Erratum: Nation-Wide Korean Breast Cancer Data from 2008 Using the Breast Cancer Registration Program

nation-wide breast cancer data and analyzed the data using their online registration program biannually. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of Korean breast cancer from 2008 and examine chronological based patterns. Methods: Data were collected from 38 medical schools (67 hospitals), 20 general hospitals, and 10 private clinics. The data on the total number, gender, and age distribution were collected through a questionnaire as well as other detailed data analyzed via the online registration program. Results: In 2008, there were 13,908 patients who were newly diagnosed with breast cancer. The crude incidence rate of female breast cancer was 57.3 among 100,000 and the median age was 49 years. The age distribution had not changed since the initial survey; however the proportion of postmenopausal patients had increased and median age was older than the past. In staging distribution, the proportion of early breast cancer (stage 0, I) was 47.2 % with, breast-conserving surgery performed in 58 % and mastectomy in 39.5%. Conclusion: Compared to past data, the incidence of breast cancer in Korea continues to rise. Furthermore, the proportion of those detected by screening and breast conservation surgery has increased remarkably. To understand the patterns of Korean breast cancer, the nation-wide data should continuously investigated

Chemical modification of precursor solution for long length YBCO coated conductor fabrication

Long length MOD processing of YBCO conductor requires high performance precursor solution without degradation during the process. In this study, effect of chemical modification of precursor solution on MOD processing was investigated to meet the requirement. Highly stable YBCO precursor solution was synthesized with PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone) and crack-free thick precursor film was successfully fabricated. However, annealed YBCO film shows porous microstructures originated from large HF gas generation from thick films and residual carbon from additives. Reduction of fluorine content is required to densify microstructures. In order to reduce fluorine content, F-free Cu-precursor solution was synthesized. YBCO film with Jc = 0.8MA/cm2 was grown on buffered RABiTS tape. Annealed YBCO film still contains pores and further reduction of pores is required to improve critical current (Ic

The Integration of Reference Electrode for ISFET Ion Sensors Using Fluorothiophenol-Treated rGO

Ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (ISFETs) detect specific ions in solutions that enable straightforward, fast, and inexpensive sensors compared to other benchtop equipment. However, a conventional reference electrode (RE) such as Ag/AgCl is limited on the miniaturization of the sensor. We introduce reduced graphene oxide (rGO), which serves as a new RE, when fluorinated (F-rGO) using fluorothiophenol through the π–π interaction. The circular RE is integrated between a fabricated microscale two-channel ISFET, which is capable of detecting two kinds of ions on an indium tin oxide (ITO) thin-film substrate, using the photolithography process. F-rGO bound to this circular region to function as an RE in the ISFETs sensor, which operated stably in solution and showed a relatively high transconductance (gm) value (1.27 mS), low drift characteristic (3.2 mV), and low hysteresis voltage (±0.05 mV). It detected proton (H+) ions in a buffer solution with high sensitivity (67.1 mV/pH). We successfully detected Na+ (62.1 mV/dec) and K+ (57.6 mV/dec) ions in human patient urine using a two-channel ISFET with the F-rGO RE. The F-rGO RE will be a suitable component in the fabrication of low-cost, mass-produced, and disposable ISFETs sensors

Korea

A new parallel-type gripper mechanism is proposed in this work. This device has a parallelogramic platform that can be flexibly folded. Therefore, this mechanism not only can be used to grasp an object having irregular shape or large volume, but also can be utilized as a micro-positioning device after grasping objects. Forward position analysis and platform kinematics are investigated to deal with motion tracking and force control. Kinematic optimization is performed to design a parallel-type gripping mechanism so that it can reach the specified workspace, span the given range of the specified configuration parameters, and generate a desired force to grasp an object. A pneumatic rotator is employed for actuation and a miniaturize

Association of HLA class II genes with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension in Koreans

The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of the HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 alleles in Korean patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) and in normal controls and to determine any association that may exist between clinical characteristics of IPAH and specific HLA alleles. IPAH patients seen between October 1998 and September 2001 were retrospectively assessed, and 19 patients and 193 controls were HLA typed at the HLA-DRB1 and DQB1 loci. Clinical characteristics and hemodynamic parameters were reviewed. The patients with IPAH had a significantly higher frequency of the HLA-DRB1*0406 allele (18% vs. 6%, p = 0.004) and the HLA-DQB1*0302 allele (24% vs. 12%, p = 0.034), as well as a significantly higher frequency of haplotype DRB1*0406-DQB1*0302 (p = 0.0006). All 6 patients with haplotype DRB1*0406-DQB1*0302 (H+ group) were women, compared with 8 of the 13 patients lacking the DRB1*0406-DQB1*0302 haplotype (H- group), but without statistical significance. Three of 19 patients showed a positive short-term hemodynamic response to NO inhalation, all 3 of whom had the DRB1*0406-DQB1*0302 haplotype. There were no other significant differences in clinical characteristics and hemodynamic parameters between the H+ and H- groups. We conclude from this study that the HLA-DRB1*0406-DQB1*0302 haplotype is associated with IPAH in Korean patients. These results suggest that certain clinical characteristics of IPAH may be controlled in part by patients' HLA alleles

Chemical modification of precursor solution for long length YBCO coated conductor fabrication

Long length MOD processing of YBCO conductor requires high performance precursor solution without degradation during the process. In this study, effect of chemical modification of precursor solution on MOD processing was investigated to meet the requirement. Highly stable YBCO precursor solution was synthesized with PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone) and crack-free thick precursor film was successfully fabricated. However, annealed YBCO film shows porous microstructures originated from large HF gas generation from thick films and residual carbon from additives. Reduction of fluorine content is required to densify microstructures. In order to reduce fluorine content, F-free Cu-precursor solution was synthesized. YBCO film with Jc = 0.8MA/cm2 was grown on buffered RABiTS tape. Annealed YBCO film still contains pores and further reduction of pores is required to improve critical current (Ic

Computer simulations of lymph node metastasis for optimizing the pathologic examination of sentinel lymph nodes in patients with breast carcinoma

BackgroundMany empiric protocols are used to detect metastases in sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs), but comparison of the efficacy of these methods is impractical because tissue is lost in processing, making reassessment with another policy difficult. Consequently, performance indicators of this test are largely unknown.DesignThe authors retrospectively examined 112 SLNs removed from 89 patients with breast carcinoma treated at the authors' institution and used the histologic data to devise a mathematic model of a SLN with Matlab modeling software. The authors simulated examination of this computer-generated (virtual) lymph node according to several macroscopic and histologic sampling protocols and for each protocol assessed the probability of detecting micrometastases of specified sizes. The authors used published costing figures to estimate the cost of the policies.ResultsDirect comparison of 6 sectioning strategies currently in use by pathology laboratories showed the chances of detecting a 500-microm metastasis ranged from 20% to 75%. Four of the 6 protocols had a less than 30% chance of detecting metastases of this size. The detection rate of smaller metastases was poorer. Cost was not a good discriminator because some policies were more efficient than others.ConclusionsThe detection of metastases is highly dependent on the methods used to look for them. The authors' simulations suggest that commonly used methods of examining lymph nodes have high false-negative rates, particularly for small metastases. There is an urgent need for pathologists and clinicians to agree on the minimum size of SLN metastases that will be sought by histology and set standard methods for examining these lymph nodes.Gelareh Farshid, Malcolm Pradhan, James Kollias and P. Grantley Gil