Extending the basic theory of Plastic Node Method (PNM), a new method of elastic-plastic analysis of framed structures considering combined strain-hardening effects is developed. The proposed method is applied to two and three-dimensional frames under cyclic loads. In the PNM, a generalized hinge mechanism (plastic node) based on the flow theory of plasticity is introduced at a node of beam-column elements. A strain-hardening rate for the plastic node is obtained by equating a plastic work done at the plastic node with that evaluated in the actual elastic-plastic stress distribution in the element. The resulting elastic-plastic stiffness matrix can be derived simply by matrix calculation. The numerical results are compared with those calculated by FEM program MARC. It was shown that the proposed. method provides very accurate results in a short computation time.
A 73-year-old female was diagnosed as having gastric cancer (undifferentiated adenocarcinoma), and received gastrojejunal anastomosis as an initial treatment. One year after the operation, she was readmitted to our hospital with the complaint of fullness in her stomach. Physical examination revealed a palpable mass in the epigastric region and ascites. An attempt to induce endogenous TNF was made using OK-432. Four doses of OK-432 (10 KE) were administered intraperitoneally every other day. Seven days after the last administration of OK-432 (10 KE), OK-432 (50 KE) was given at the same site to induce TNF. At 1.5h after the injection of OK-432 (50 KE), 20.8 U/ml and 8.1 U/ml of TNF activity could be detected respectively in the serum and ascites. This is the first report describing the induction of TNF in a cancer patient.
The therapeutic effects of the new anti-angiogenesis factor TNP-470 were examined against carcinomatous peritonitis in mice. In the first experiment using carcinomatous peritonitis caused by i.p. inoculation of 106 M5076 tumor cells, TNP-470 solution was injected i.p. in a bolus of 50 mg/kg body weight into two groups of 10 mice either 1 or 8 days after the i.p. inoculation. The administration of TNP-470 on day 1 extended the survival time of the mice compared with 10 control mice receiving no treatment, whereas TNP-470 given on day 8 did not affect the survival time. In the next experiment on the M5076 tumor, TNP-470 solutions at 100 or 300 mg/kg were injected i.p. in a bolus into two groups of 20 mice 1 day after the inoculation 106 tumor cells, respectively. The administration of TNP-470 at 100 mg/kg also had an inhibitory effect. However, TNP-470 at 300 mg/kg caused toxic death in half of the mice. Next, we examined the effects of TNP-470 on another type of carcinomatous peritonitis model, which was caused by i.p inoculation of 106 B16 melanoma cells. In this experiment, TNP-470 solutions in a bolus of 150 mg/kg were injected i.p. into six groups of 10 mice each on day 1 only (group 1), on days 1 and 4 (group 2), on days 1, 4 and 7 (group 3), on day 8 only (group 4), on days 8 and 11 (group 5), or on days 8, 11 and 14 (group 6), respectively. The survival time was prolonged only in those groups receiving TNP-470 on days 1 and 4 (group 2), and days 1, 4 and 7 (group 3) as compared with a control group of untreated mice. In both M5076 tumor and B16 melanoma experiments, the early administration of TNP-470 was more effective at extending the survival times of mice receiving these drugs. However, there were significant differences in the relative sensitivities to TNP-470 between these two models.
