Targeting endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) for in vivo endothelialization is an emerging and promising approach for the development of cardiovascular medical devices. This study examined the efficacy of capturing CD34 positive EPC onto polyurethane (PU) immobilized with CD34 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) (a biomecial polymer for cardiovascular devices). Electrospun PU matrices were fabricated and heparin was immobilized along with CD34 mAb. The modified PU surfaces at each step were characterized by contact angle measurements, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XPS showed that each surface was modified, as expected in terms of the chemical composition. The amine-terminated poly(ethylene glycol)(PEG)-PU surface was considerably more hydrophilic than the PU surface. In addition, its surface roughness was similar to the PU surface, indicating that PEG was sufficiently and evenly grafted onto the PU surface. The CD34 mAb-immobilized PEG-PU surface was less hydrophilic than PEG-PU and extremely rough as compared to the other two surfaces. These results demonstrate that relatively large CD34 mAbs were immobilized on the PU surface. The surface density of the immobilized CD34 mAb, which was quantified using an enzymelinked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA), was increased to ~40 ng/cm 2 by varying the feed amount up to ~200 ng/ cm 2 and co-immobilizing with heparin. These results suggest that the co-immobilization with heparin can provide two benefits: inhibiting initial occlusion and improving the surface density of CD34 mAb. The in vitro cell study also demonstrated that the CD34 mAb-immobilized PU surface was favorable for cell attachment and proliferation. Therefore, in this study, a novel approach was developed to achieve endothelialization for cardiovascular applications by immobilizing CD34 onto PU, and the synergistic effects of co-immobilization with heparin on the bioactivity of the PU surfaces was demonstrated.

For the secretion of Badllus stearothermophilus a-amylase from yeast, a recombinant plasmid pGAT17 was constructed by fusing B. stearothermophilus a -amylase structural gene in frame to the promoter and signal sequence of Saccharomyces diastaticus glucoamytase I gene (STAJ). The secretion of the heterologous a -amylase from S. diastaticus transformed with pGAT17 was confirmed by the halo formation around colonies on selective starch agar medium. About 80% of the total ~-amylase activity was detected in the extraceUular culture medium. The secreted a-amylase was glycosylated and its molecular weight increased from 61 kDa to 75 kDa. The thermostability of the the glycosylated a -amylase was markedly enhanced, compared with that of the non-glycosytated enzyme from E. coli. ~TRODUCTIONThe yeast S. diastaticus which is closely related to S. cerevisiae genetically and physiologically, produces extracellular glucoamylase isozyme I, II or III encoded by STA1, STA2 or STA3 gene, respectively, and can ferment starch (1,2). We previously cloned STAI gene (3) and identified the N-terminal signal sequence targeting nascent polypeptide to the endoplasmic reticulum of the secretory apparatus (4). The signal sequence of the a-mating factor (5), invertase (6), acid phosphatase (7) or killer toxin (8) were most extensively used for the secretion of heterologous proteins from yeast. However, few studies on glucoamylase I signal sequence have been reported so far (9-11).The abbreviations used are: DNS, dinitrosalicylic acd; SDS-PAGE, sodium dodesyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

82 Background: Radical gastrectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer brings about serious nutritional impairment. Recent studies have shown an association between body mass index (BMI) and perioperative outcomes of gastric cancer. However, little is known about the association between BMI and long-term outcomes of advanced gastric cancer. Our study evaluated the clinical impact of BMI on the long-term outcomes of gastric cancer staged at II and III, treated by radical gastrectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: We analysed a total of 211 cases of advanced gastric cancer stage II and III between January 2005 and December 2010 at Chung-Ang University Hospital. The patients were divided into 4 groups according to BMI; underweight, normal, overweight, and obese. In addition, they were divided into two groups (BMI-High vs BMI-Low). We assessed age, sex, tumor location, lymph node involvement, operation method, initial cancer stage, recurrence, and survival (overall survival and disease free survival) between two groups. Results: We classified them into 4 groups according to BMI; underweight, normal, overweight, and obese. There was no difference in overall survival between normal, overweight, and obese group. However, there was significant difference between underweight group and the other groups. As for disease free survival, similar findings were observed. Among 211 patients, 154 patients (72.9%) were included in BMI-L (body mass index < 25), whereas 57 patients (27.1%) in BMI-H (body mass index ≥ 25). There was no difference in age, sex, tumor location, stage, lymph node involvement, operation method, recurrence, and cancer-related death between two groups. When classified into 4 groups as stage II in BMI-H, stage II in BMI-L, stage III in BMI-H, and stage III in BMI-L, overall survival showed significant difference in stage, however, no difference between BMI-H and BMI-L. Disease free survival showed no significant difference in stage and BMI, especially, no significant difference between stage II in BMI-L and stage III in BMI –H. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that preoperative BMI may predict the long term outcomes of advanced gastric cancer after radical surgery and chemotherapy.

This study was conducted to identify fire causes through scientific experiments and analysis and to find a new method that can analyze various fire debris. In general, when analyzing fire debris, especially ignitable liquids, GC/MS which is a time consuming and complicated method is used to identify the presence or absence of a fire accelerant(or a ignitable liquid) in a combustion residue. Therefore, in this study, three types of combustion accelerants and fabrics were selected. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) of ATR which is both a qualitative and a quantitative chemical analysis method was used for rapid analysis. After preparing samples through fire experiments, a library database was created in the device by measurements of samples and applicability of FT-IR analysis for identifying fire accelerants was identified.