Video-assisted thoracoscopic indocyanine green fluorescence image-guided surgery is feasible for sentinel node biopsy and may be a powerful tool to eliminate unnecessary lymph node dissection in patients with lung cancer.

We investigated the possibility of human epididymis 4(HE4) to predict survival for patients with pulmonary adenocarcinoma. One hundred and thirty-seven patients with pulmonary adenocarcinoma underwent surgery in our institute from 2000 to 2008. We used immunohistochemical analysis to determine the expression of HE4 and compared with the clinicopathological factors and survival. Serum levels of HE4 in lung adenocarcinoma were investigated by enzyme immunometric assay. Fifty-seven of 137 cases (41.6%) were HE4 positive. It was found that there was no correlation between HE4 expression by immunohistochemistry and clinicopathological factors, however, adenocarcinoma subtype was significantly associated with HE4 expression. Sera in lung adenocarcinoma were significantly higher than in healthy control. Five-year disease-free survival in the HE4-positive group (44.6%) was significantly different from that in the negative group (82.3%, p = 0.001) by immunohistochemistry. The five-year overall survival rate was 60.1% in the HE4-positive group, as compared with 90.8% in the HE4-negative group (p = 0.001). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, positive HE4 protein expression was a worse prognosis factor of disease-free and overall survival (HR = 3.7, 95%CI = [1.7-8.4], p = 0.001; HR = 5.5, 95%CI = [1.8-17.2], p = 0.003, respectively), in addition to nodal status as a powerful value. When HE4 expression in adenocarcinoma cases except the BAC were analyzed, nodal status and HE4 expression were independent prognostic factors in disease-free and overall survivals. These data showed that HE4 expression is associated with a worse prognosis and is a possible prognostic factor of lung adenocarcinoma.

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As a molecular biological anti-apoptotic factor, survivin expression was of use in assessing prognosis in ESCC. Inhibition of survivin may be useful as a molecular biological therapy in ESCC.

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The impact of partitioning and/or transmutation (PT) technology on high-level waste management was investigated for the equilibrium state of several potential fast breeder reactor (FBR) fuel cycles. Three different fuel cycle scenarios involving PT technology were analyzed: 1) partitioning process only (separation of some fission products), 2) transmutation process only (separation and transmutation of minor actinides), and 3) both partitioning and transmutation processes. The conventional light water reactor (LWR) fuel cycle without PT technology, on which the current repository design is based, was also included for comparison. We focused on the thermal constraints in a geological repository and determined the necessary predisposal storage quantities and time periods (by defining a storage capacity index) for several predefined emplacement configurations through transient thermal analysis. The relation between this storage capacity index and the required repository emplacement area was obtained. We found that the introduction of the FBR fuel cycle without PT can yield a 35% smaller repository per unit electricity generation than the LWR fuel cycle, although the predisposal storage period is prolonged from 50 years for the LWR fuel cycle to 65 years for the FBR fuel cycle without PT. The introduction of the partitioningonly process does not result in a significant reduction of the repository emplacement area from that for the FBR fuel cycle without PT, but the introduction of the transmutation-only process can reduce the emplacement area by a factor of 5 when the storage period is extended from 65 to 95 years. When a coupled partitioning and transmutation system is introduced, the repository emplacement area can be reduced by up to two orders of magnitude by assuming a predisposal storage of 60 years for glass waste and 295 years for calcined waste containing the Sr and Cs fraction. The storage period of 295 years for the calcined waste does not require a large storage capacity because the number of waste packages produced is significantly reduced by a factor of 5 from that of the glass waste package in the FBR fuel cycle without PT.

Kurita‐Albrecht Young Engineers Award 2018 – Steel Recently, SBHS (Steels for Bridge High‐Performance Structure) has been introduced in Japan because of its remarkable mechanical properties. The main features of SBHS are high yield strength, improved toughness and weldability, which are superior to conventional steel materials at the corresponding tensile strength grades. In this study, these material properties of SBHS were compared with conventional steel materials through experimental studies as well as the Japanese design specifications. The main focus of this paper is the evaluation of the local buckling strength of two SBHS700 stub columns, each with cruciform section through compression tests. The load‐displacement relationship, strain bifurcation related to plate buckling and out‐of‐plane deformation are discussed. Two test specimens with different width‐to‐thickness ratio parameters RR are compared. As the results indicate, for the specimen having a larger RR, an abrupt decrease in load was observed after the peak load, whereas the decrease in load for the specimen with a smaller RR proceeded gradually after the peak load with a much larger vertical displacement. In terms of local buckling strength, it was found to be possible to evaluate the SBHS700 stub column with cruciform section based on the existing ultimate strength curves.