• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.14
• /
• pp.5687-5690
• /
• 2015

Background: Factors predictive of survival have been identified in Western patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (mCCRCC) treated with sunitinib. Less is known, however, about factors predictive of survival in Japanese patients. This study evaluated factors prognostic of survival in Japanese patients with mCCRCC treated with first-line sunitinib. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 46 consecutive Japanese mCCRCC patients treated with sunitinib as first line therapy. Clinical and biochemical markers associated with progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed, with prognostic factors selected by uniand multivariate Cox regression analyses. Results: Univariate analysis showed that factors significantly associated with poor PFS included Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center poor risk scores, International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium poor risk and high (>0.5 mg/dl) serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations (p<0.001 each). Multivariate analysis showed that high serum CRP was independently associated with poorer PFS (p=0.040). Six month disease control rate (complete response, partial response and stable disease) in response to sunitinib was significantly higher in patients with normal (${\leq}0.5mg/dl$) than elevated baseline CRP (p<0.001). Conclusions: CRP is a significant independent predictor of PFS for Japanese patients with mCCRCC treated with first-line sunitinib. Pretreatment CRP concentration may be a useful biomarker predicting response to sunitinib treatment.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.50 no.3
• /
• pp.275-286
• /
• 2014

This paper reports the influence of number of layers and length of GFRP sheets wrapped onto RCC beams for strengthening. Twelve beams of size $700mm{\times}150mm{\times}150mm$ were cast and tested. Two beams without GFRP and ten beams wrapped in different lay-up patterns with one and two layers of GFRP sheets was subjected to three point loading test and ultrasonic pulse velocity test. Initial crack load, ultimate failure load and types of failure have been observed and noted. Experimental results indicate a significant increase in initial and ultimate load carrying capacity of GFRP wrapped beams compared to unwrapped beams. The failed control specimen was retrofitted using U wrap scheme and tested under three point loading.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.43-48
• /
• 1994

A basic inducible protein, ICG, containing chitinase and ${\beta}-1,3-glucanase$ activity concomittantly was purified from cell suspension culture media of rice after the treatment of chitooligosaccharides. The isolated ICG enzyme gave a single band on native and SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and its molecular weight was estimated to be 52.53 kd. The optimal temperature and optimal pH of both enzyme activities in ICG were $60^{\circ}C$, pH 6.0 for chitinase activity and $37^{\circ}C$, pH 4.0 for ${\beta}-1,3-glucanase$ activity. $K_M$ and $V_{max}$ values for chitinase were 0.474 mM. 2.997 nM/min., and those for ${\beta}-1,3-glucanase$ were 1.004 mM 0.739 nM/min. respectively. TLC analysis of the chitooligosaccharide hydrolysates with ICG enzyme indicated that ICG acts as endochitinase.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.2253-2255
• /
• 2012

Objective: The objective of our present study was to assess the role of serum amyloid A (SAA) in stages and prognosis of renal cell carcinoma. Material and Methods: It was a hospital based retrospective study carried out in the Department of Medicine and Biochemistry of Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal between $1^{st}$ January 2008 and $31^{st}$ December 2011. The variables collected were SAA, CRP. Approval for the study was obtained from the institutional research ethical committee. Quantitative analysis of human SAA and C-reactive protein (CRP) was performed by radial immune diffusion (RID) assay for all cases. Results: Of the 422 total cases of renal cell carcinoma, 218 patients had normal and 204 abnormal SAA. SAA levels were grossly elevated in T3 stage ($122.3{\pm}SD35.7$) when compared to the mean for the T2 stage ($84.2{\pm}SD24.4$) (p value: 0.0001). Similarly, SAA levels were grossly elevated in M1 stage ($190.0{\pm}SD12.7$) when compared to the M0 stage ($160.9{\pm}SD24.8$) (p: 0.0001). There was no significant association with elevated CRP levels ($209.1{\pm}SD22.7$, normal $199.0{\pm}SD19.5$). Conclusion: The validity of SAA in serum as being of independent prognostic significance in RCC was demonstrated with higher levels in advanced stage disease.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 2009.07a
• /
• pp.1587_1588
• /
• 2009

In this paper, PCB embedded balanced-to-unbalamced duplexer using coupled LC resonator was introduced for low cost dualband WiMax front-end-module application. In order to obtain the function of bandpass filter and balun transformer, proposed duplexer was configured by using magnetically coupled LC resonator. Out-of-band suppression was enhanced by applying two m-Derived transform circuits to obtain transmission zeros at 2GHz and 4.8GHz. In order to reduce the size of embedded duplexer, BaSrTiO3 (BST) composite high Dk RCC film was applied to improve the capacitance density. This high Dk film provided the capacitance density of 12.2 pF/mm2. The simulation results shows that fabricated duplexer had an insertion loss of 2.9dB and 5.5dB and return loss of 15dB and 16dB for 2.5GHz~2.6GHz and 3.5GHz~3.6GHz, respectively. The maximum magnitude and phase imbalance were 0.01dB and 0.17dB, and 1degree and 2degree in its passband, respectively. The out-of-band suppression was observed approximately 29dB and 40dB below 1.9GHz and over 4.5GHz, respectively. It has a volume of 6 mm $\times$ 7 mm $\times$ 0.7 mm (height).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.517-521
• /
• 2016

General industrial robots are difficult to use for precision assembly because they are operated based on position control. Their position accuracy is also usually higher than the assembly clearance (several tens of ${\mu}m$). In previous researches, force control was suggested as a robotic assembly solution. However, this method is difficult to apply in reality because of speed and cost problems. The RCC provides high speed, but applications are limited because the compliance is fixed, and it cannot detect an assembly condition during a task. A variable passive compliance device (VPCD) was developed herein. The VPCD can detect the assembly condition during tasks. This device can provide proper compliance for successful assembly tasks. The pneumatic system and the Stewart platform with an LVDT sensor were applied for measuring the displacement and variable compliance, respectively. The concept design and analysis were conducted to prove the effectiveness of the developed VPCD.