative results of SLNB,retrospectively. A logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors associated with a falsenegative (FN) result. Cox regression model was used to estimate the hazard ratio of factors affecting disease-free survival (DFS). Results Tumor located in the upper outer portion of the breast, lymphovascular invasion, suspicious node in imaging assessment and less than three sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) were significant independent risk factors for FN in SLNB conferring an adjusted odds ratio of 2.10 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.30 to 3.39), 2.69 (95% CI, 1.47 to 4.91), 2.59 (95% CI, 1.62 to 4.14), and 2.39 (95% CI, 1.45 to 3.95), respectively. The prognostic factors affecting DFS were tumor size larger than 2 cm (hazard ratio [HR], 1.86; 95% CI, 1.17 to 2.96) and FN of SLNB (HR, 2.51; 95% CI, 1.42 to 4.42) in SLN-negative group (FN and true-negative), but in ALN-positive group (FN and true-positive), FN of SLNB (HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.33 to 1.25) did not affect DFS. Conclusion In patients with risk factors for a FN such as suspicious node in imaging assessment, upper outer breast cancer, less than three harvested nodes, we need attention to find another metastatic focus in non-SLNs during the operation. It may contribute to provide an exact prognosis and optimizing adjuvant treatments.

Purpose A growing body of evidence indicates that zoledronic acid (ZA) can improve the clinical outcome in patients with breast cancer and low estrogen levels. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the survival benefit of ZA administration in postmenopausal Korean women with breast cancer who were also receiving aromatase inhibitors. Methods Between January 2004 and December 2010, 235 postmenopausal breast cancer patients undergoing aromatase inhibitor therapy were investigated. All patients were postmenopausal, as confirmed by laboratory tests. Of these patients, 77 received adjuvant upfront ZA for at least 1 year in addition to conventional adjuvant treatment. The remaining 158 patients never received ZA and were treated according to the St. Gallen guidelines. Results The baseline characteristics for ZA treatment were not different between the two groups. The median follow-up time was 62 months, and the patients who received ZA in addition to aromatase inhibitors showed a better recurrence-free survival compared to those who received aromatase inhibitors alone (p=0.035). On multivariate analysis, the patients who received ZA showed a better recurrence-free survival independent of the tumor size, nodal status, progesterone receptor, and histological grade. For this model, Harrell c index was 0.743. The hazard ratio of ZA use for recurrence-free survival was 0.12 (95% confidence interval, 0.01-0.99). Conclusion Our findings suggest that upfront use of ZA as part of adjuvant treatment can offer a survival benefit to postmenopausal breast cancer patients receiving aromatase inhibitor treatment.

Objective To investigate the impact of prostatic apical shape from preoperative magnetic resonance imaging on early recovery of urinary continence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). Materials and Methods We reviewed the records of 1011 patients who underwent RARP at a tertiary center from October 2007 to March 2013. Patients were stratified into 4 different groups by prostatic apical shapes as shown on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (groups A-D). The early recovery of urinary continence was defined as 0 or 1 security pad/d within 12 weeks after the surgery. The association between early recovery of continence and various factors was analyzed. Results Overall, 807 patients (79.8%) showed early recovery of urinary continence. The numbers of patients in groups A, B, C, and D were 88 (8.7%), 478 (47.3%), 167 (16.5%), and 278 (27.5%), respectively. There were no significant differences in the rates of early recovery of urinary continence between different groups ( P = .257). On multivariate analysis, the patient's age (odds ratio [OR], 0.960; P = .004), preoperative International Index of Erectile Function-5 score (OR, 1.029; P = .009), neurovascular bundle preservation (OR, 1.586; P = .013), and membranous urethral length (OR, 1.104; P = .001) were revealed as independent prognostic factors in the early recovery of urinary continence. Conclusion The results of our study showed that the prostatic apical shape does not influence the early recovery of urinary continence. We believe this is another strong point of RARP compared with conventional open surgery, particularly for patients with complex type of apical shape.

Objective: In vitro chemotherapy response assays are not widely accepted in making decisions regarding cytotoxic drugs. To evaluate the usefulness of chemotherapy response assays in breast cancer, we compared the chemotherapy response assay results according to subtypes. Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 and Ki67 associated with chemosensitivity were also analyzed. Methods: Four hundred and ninety-six patients were enrolled, and chemotherapy response assays based on adenosine triphosphate were performed in 500 tumors. Patients were classified as five subtypes: luminal A, luminal B/human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative, luminal B/human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 and triple negative. The cell death rate for various drugs was calculated. Results: The mean cell death rate of the luminal A subtype was the lowest, and the mean cell death rates of the human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 and triple-negative subtypes were the highest for all tested drugs, except 5-fluorouracil and methotrexate. The cell death rate differed significantly among the subtypes in the types of drugs (doxorubicin, epirubicin, paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, vinorelbine and cisplatin). In triple-negative tumors, the mean cell death rate of cisplatin was the highest among the tested drugs, and which was not observed in the other subtypes. Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 positive tumors are associated with higher cell death rates for anthracyclines. High Ki67 expression (a cutoff of 14%) was associated with a high response in several tested drugs including epirubicin, paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, vinorelbine and cisplatin. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that in vitro chemoresponse assays for breast tumors could effectively reflect the tumor response to chemotherapies observed in neoadjuvant settings.

The Oncotype DX® recurrence score (RS) predictor has been clinically utilized to appropriately select adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive early breast cancer. However, the selection of chemotherapy for patients with intermediate RSs remains controversial. We assessed the prognostic value of a 70-gene signature (70GS) among patients with ER-positive breast cancer and intermediate RSs. In addition, we sought to identify genes associated with poor 70GS scores based on gene expression profiling (GEP). GEP was performed using gene expression data from 186 patients with ER-positive breast cancer. The RS and 70GS score were calculated on the basis of GEP. Among 186 patients, 82 ER-positive patients with intermediate RSs were identified. These patients were stratified by 70GS, overall survival (OS) significantly differed according to 70GS (p = 0.013). In a supervised hierarchical analysis according to 70GS, the expression of several representative genes for cell proliferation was significantly higher in the poor 70GS cluster than in the good 70GS cluster. Furthermore, among these patients, FOXM1, AURKA, AURKB, and BIRC5 displayed prognostic significance for OS. In conclusion, 70GS can help to discriminate survival differences among ER-positive patients with intermediate RSs. FOXM1, AURKA, AURKB, and BIRC5, are associated with poor 70GS scores.

Lysyl oxidase-like 2 (LOXL2) is associated with invasiveness and metastasis in breast cancer. We analyzed the prognostic impact of LOXL2 for breast cancer patients and investigated the role of LOXL2 in breast cancer cell lines. Immunohistochemical study of LOXL2 expression was done in samples from 309 patients. Survival analysis was performed using log-rank test and Cox regression hazard model. After identification of LOXL2 expression in breast cancer cell lines, we performed matrigel invasion and wound-healing assays with LOXL2-silenced cell lines. In the human study, LOXL2 was expressed in 16.2 % of patients. Comparing the LOXL2-positive versus negative groups, there was a significantly higher proportion of estrogen receptor-negative patients (54.0 vs. 37.0 %, respectively; p = 0.029) and triple-negative patients (34.0 vs. 18.0 %; p = 0.022) in the positive group. In multivariate analysis for overall survival and metastasis-free survival, positive LOXL2 was demonstrated as a poor prognostic factor (HR 2.27 and 2.10, respectively). In vitro study indicated that LOXL2 silencing induces a mesenchymal-epithelial transition-like process in basal cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and BT549) associated with decreased invasive and migratory properties. These clinical and preclinical data confirm that higher LOXL2 expression is associated with invasiveness of basal-like breast cancer cells and lower survival of breast cancer patients. Our results suggest the clinical value of LOXL2 as a therapeutic target in breast cancer.

In this study, polyvinylamine (PVAm), poly(vinyl sulfonic acid) (PVSA), and poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) were physically adsorbed, using the ‘salting-out’ effect, onto hydrophobic membrane surfaces such as polysulfone (PSf), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and polyethylene (PE), commonly used as ultrafiltration (UF) and microfiltration (MF) membranes. The physical adsorption of such hydrophilic polymers were monitored as a function of concentration, time, type of salt, and ionic strength, and the resulting adsorbed membranes were characterized using a contact angle measurement, a gravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In most cases, with increasing the adsorption time, the wettability of surface-modified membranes was significantly improved. Physical adsorption of hydrophilic polymers on hydrophobic membrane surfaces, facilitated by the salt-out effect, was almost achieved within a few minutes. Typically, a contact angle of 47° was observed at ionic strength (IS)=0.1Mg(NO3)2·6H2O and PVAm 2,000 ppm for a PSf membrane. The weight changes by adsorption were varied with adsorption time in the cases of PVSA and PSSA, while the weight change for PVAm approached the equilibrium rapidly after the initial adsorption time. Open image in new window

We sought to investigate the association of preoperative fibrinogen levels with clinicopathologic outcomes after surgical treatment of nonmetastatic renal cell carcinoma. We reviewed the records of 1511 patients who had their fibrinogen levels measured preceding surgery. The associations between preoperative fibrinogen level and risk of adverse clinicopathologic outcomes were tested using the multivariate logistic regression and multiple Cox-proportional hazards model, respectively. Based on plasma fibrinogen levels, we stratified the patients into 2 groups with a cut-off value of 328 mg/dL. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed significantly inferior survival outcomes in progression-free (P

Background Our hypothesis is that the location of the seminal vesicles near the base of the prostate, the more positive cores are detected in the base, the greater the risk of seminal vesicle invasion. Therefore we investigate the clinical outcomes of base dominant prostate cancer (BDPC) in transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) - guided biopsies compared with anteromiddle dominant prostate cancer (AMPC). Methods From November 2003 to June 2014, a total of 990 intermediate and high risk prostate cancer (PCa) patients who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP) were enrolled and stratified into two groups according to proportion of positive cores-BDPC group had >= 33.3% ratio of positive cores from the prostate base among all positive cores and AMPC group < 33.3% in systemic biopsy. Between two groups, we compared the rate of pathologic outcomes and biochemical recurrence (BCR). We performed multivariate logistic regression model to confirm the significance of BDPC to seminal vesicle invasion (SVI) and Cox proportional hazard analysis to BCR. Results Among these 990 PCa patients, the 487 patients in BDPC group had more advanced clinical stage (p< 0.001), a higher biopsy GS (p = 0.002), and a higher rate of extracapsular extension (ECE), SVI and BCR (all p< 0.001) than AMPC group. The patients in BDPC group had poor BCR free survival rate via Kaplan-meier analysis (p< 0.001). The ratio of the base positive cores was a significant predictor to SVI in multivariate analysis (p < 0.001) and significant predictor of BCR in multivariate Cox proportional analysis (hazard ratio: 1.466, p = 0.004). Conclusions BDPC in TRUS-guided prostate biopsies was significantly associated with SVI and BCR after adjusting for other clinical factors. Therefore, BDPC should be considered to be a more aggressive tumor despite an otherwise similar cancer profile.

We evaluated the learning curve for achieving expertise in robotic rectal cancer surgery based primarily on operative time and short-term outcomes. Sixty-two consecutive patients with rectal cancer underwent robot surgery (abdominoperineal excision n = 1, low anterior resection n = 50, ultra-low anterior resection n = 10, Hartmann operation n = 1). Robotic cases were grouped by consecutive 10 cases. There were 48 cases of mid and low rectal tumor (preoperative chemoradiation n = 9). Mean operative time was 390 minutes and postoperative complication rate was 12.9%. Robotic surgery for mid and low rectal tumors was commonly performed after 10 cases. The operative time and console time of robot surgery showed first decrease after 20 cases. There were no differences in postoperative complications including anastomosis leakage, lymph node count, and distal margin between the learning periods. An experienced open surgeon with limited laparoscopy experience may begin to perform robotic rectal surgery safely without a long learning period.

ITO/TiO 2 films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on glass substrates and then the effect ofvacuum annealing on the structural, optical and electrical properties of the films was investigated. The structural,optical and electrical properties are strongly related to annealing temperature. The films annealed at 300 o Cshowed a grain size of 40.9 nm, which was larger than as-deposited amorphous films. The optical transmittancein the visible wavelength region also increased, while the electrical resistivity decreased. The ITO/TiO 2 filmsannealed at 300 o C showed the highest optical transmittance of 81% and also showed the lowest electrical resis-tivity of 3.05 × 10 Š 4 Ωcm, in this study.(Received July 16, 2012; Revised August 8, 2012; Accepted September 21, 2012)Key words: ITO/TiO 2 , Magnetron sputtering, Buffer layer, Annealing temperature 1. 서론 미량의 주석이 첨가된 산화인듐주석(Indium tinoxide : ITO)는 높은 전자밀도와 빠른 높은 전자이동도를 갖는 n형 반도체 재료로서 전기비저항(electrical resistivity)이 낮고, 가시광 투과율(opticaltransmittance)이 우수하며, 습식에칭이 용이하여 평판디스플레이, 태양전지 등의 다양한 전기전자 및 광학소자의 투명전극 소재로 이용되고 있다[1, 2]. 이러한 ITO박막의 제조를 위하여 magnetron sputtering[3], electron beam evaporation[4], ion plating[5],chemical vapor deposition[6]법 등이 있으며, 상업적인 대형 유리 기판에 고품질의 박막을 얻기 위해서 마그네트론 스퍼터링(magnetron sputtering) 법이 주로 이용되고 있으며, 최근 유리 또는 폴리머기판으로 부터의 알카리 이온과 습기 또는 산소의확산을 방지하기 위한 완충층 (buffer layer)으로Al

We have considered the effect of electron irradiation energy of 300, 600 and 900 eV on structural, electrical and optical properties of films prepared with RF magnetron sputtering. In this study, the thin film crystallization, optical transmittance and sheet resistance are dependent on the electron`s irradiation energy. The electron irradiated films at 900 eV are grown as a hexagonal wurtzite phase. The sheet resistance decreases with a increase in electron irradiation energy and film irradiated at 900 eV shows the lowest sheet resistance of . The optical transmittance of films in a visible wave length region also depends on the electron irradiation energy. The film that at 900 eV shows the higher figure of merit than another films prepared in this study.

BACKGROUND We investigated the association of 5α-reductase inhibitor (5-ARI) treatment with pathologic and biochemical outcome among the contemporary prostate cancer (PCa) patients undergoing radical prostatectomy. METHODS We reviewed records of 1,204 men who underwent radical prostatectomy from 2003 to 2010. We estimated association of 5-ARI use with high (≥7) pathologic Gleason score and pathologically nonorgan-confined disease (≥pT3) via logistic regression, and biochemical outcome via Cox proportional hazards regression. RESULTS Of 1,204 patients, 50 (4.2%) reported having history 5-ARI treatment before radical prostatectomy. Median duration of 5-ARI treatment among the 50 patients was 23.0 months. When adjusted for various factors including age, body mass index, prostate-specific antigen, clinical stage, biopsy Gleason, and prostate volume, history of 5-ARI treatment was revealed to be significantly associated with high (≥7) pathologic Gleason score (P = 0.015). Also, 5-ARI use was observed to significantly associated with higher rates of extraprostatic extension of tumor (P = 0.005) and seminal vesicle invasion (P = 0.003), respectively, when adjusted for same variables. However, 5-ARI use was not demonstrated to be a significant preoperative predictor of biochemical recurrence-free survival in multivariate analysis (P = 0.528). CONCLUSIONS Our results showed 5-ARI treatment may be associated with more aggressive PCa demonstrating higher pathologic Gleason score and advanced pathologic tumor stage in men undergoing radical prostatectomy. However, further investigations via larger-scale, prospective studies would be needed on the actual effect of 5-ARI treatment on PCa-specific morbidity and mortality. Prostate 72:1187–1192, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Hafnium nitride (HfN) thin films were deposited onto a silicon substrate by inductive coupled nitrogen plasma-assisted radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The films were prepared without intentional substrate heating and a substrate negative bias voltage () was varied from -50 to -150 V to accelerate the effects of nitrogen ions () on the substrate. X-ray diffractometer patterns showed that the structure of the films was strongly affected by the negative substrate bias voltage, and thin film crystallization in the HfN (100) plane was observed under deposition conditions of -100 (bias voltage). Atomic force microscopy results showed that surface roughness also varied significantly with substrate bias voltage. Films deposited under conditions of -150 (bias voltage) exhibited higher hardness than other films.

In order to enhance water permeability through the improvement of fouling phenomena and wettability of hydrophobic porous membranes, various adsorption materials, i.e., poly(vinyl amine), poly (styrene sulfonic acid), poly(vinyl sulfonic acid), and poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) were adsorbed onto the surface of polyethylene (PE) porous membrane. The concentration of adsorption solutions, adsorption time, the sort of salts and their ionic strength were varied, and the pure water permeability of their resulting adsorbed membranes was measured. In general, water permeability increased with an initial increase in the concentration of adsorption solution, adsorption time, and ionic strength and then decreased with a further increase. The pure water permeability of 375 (LMH), 35% enhancement, was obtained at a condition of poly(vinyl sulfonic acid) 1000 ppm, ionic strength(IS) 0.1, and adsorption time 150 sec, while the 50% (411 LMH) and 35% (374 LMH) enhancements were obtained at conditions of poly(styrene sulfonic acid) 1000 ppm, adsorption time 60 sec, and NaCl IS 0.1 and 0.2, respectively.

We fabricated and evaluated the efficient white polymer light emitting diode (WPLED) by introducing TPBi exciton protection layer with ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PFO:MEH-PPV/TPBi/LiF/Al structure. PFO and MEH-PPV were prepared by the spin coating as the light emitting host and guest materials. TPBi was used as exciton protection material. The dependences of the MEH-PPV concentrations into the PFO (PFO:MEH-PPV) on the optical and electrical properties of the WPLEDs were investigated. The effect of the introduction of TPBi layer was studied by means of the property comparison between the samples with and without TPBi layer. The maximum luminance with 1480 cd/m 2 was obtained at the MEH-PPV concentration of 1.0 wt.% for the ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PFO:MEH-PPV/LiF/Al structure. In addition, the maximum luminance and current efficiency of the WPLED with TPBi layer were 7560 cd/m 2 at 12 V and 7.8 cd/A at 10 cd/m 2 , respectively. The CIE color coordinates for WPLED with 1.0 wt.% MEH-PPV concentration was found to be ( x , y ) = (0.36, 0.33), showing pure white color.

SUV, which is an indicator of the degree of glucose uptake in (18)F-FDG PET, can be applied as a prognostic factor in various malignant tumors. We investigated the prognostic impact of early changes in (18)F-FDG PET uptake in patients with locally advanced breast cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy.We retrospectively identified 87 patients who were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery for locally advanced breast cancer. All patients underwent (18)F-FDG PET at baseline and after 3 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and the SUVmax of the primary tumor was assessed in each scan. Pathologic slides were retrospectively reviewed, and the residual cancer burden (RCB) index was calculated to estimate pathologic response. RCB-0 indicates no residual disease; patients with residual disease were categorized as RCB-1 (minimal residual disease), RCB-2 (moderate residual disease), or RCB-3 (extensive residual disease).There was a negative correlation between reduction in SUVmax and RCB index (r = -0.408; P0.001). On multivariate analysis, ΔSUVmax was a significant independent prognostic factor for recurrence-free and overall survival, and the respective adjusted hazard ratios were 0.97 (95% confidence interval, 0.95-0.99; P = 0.001) and 0.97 (95% confidence interval, 0.95-0.99; P = 0.015). When patients were categorized into groups according to pathologic response (RCB index ≤ 1 vs. ≥ 2) and metabolic response (ΔSUVmax ≤ 66.4% vs.66.4%), metabolic responders had significantly better recurrence-free and overall survival than metabolic nonresponders among poor-pathologic-response patients. In contrast, among metabolic responders, there was no survival difference according to pathologic response.The early change in (18)F-FDG PET SUVmax after third-cycle neoadjuvant chemotherapy is an independent and good prognostic marker beyond pathologic response in patients with locally advanced breast cancer. We suggest that in these patients, the use of ΔSUVmax should be considered not only for the assessment of tumor response but for the prediction of posttreatment outcome.

Objective To determine the association between diabetes mellitus and oncological outcomes in urothelial bladder cancer patients undergoing radical cystectomy. Methods From January 2004 to December 2014, 200 non-metastatic urothelial bladder cancer patients who underwent radical cystectomy were divided into two groups according to diabetes mellitus status at the time of surgery. Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression analysis were used to assess the association between diabetes mellitus and urothelial bladder cancer recurrence-free, cancer-specific and overall mortality. Results Of the 200 patients, 28 (14%) had diabetes mellitus and presented similar preoperative factors and pathological findings after radical cystectomy, including pathological stage, grade, lymph node invasion and positive surgical margin compared with non-diabetes mellitus patients (n = 172). The 5-year cancer-specific survivals were 92.3% and 62.1% in the non-diabetes mellitus and diabetes mellitus groups, respectively (P = 0.022). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that diabetes mellitus was a significant predictor for cancer-specific mortality (hazard ratio 1.785, P = 0.038). The 5-year overall survival rate was 92.1% and 59.4% in the non-diabetes mellitus and diabetes mellitus groups, respectively (P = 0.014), and diabetes mellitus was a significant factor for overall mortality by multivariate Cox regression analysis (hazard ratio 1.281, P = 0.042). Conclusions Among bladder cancer patients who underwent radical cystectomy, the diabetes mellitus patients had worse cancer-specific mortality and overall mortality outcomes than the non-diabetes mellitus patients. The mechanism of association between diabetes mellitus and urothelial bladder cancer should be investigated to validate the present results in a future prospective study.

While active surveillance for small renal mass is gaining acceptance, controversy still continues on true metastatic potential of small renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Thus, we investigated the risks of synchronous/metachronous metastases and their potential predictors among T1a RCC patients who underwent surgical treatment.We reviewed data from 2114 patients who received radical or partial nephrectomy for small renal tumor (≤ 4 cm) from 1990 to 2013. For our study, patients were stratified into four different groups according to tumor size (group 1: 0-1.0 cm, group 2: 1.1-2.0 cm, group 3: 2.1-3.0 cm, group 4: 3.1-4.0 cm). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to analyze metastatic potentials according to tumor size and identify useful predictors of metastases.Among 1913 T1a RCC patients, there were low but nonnegligible rates of metastases (group 2: 1.1 %, group 3: 3.3 %, group 4: 6.0 %, respectively). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed significant differences in metastasis-free survivals between groups (p0.001). A linear positive association was observed between tumor size and metastatic rate (p0.001). Diabetic T1a RCC patients showed significantly inferior metastasis-free survival than nondiabetic counterparts (p = 0.003). Multivariate analysis revealed that tumor size and history of diabetes mellitus were independently associated with metastasis in T1a RCC.As T1a RCCs present low but nonnegligible risk of metastasis, patients with small renal mass should be counseled on such risk when offered active surveillance. Larger tumor size and history of diabetes mellitus may be associated with higher risk of metastasis in T1a RCC.

While Active Hexose Correlated Compound (AHCC) and CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) are separately known to modulate oxidative stress and immune responses in cancer patients, the combined effect of these two compounds is unknown. To clarify this, we investigated whether AHCC plus KSK-CpG ODN would be therapeutic in B16 melanoma mouse model, if so, and how in reduction-oxidation (redox) balance and cytokines network. We found that treatment groups (AHCC only, KSK-CpG ODN only and AHCC/KSK-CpG ODN) markedly reduced (p

Genetic variations among prostate cancer patients who underwent radical prostatectomies were evaluated to predict biochemical recurrence, and used to develop a clinical-genetic model that combines data on clinicopathological factors of prostate cancer and individual genetic variations.We genotyped 242,186 SNPs on a custom HumanExome BeadChip v1.0 (Illuminam Inc.) from the blood DNA of 776 PCa patients who underwent radical prostatectomy. Genetic data were analyzed to calculate an odds ratio as an estimate of the relative risk of biochemical recurrence. And we compared accuracies from the multivariate model incorporating clinicopathological factors between included and excluded selected lead single nucleotide polymorphisms. Biochemical recurrence-free survival outcomes also analyzed using these genetic variations.Genetic array analysis indicated that eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs77080351, rs200944490, rs2071292, rs117237810, rs191118242, rs4965121, rs61742396, and rs6573513) were significant to predict biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy. When a multivariate model incorporating clinicopathological factors was devised to predict biochemical recurrence, the predictive accuracy of model was 85.1 %. By adding in two individual variations of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the multivariate model, the predictive accuracy increased to 87.7 % (P = 0.045). With three variations of single nucleotide polymorphisms, the predictive accuracy further improved to 89.0 % (P = 0.025). These genetic variations had a significantly decreased biochemical recurrence-free survival rate.Based on exome array, the selected single nucleotide polymorphisms were predictors for biochemical recurrence. The addition of individualized genetic information effectively enhanced the predictive accuracy of biochemical recurrence among prostate cancer patients who underwent radical prostatectomy.

Purpose The prognosis of breast cancer has been consistently improving. We analyzed our cohort of breast cancer patients with a long-term follow up at a single center over time. Materials and Methods A total of 1889 patients with known cancer stages were recruited and analyzed between January 1991 and December 2005. Patients were classified according to the time periods (1991-1995; 1996-2000; 2001-2005). To determine intrinsic subtypes, 858 patients whose human epidermal growth receptor-2 status and Ki67 were reported between April 2004 and December 2008 were also analyzed. Results At a median follow up of 9.1 years, the 10-year overall survival (OS) rate was 80.5% for the entire cohort. On multivariate analysis for OS and recurrence-free survival (RFS), the time period was demonstrated to be a significant factor independent of conventional prognostic markers. In the survival analysis performed for each stage (I to III), OS and RFS significantly improved according to the time periods. Adoption of new agents in adjuvant chemotherapy and endocrine therapy was increased according to the elapsed time. In the patients with known subtypes, OS and RFS significantly differed among the subtypes, and the triple-negative subtype showed the worst outcome in stages II and III. Conclusion In the Korean breast cancer cohort with a long-term follow up, our data show an improved prognosis over the past decades, and harbor the contribution of advances in adjuvant treatment. Moreover, we provided new insight regarding comparison of the prognostic impact between the tumor burden and subtypes.

A comprehensive and correct understanding of epidemiologic finding about lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) is important for several reasons. First, LUTS are highly prevalent in both genders all around the world and are expected to be a major concern to physicians in the near future because of the rapid rise in the elderly population. Second, it is crucial to observe trends in prevalence when national health care policy is established. By using a Medline search with various terms related to LUTS and prevalence, a review of epidemiologic studies was undertaken with an emphasis on the status in Korea. Despite the suggestions made by the International Continence Society, the lack of uniform definitions and the lack of a unified threshold of symptoms are the biggest obstacles in epidemiologic study with regard to LUTS. Most Korean epidemiologic studies on LUTS have been reported since 2000 and reveal that the prevalences of specific clinical conditions, such as LUTS, benign prostatic hyperplasia, overactive bladder, and detrusor underactivity, are in line with prevalences in Western counties. However, the prevalence of nocturia is somewhat different from that in Western countries. Many epidemiologic studies of LUTS have provided us with valuable information and a better understanding of the clinical conditions. Given that the impact of these clinical conditions on quality of life and health care cost will be emphasized more in the near future, more studies on optimal management approaches to LUTS are needed on the basis of this knowledge.