• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.366-370
• /
• 2021

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become the main drugs for programmed cell death receptor-1 or ligand-1 expressing non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) combined with conventional chemotherapy. ICIs are generally more tolerable than cytotoxic chemotherapies in terms of toxicity, and ICI-related adverse events are mild and manageable. However, these drugs may lead to unexpected severe adverse events such as immune-related hematologic toxicities, which could be life-threatening. Here, a rare case of a pembrolizumab-related adverse event in a patient with NSCLC who showed early-onset hemolytic anemia and recovered by high-dose steroid and a series of plasma exchanges is reported.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.61-68
• /
• 2019

Spatial modulation (SM) is the first proposed space modulation technique. By further utilizing the quadrature spatial dimension, quadrature spatial modulation (QSM) has been developed as an amendment to SM system to enhance the overall spectral efficiency. Both techniques are capable of entirely eliminating interchannel interference (ICI) at the receiver. In this paper, we propose a simple adaptive hybrid switching transmission scheme to obtain better system performance than SM and QSM systems under a fixed transmission date rate. The presented modulator selection criterion for switching between spatial modulator and quadrature spatial modulator is based on the larger received minimum distance of spatial modulator and quadrature spatial modulator to exploit the spatial channel freedom. It is shown through Monte Carlo simulations that the proposed hybrid SM and QSM switching system yields lower error performance than the conventional SM and QSM systems under the same fixed data rate and thus can provide signal to noise ratio (SNR) gain.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
• /
• v.14 no.12
• /
• pp.4927-4945
• /
• 2020

A newfangled family of Nyquist-I pulses is proposed and named improved dual sinc pulse (IDSP). The IDSP is designed to improve performance in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based systems. The IDSP is a generalization of the dual sinc pulse (DSPP). This is because the DSP was formulated for α = 1 whereas the IDSPP is valid for 0 ≤ α ≤ 1. The behavior of the IDSP is promising in terms of its frequency and time domain responses. Theoretical and numerical outcomes indicate that the IDSP outperformed other existing pulses applied in OFDM-based systems for various key evaluation metrics.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.3.1-3.20
• /
• 2020

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), including anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 therapeutic agents, are now approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of various types of cancer. However, the therapeutic efficacy of ICIs varies among patients and cancer types. Moreover, most patients do not develop durable antitumor responses after ICI therapy due to an ephemeral reversal of T-cell dysfunction. As co-stimulatory receptors play key roles in regulating the effector functions of T cells, activating co-stimulatory pathways may improve checkpoint inhibition efficacy, and lead to durable antitumor responses. Here, we review recent advances in our understating of co-stimulatory receptors in cancers, providing the necessary groundwork for the rational design of cancer immunotherapy.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
• /
• v.41 no.11
• /
• pp.1364-1373
• /
• 2016

Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) has attracted much attention as one of next generation broadcasting services. For the commercialization of UHD broadcasting service, standardization groups including the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) and the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) have decided to adopt the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) for signal transmission. However, when the carrier frequency is not properly synchronized at the receiver, inter-symbol interference (ISI) and inter-carrier interference (ICI) may occur. In order to avoid performance degradation resulting from ISI or ICI, receivers should synchronize the carrier frequency by using preambles and pilot symbols. However, there only few published literature dealing with the frequency offset estimation methods regarding the next generation terrestrial broadcasting. In this respect, this paper proposes a method to estimate timing and fractional frequency offset for the ATSC 3.0 system by using a preamble bootstrap symbol. The proposed detector can detect the fractional frequency offset by adding a complex conjugate product on the conventional estimator where only timing offset can be estimated.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.12-19
• /
• 2006

Cadmium, a human carcinogen, can induce toxicity in various cell lines and organs. Despite extensive research, the mechanisms of cadmium-induced cell toxicity and estrogenic potential in human are not clear. This study was performed to investigate cadmium-induced toxicity on human breast cancer cells: MCF-7 cells, an estrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer cells, and MDA-MB-231 cells, an ER negative breast cancer cells. MCF-7 cells was proved to be more sensitive than the other cell lines (IC50 = $50\;{\mu}M$ at MCF-7 cells and $120{\mu}M$ at MDA-MB-231). The expression of JNK and AP-1 transcription factors such as c-Jun and c-Fos dependent transcription were increased by cadmium treatment. Inhibition of ER activation by ER antagonist (tamoxifen or ICI 182,780) significantly recovered the viablity and inhibited apoptotic cell death. This suggested that cadmium-induced cell death in ER (+) cells was mediated by JNK/AP-1 pathway and this pathway was more stimulated by ER activated by cadmium. Co-treatment of antioxidants such as selenium (Se), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), glutathione (GSH), or N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) recovered the cadmium-induced cell death in MCF-7 cells. Cadmium-induced lipid peroxidation was decreased by GSH, NAC, or BHA in MCF-7 cells. The expression of SOD protein was decreased by cadmium ($100{\mu}M$) but recovered by GSH, NAC, BHA, or Se. Our data showed that the cadmium-induced cell toxicity in human breast cancer cells could be protected by the antioxidants (Se, BHA, NAC, GSH, or NAC) and ER antagonist (tamoxifen or ICI 182,780). Therefore, toxicity of cadmium in breast cancer were mediated by oxidative stress and $ER{\alpha}$.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.9 no.7
• /
• pp.1070-1078
• /
• 1998

Thermodynamic analysis on carbon dioxide reforming of methane was performed using a computer program which can handle condensed species in the products, and the reforming experiments were conducted over $Al_2O_3$, $La_2O_3$, ZSM-5, MCM-41, KIT-1 supported nickel catalysts, and a commercial ICI 46-1. It was estabished that a system which consists of $CH_4$, $CO_2$, CO, $H_2$, $H_2O$, and C is appropriate for theoretical equilibrium calculations and addition of water vapor or oxygen was found to diminish the contribution of carbon dioxide in reforming. Silicate molecular sieve-supported catalysts such as Ni/ZSM-5, Ni/MCM-41, Ni/KIT-1 were effective for high $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ conversions as well as for high CO yield. Coke formation was suppressed when CaO was added as a promoter. Ni/Ca/KIT-1 which contains 10% Ni with 3% Ca showed conversion approaching equilibrium levels above $650^{\circ}C$ and maintained constant activity over 20 h. Despite increased space velocity, relatively high conversion and CO yield were observed.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2018

Previous studies have indicated a great regional difference in Sea Level Rise (SLR) in the Pacific and it has been suggested that this is linked to climate variability over the past two decades. In this study, we seek to identify the possible linkage between regional sea level and Pacific climate variability from altimetry-based sea level data (1993-2012) and further investigate how the Pacific sea level has changed spatially and temporally over the past 60 years from long-term sea level reconstruction data (1953-2008). Based on the same method as Zhang and Church (2012), the Inter-annual Climate Index (ICI) associated with the El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o-Southern$ Oscillation (ENSO) and the Decadal Climate Index (DCI) associated with Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) are defined and then the multiple variable linear regression is used to analyze quantitatively the impact of inter-annual and decadal climate variability on the regional sea levels in the Pacific. During the altimeter period, the ICI that represents ENSO influence on inter-annual time scales strongly impacts in a striking east-west "see-saw mode" on sea levels across the tropical Pacific. On the other hand, the decadal sea level pattern that is linked to the DCI has a broad meridional structure that is roughly symmetric in the equator with its North Pacific expression being similar to the PDO, which largely contributes to a positive SLR trend in the western Pacific and a negative trend in the eastern Pacific over the two most recent decades. Using long-term sea level reconstruction data, we found that the Pacific sea levels have fluctuated in the past over inter-annual and decadal time scales and that strong regional differences are presented. Of particular interest is that the SLR reveals a decadal shift and presents an opposite trend before and after the mid-1980s; i.e., a declining (rising) trend in the western (eastern) Pacific before the mid-1980s, followed by a rising (declining) trend from the mid-1980s onward in the western (eastern) Pacific. This result indicates that the recent SLR patterns revealed from the altimeters have been persistent at least since the mid-1980s.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.378-384
• /
• 2012

In aquatic invertebrates, particularly marine gastropods, organotin compounds induce irreversible sexual abnormality in females, which is termed imposex, at very low concentrations. Organotin compounds are agonists for nuclear receptors such as RXRs and $PPAR{\gamma}$. However, the imposex phenomenon has not been reported to act as an antagonist on estrogen receptors in other species, including vertebrates and invertebrates. In order to gain insights into the antagonistic activity of organotin compounds on estrogen receptors (ERs), we examined the inhibitive effect of these compounds on estradiol-dependent ${\beta}$-galactosidase activity using the yeast two-hybrid detection system consisting of a combination of the human estrogen receptor ($hER{\beta}$) ligand-binding domain and the co-activator steroid receptor co-activator-1 (SRC1). Tributyltin-hydroxide (TBT-OH) and triphenyltin-chlorine (TPT-Cl) exhibited an inhibitive effect on $E_2$-dependent transcriptional activity, similar to antagonistic chemicals such as 4-hydroxytamoxifen (OHT) or ICI 182,780, at a very low concentration of $10^{-14}$ M TBT or $10^{-10}$ M TPT, respectively. The yeast growth and transcriptional activity with transcriptional factor GAL4 did not exhibit any effect at the tested concentration of TBT or TPT. Moreover, the yeast two-hybrid system using the interaction between p53 and the T antigen of SV40 large did not describe any effect at the tested concentration of OHT or ICI 182,780. However, the interaction between p53 and T antigen was inhibited at a TBT or TPT concentration of $10^{-9}$ M, respectively. These results indicate that TBT and TPT act as inhibitors of ER-dependent reporter gene transcriptional activation and of the interaction between $hER{\beta}$ LBD and the co-activator SRC1 in the yeast two-hybrid system. Consequently, our data could partly explain the occurrence of organotin compound-induced imposex on the endocrine system of mammals, including humans.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.309-316
• /
• 2003

연구목적: 스테로이드 계통의 에스트로겐 호르몬은 막 수용체와 결합하고 DNA에 부착되어, 자궁조직에서 발현되는 많은 유전자들의 발현 양상을 조절하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 본 연구에서는 난소를 제거한 생쥐 모델을 이용하여 에스트로겐에 의해 조절되는 전사 관련 유전자(transcription factor)들을 동정하고, early up-regulation gene으로 확인된 Fos related antigen (Fra1과 Fra2) 유전자의 발현 양상을 RT-PCR과 면역염색방법으로 살펴보았다. 연구재료 및 방법: 난소 절제술을 시행한 생쥐에 에스트로겐을 피하주사하고 2, 4, 6, 12시간 간격으로 자궁조직을 적출하였다. 대조군으로는 sesame oil만을 주사한 후 2시간째에 수획한 자궁조직을 사용하였으며, 시간대별로 채취한 자궁조직(n=4)에서 RT-PCR을 수행하였다. RT-PCR을 통해 early response gene으로 확인된 Fra1과 Fra2에 대한 에스트로겐의 영향을 살펴보기 위해 estrogen receptor antagonist인 ICI 182, 780을 주사하여 유전자 발현 양상의 변화를 살펴보았다. 또한, 자궁조직내에서의 단백질 발현 부위를 관찰하기 위해 면역조직화학염색을 실시하였다. 결 과: 생쥐 자궁조직에서 에스트로겐에 의해 발현 양상의 변화가 확인된 유전자는 early up-regulation genes (CREB2, Fra-1, 2, GATA5), late up-regulation gene (E2F1), no response genes (CREB1, ATF1, GLI3, E2F3), down-regulation genes (GLI2, E2F5, GATA-2, 3, 6) 등으로 구분할 수 있었다. 그 중 early up-regulation genes에 해당하는 Fra1과 Fra2 유전자는 ICI 182, 780에 의해 그 발현이 유의하게 감소되는 것을 확인하였다(p < 0.01). 이들 단백질은 생쥐 자궁조직의 상피세포층, 기질층, 근육층에서 고루 발현되었으며, 특히 근육층에서 강한 염색정도를 관찰할 수 있었다. 결 론: 이상의 결과를 통해 Fra1과 Fra2 유전자의 발현은 에스트로겐에 의해 조절됨을 알 수 있었으며, 이들의 강한 발현이 자궁조직의 근육층에서 관찰되어 이들의 기능에 대한 연구가 필요할 것으로 생각된다.