The aim of this study was to investigate how frequent ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) readings ne... more The aim of this study was to investigate how frequent ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) readings need to be obtained to reproduce the ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) and pulse pressure (PP) without loss of information. We compared concordance from full and reduced ABP recordings. We recorded 24-h ABP at 30-min intervals in 1542 residents of Ohasama, Japan (baseline age, 40-93 years; 63.4% women). We randomly excluded up to 16 readings per recording or we selected readings at fixed 1- or 2-h intervals. Using full recordings as reference, we computed for the reduced recordings repeatability coefficient by Bland and Altman's approach. By Cox regression, we also calculated multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios for cardiovascular mortality. The median number of ABP readings per recording was 46. Randomly excluding more readings reduced the concordance of AASI, but not PP. Selecting blood pressure readings at 1- or 2-h intervals produced mean values of AASI and PP, which significantly differed from those in full recordings. During follow-up (median, 13.3 years) 126 cardiovascular deaths occurred. Across quartiles, AASI significantly predicted cardiovascular mortality in a U-shaped manner. AASI lost its prognostic significance when the number of randomly excluded readings increased from 8 to 16 or when the interval between readings was 1 h or longer. Compared with PP, AASI is less reproducible when the number of readings in ABP decreases, but this does not affect the predictive accuracy of AASI for cardiovascular mortality, until the median number of readings per ABP recording is less than ∼35.
We examine how state-ownership affects financial constraints on investment of Chinese-listed firm... more We examine how state-ownership affects financial constraints on investment of Chinese-listed firms during 1999–2008. We find that although an average sample firm experiences some degree of financial constraints, state-ownership does not necessarily help in reducing the firm's financial constraints on investment. Further evidence shows that state-ownership does not lead to more borrowing from the Chinese banking sector, implying that state-ownership does not necessarily reduce the firm's financial constraints via the state-controlled banking sector. We consider not only the standard factors in the investment equation, but also the firm's equity financing behaviour explicitly. The result is robust to both the conventional proxy for financial constraints, i.e. the investment–cash-flow sensitivity, and a recently developed proxy for financial constraints, i.e. the KZ index. Our results suggest that China's corporatisation movement is effective in that soft budget constraints once enjoyed by former state-owned enterprises have been removed along with the progress of corporatisation. These firms, although still state-involved, can be seen as modern corporations operating in a market environment.
Portable communication products such as cellular phones and pagers are changing rapidly towards p... more Portable communication products such as cellular phones and pagers are changing rapidly towards product miniaturization. With the increased product complexity and features, this leads to the requirement for higher density IC packaging. This fine-pitch high-density IC packaging requires very fine line substrates and current rigid board PCBs are not able to meet this requirement. Chip-on-film (COF) is one of the latest flip-chip technologies which offers fine-pitch mounting capability on a flexible substrate. This technology is able to meet the requirements of a low-cost fine-pitch assembly. This paper discusses the COF technology using the Au-Sn micro-soldering method and its application to displays and semiconductor packaging such as chip-scale packaging (CSP). The challenges of this interconnect technology, encompassing the bonding of the gold-to-tin metallurgy, bumping specifications and substrate plating requirements, is discussed. Reliability testing is also presented and discussed
Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 2010
Purpose In previous research, we found that 10-methoxy-9-nitrocamptothecin (MONCPT) possessed pot... more Purpose In previous research, we found that 10-methoxy-9-nitrocamptothecin (MONCPT) possessed potent anti-tumor activity in A549 cells in vitro and in vivo. In this paper, our purpose is to investigate the mechanism of MONCPT-induced cell cycle arrest in A549 cells. Methods Cell cycle distribution was measured using flow cytometry (FCM). Protein expression and RNA expression were analyzed by western blotting and real-time PCR, respectively. SiRNA technology was introduced to silence the expression of p53 and p38. Results FCM showed that MONCPT induced cell cycle G2/M arrest in time- and dose-dependent manner. The levels of feedback loop proteins PLK-1, Cdc25C, and cyclinB1 were obviously increased from 12 to 24 h, and then reduced from 36 to 48 h by MONCPT (100.0 nM). Moreover, down-regulation of p-AKT in A549 cells was seen after treated with 100.0 nM MONCPT for 12–48 h. Over-expression of p53 and p21 in A549 cells treated with MONCPT was observed in time-dependent manner. When wild type p53 expression was specifically inhibited by RNA-interference, A549 cells treated with MONCPT delayed the onset of G2/M arrest; meanwhile p-ERK and Cdc2 were up-regulated while p21 and CDK7 were down-regulated in A549 cells treated with MONCPT and p53 SiRNA transfection in contrast to cells treated with 100.0 nM MONCPT alone. In addition, our results exhibited that MONCPT obviously down-regulated p-ERK, JNK, p-JNK, and p-p38. Treatment with p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) SiRNA obviously inhibited p38 MAPK and delayed the G2/M arrest induced by 50.0 nM MONCPT after 48 h. Conclusion Cell cycle regulators, AKT, p53, and MAPK, as therapeutic targets for MONCPT to induce cell cycle G2/M arrest in the context of anticancer therapy.
The aim of this study was to investigate how frequent ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) readings ne... more The aim of this study was to investigate how frequent ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) readings need to be obtained to reproduce the ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) and pulse pressure (PP) without loss of information. We compared concordance from full and reduced ABP recordings. We recorded 24-h ABP at 30-min intervals in 1542 residents of Ohasama, Japan (baseline age, 40-93 years; 63.4% women). We randomly excluded up to 16 readings per recording or we selected readings at fixed 1- or 2-h intervals. Using full recordings as reference, we computed for the reduced recordings repeatability coefficient by Bland and Altman's approach. By Cox regression, we also calculated multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios for cardiovascular mortality. The median number of ABP readings per recording was 46. Randomly excluding more readings reduced the concordance of AASI, but not PP. Selecting blood pressure readings at 1- or 2-h intervals produced mean values of AASI and PP, which significantly differed from those in full recordings. During follow-up (median, 13.3 years) 126 cardiovascular deaths occurred. Across quartiles, AASI significantly predicted cardiovascular mortality in a U-shaped manner. AASI lost its prognostic significance when the number of randomly excluded readings increased from 8 to 16 or when the interval between readings was 1 h or longer. Compared with PP, AASI is less reproducible when the number of readings in ABP decreases, but this does not affect the predictive accuracy of AASI for cardiovascular mortality, until the median number of readings per ABP recording is less than ∼35.
We examine how state-ownership affects financial constraints on investment of Chinese-listed firm... more We examine how state-ownership affects financial constraints on investment of Chinese-listed firms during 1999–2008. We find that although an average sample firm experiences some degree of financial constraints, state-ownership does not necessarily help in reducing the firm's financial constraints on investment. Further evidence shows that state-ownership does not lead to more borrowing from the Chinese banking sector, implying that state-ownership does not necessarily reduce the firm's financial constraints via the state-controlled banking sector. We consider not only the standard factors in the investment equation, but also the firm's equity financing behaviour explicitly. The result is robust to both the conventional proxy for financial constraints, i.e. the investment–cash-flow sensitivity, and a recently developed proxy for financial constraints, i.e. the KZ index. Our results suggest that China's corporatisation movement is effective in that soft budget constraints once enjoyed by former state-owned enterprises have been removed along with the progress of corporatisation. These firms, although still state-involved, can be seen as modern corporations operating in a market environment.
Portable communication products such as cellular phones and pagers are changing rapidly towards p... more Portable communication products such as cellular phones and pagers are changing rapidly towards product miniaturization. With the increased product complexity and features, this leads to the requirement for higher density IC packaging. This fine-pitch high-density IC packaging requires very fine line substrates and current rigid board PCBs are not able to meet this requirement. Chip-on-film (COF) is one of the latest flip-chip technologies which offers fine-pitch mounting capability on a flexible substrate. This technology is able to meet the requirements of a low-cost fine-pitch assembly. This paper discusses the COF technology using the Au-Sn micro-soldering method and its application to displays and semiconductor packaging such as chip-scale packaging (CSP). The challenges of this interconnect technology, encompassing the bonding of the gold-to-tin metallurgy, bumping specifications and substrate plating requirements, is discussed. Reliability testing is also presented and discussed
Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 2010
Purpose In previous research, we found that 10-methoxy-9-nitrocamptothecin (MONCPT) possessed pot... more Purpose In previous research, we found that 10-methoxy-9-nitrocamptothecin (MONCPT) possessed potent anti-tumor activity in A549 cells in vitro and in vivo. In this paper, our purpose is to investigate the mechanism of MONCPT-induced cell cycle arrest in A549 cells. Methods Cell cycle distribution was measured using flow cytometry (FCM). Protein expression and RNA expression were analyzed by western blotting and real-time PCR, respectively. SiRNA technology was introduced to silence the expression of p53 and p38. Results FCM showed that MONCPT induced cell cycle G2/M arrest in time- and dose-dependent manner. The levels of feedback loop proteins PLK-1, Cdc25C, and cyclinB1 were obviously increased from 12 to 24 h, and then reduced from 36 to 48 h by MONCPT (100.0 nM). Moreover, down-regulation of p-AKT in A549 cells was seen after treated with 100.0 nM MONCPT for 12–48 h. Over-expression of p53 and p21 in A549 cells treated with MONCPT was observed in time-dependent manner. When wild type p53 expression was specifically inhibited by RNA-interference, A549 cells treated with MONCPT delayed the onset of G2/M arrest; meanwhile p-ERK and Cdc2 were up-regulated while p21 and CDK7 were down-regulated in A549 cells treated with MONCPT and p53 SiRNA transfection in contrast to cells treated with 100.0 nM MONCPT alone. In addition, our results exhibited that MONCPT obviously down-regulated p-ERK, JNK, p-JNK, and p-p38. Treatment with p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) SiRNA obviously inhibited p38 MAPK and delayed the G2/M arrest induced by 50.0 nM MONCPT after 48 h. Conclusion Cell cycle regulators, AKT, p53, and MAPK, as therapeutic targets for MONCPT to induce cell cycle G2/M arrest in the context of anticancer therapy.
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Papers by Hoshi Chun