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Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of ultrasound (US)-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) according to the types of thyroid carcinoma, particularly in patients with a high-surgical risk. Materials and methods: Eight patients with nine tumours of pathologically proven papillary and anaplastic carcinoma were treated by US-guided RFA. Patients with primary thyroid carcinoma were divided into three groups; group (1) Anaplastic carcinoma, group (2) papillary macrocarcinoma, and group (3) papillary microcarcinoma. We evaluated changes in clinical symptoms, tumour volume and local tumour recurrence/metastasis after RFA. Patients were followed up at 1, 6 and 12 months and annually thereafter. Results: Among nine tumours, one anaplastic carcinoma was treated three times and the other anaplastic carcinoma and one papillary macrocarcinoma were treated twice. Group 3 were treated once. The initial mean tumour volume was 107.9 ± 78.6 (with neck bulging), 126.9 (with neck bulging) and 0.16 ± 0.08 mL (without cosmetic or symptomatic problems) in groups 1-3, respectively. Group 1 showed no improvement in clinical symptoms or neck bulging after RFA, whereas group 2 demonstrated a decreased tumour volume measuring 0.7 mL with improved neck bulging. In group 3, mean volume decreased measuring 0.07 ± 0.12 mL. No local tumour recurrence or metastatic lesion was detected during the mean follow-up of 19.3 months in papillary carcinomas. No major complications were encountered. Conclusions: In patients with primary thyroid carcinoma, RFA achieved excellent local tumour control for papillary macro- and microcarcinoma; however, its clinical effect on anaplastic carcinoma was questionable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effect of picosecond pulsed laser irradiation on the sheet resistance and microstructure of the silver nanowire films coated on PET substrates. The sheet resistance of the silver nanowire film abruptly increases from ∼102 to ∼108 ohm/square at a certain range of laser power. The sheet resistance of the picosecond laser annealed silver nanowire film strongly depends on the microstructure. The silver nanowires are ablated from the substrate and the surface of the substrate are seriously damaged above certain range of laser power. We analyzed the abrupt increase of sheet resistance and the damage of substrate surface in terms of temperature rising during the laser irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy, that is, the administration of chemotherapy before surgery, has been commonly used for locally advanced breast cancer to improve the surgical outcomes and increase the opportunity for breast-conserving therapy. Women with breast cancer often receive an anthracycline-based regimen as the neoadjuvant chemotherapy, which is associated with a high risk of emesis. Despite the development of novel antiemetics, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) has been commonly reported as a major adverse effect, affecting the quality of life of the patients. However, the factors predicting CINV in women with breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy remain unclear. In this single-institution, prospective, observational study conducted at an outpatient cancer centre in the Republic of Korea from November 2013 to March 2016, we analysed women with breast cancer who planned to be treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery. Candidate factors associated with CINV were assessed before neoadjuvant chemotherapy using the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. CINV was assessed after chemotherapy by using the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer Antiemesis Tool. Of a total of 143 participants, 7 patients were lost to follow-up and 2 patients were excluded due to changes in their treatment plan; thus, 134 patients were finally included in the analyses. Overall, 48.5% of the participants experienced CINV, with delayed CINV prevalence (42.5%) being more common than acute (39.6%). In the univariate analyses, overall CINV was significantly associated with late chronotypes (odds ratio [OR], 3.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.37–8.87;p= 0.009), a history of nausea/vomiting (OR, 2.19; 95% CI, 1.10–4.37;p= 0.026) and anxiety (OR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.05–4.81;p= 0.036). In the multivariate analyses, late chronotypes (OR, 3.53; 95% CI, 1.27–9.79;p= 0.015) and a history of nausea/vomiting (OR, 2.83; 95% CI, 1.31–6.13;p= 0.008) remained significantly associated with CINV. In conclusion, in women with breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery, late chronotypes were found to have an increased risk of CINV; these data suggest that clinicians need to assess and consider the chronotype in the management of CINV. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As small bowel adenocarcinoma (SBA) is a rare cancer worldwide, prognostic factors have not been clearly defined. The purpose of this study is to assess the prognostic role of clinicopathologic features, including body mass index (BMI), in patients with advanced SBA. A total of 28 consecutive patients with advanced SBA treated with palliative chemotherapy were retrospectively enrolled and analyzed. Clinicopathologic features, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were compared according to BMI level. Eighteen patients had BMI < 25 kg/m2(overweight/normal/underweight in Asian) and ten patients had BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2(obese in Asian). Baseline characteristics were similar regardless of patient's BMI. Compared to patients with BMI < 25 kg/m2, patients with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2had higher response rate to chemotherapy (40.0% vs. 0%,P= 0.010), longer OS (11.2 vs. 7.0 months,P= 0.018) and a tendency toward prolonged PFS (2.1 vs. 1.9 months,P= 0.085). Multivariate analysis revealed that BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2is an independent positive prognostic factor of OS (adjusted hazard ratio 0.35,P= 0.024). In conclusion, baseline BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2has a positive prognostic role in patients with advanced SBA. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Capecitabine is an orally administered prodrug of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and was designed to specifically affect tumor cells more than normal tissues. Capecitabine is as effective and well tolerated as infusional 5-FU in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Following the REAL-2 and ML17032 studies, capecitabine has replaced infusional 5-FU for treating GC. Capecitabine plus platinum is one of the most widely used regimens for the first-line treatment of AGC, regardless of HER2 status. The adjuvant capecitabine/oxaliplatin regimen is one therapeutic option for resectable gastric cancer, especially after D2 resection. Compared with S-1, capecitabine has been shown to have a similar efficacy, but is associated with fewer ethnic differences than S-1, which accounts for the more widespread usage of capecitabine worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

High quality graphics for game characters has been continuously improving, spurred by the astonishing growth of the graphics technology. Despite such improvements, the current expression of emotion has limited representation because it is difficult to implement it in real-time and a large amount of storage is required to store sprites for various feelings. Since users are demanding a more expressive character to reflect emotion, such restrictions can prevent the users from getting fully indulged in a game. To address this, we propose a facial color transition model, which is a combination of the emotional colors based on the theory of emotion, the emotion-color association, and the emotional transition with personal traits. The model is implemented by using the homeostatic value, the accumulated stimulus, and nonlinear transition functions, which support diverse changes according to the character's personality with low computational cost. The reflection of the game character's emotion on its facial color will not only make users immerse into the game, but also enrich their fantasy in games. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the setting up and co‐ordination of an adequate transport network between South and North Korea in anticipation of the ultimate unification of the Korean peninsula which occupies an important geopolitical position in the transport network of northeast Asia. Such a transport network is analysed in all modes of transport by sea, land and air. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose:Drugs that blockade interaction between programmed cell-death protein 1 (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1) are promising. Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) might be associated with favorable clinical outcomes, and thyroid dysfunction is one of the most common irAE. We evaluated the association of thyroid dysfunction during PD-1 blockade with the treatment efficacy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Experimental Design:A total 58 patients with stage IV NSCLC treated with PD-1 blockade were enrolled. Patients were categorized into thyroid dysfunction and euthyroid groups. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of the two groups were compared. Patients, tumor, and medication factors were adjusted using Cox proportional hazard modeling. Objective response rate (RR) and durable control rate were assessed according to the severity of thyroid dysfunction. Results:OS [median 118.0 (73.0-267.0) vs. 71.0 (28.0-160.0) days, log-rankP= 0.025] and PFS [118.0 (73.0-267.0) vs. 61.0 (28.0-130.0), log-rankP= 0.014] were longer in the thyroid dysfunction group. After adjustment, thyroid dysfunction was an independent predictive factor for favorable outcome [adjusted HR = 0.11 (95% CI) 0.01-0.92 for overall death; 0.38 (0.17-0.85) for disease progression]. The severity of thyroid dysfunction was associated with durable control rate (Pfor trend = 0.008). Conclusions:Thyroid dysfunction during PD-1 blockade is associated with treatment response and could provide supplementary information for immune monitoring in patients with advanced NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]