• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2015

Purpose: To compare the depiction of brain metastases on contrast-enhanced images with 7.0 tesla (T) and at 1.5T MRI. Materials and Methods: Four consecutive patients with brain metastases were scanned on 7.0T whole-body scanner and 1.5T MRI. A 3D T1-weighted gradient echo sequence (3D T1-GRE) at 1.5T (voxel size = $0.9{\times}0.9{\times}1.5mm^3$ after double-dose, gadoterate meglumine, Gd-DOTA) was compared to a 7.0T 3D T1-GRE sequence (voxel size = $0.4{\times}0.4{\times}0.8mm^3$, single-dose Gd-DOTA) in four patients after a 5 minute delay. The number of contrast-enhancing metastases in MPRAGE images was compared in each patient by two radiologists in consensus. We measured contrast ratio of enhancing brain metastases and white matter in 1.5T and 7.0T. Results: In all four patients 7.0T 3D T1-GRE images after single-dose Gd-DOTA and 1.5T after double-dose Gd-DOTA depicted 11 brain metastases equally. In the quantitative analysis of contrast ratios of enhancing brain metastases and white matter, the 1.5T 3D T1-GRE after double-dose showed an increased contrast ratio compared to 7.0T 3D T1-GRE after single-dose ($0.961{\pm}0.571$ versus $0.885{\pm}0.494$; n = 11 metastases). But this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.711). Conclusion: Our preliminary results indicate that 7.0T single-dose Gd-enhanced images were not different to 1.5T double-dose Gd-enhanced images for the detection of brain metastases.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.279-285
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• 1993

Alterations of the p53 gene arc among the most frequent genetic changes in human cancer and often result in increased levels of p53 protein within the malignant cells. Detection of accumulated p53 protein can be a useful prognostic tool in human cancer. In order to make polyclonal antibodies for immunohistochemical screening. human p53 gene was expressed in E. coli in the form of GST (glutathione S-transfi.:rase) fusion proteins. Two p53 gene fragments. which were N('()I small fragment encoding amino acid residues of 1-151-: and Ncol large fragment of 159-393. were subeloned into the unique BamHI site present within the pGEX-2T vector using BamHI linker and recombinant plasmids pGTNS and pGTNL were constructed. respectively. The p53 cDNA fragment (from pC53-$SN_3$,) encoding amino acid 38-145 (proline at residue 72) was amplified by polymerase chain reaction(PCR). The amplified DNA was digested with BamHI and Prull and inserted into the BamHI-Smal sites of pG EX-2T and recombinant plasmid pGTBP was constructed. After IPTG induction of these plasmids for 4 hours. fusion proteins were purified from E. coli extracts with glutathione Sepharose beads. The bound proteins were resolved by 10% SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the molecular weights were 54 kDa. 53 kDa and 40 kDa. respectively. Approximately one milligram of fusion proteins were purified from 1 -liter cultures.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.285-294
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• 2016

The purpose of this research study is to analyze the influence on the necessity of establishment of eco-friendly hospital by evaluating hospital employees' awareness and their satisfaction level of working environment. Questionnaire investigation was conducted in April 2014 throughout five different medium-size hospitals in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Chungcheongbuk provinces. 213 sets of survey were used to conduct Frequency Analysis, T-test, Dispersion Analysis(ANOVA) and Structural Equation Modeling Analysis. The research concluded that employees with higher level of education, working position and longer term of working experience were more aware about Eco-friendly hospital. In addition, male, doctor, and employees with higher level of education and working position were more satisfied with their working environment. And male, employees with higher level of education and working position were more aware about necessity of establishment of eco-friendly hospital. According to the Structural Equation Modeling Analysis, the awareness of Eco-friendly hospital and the satisfaction level of working environment were the varying factors that influence the necessity of establishment of Eco-friendly hospital. Therefore, it is crucial for hospitals that are preparing for establishing Eco-friendly hospital to raise employees' level of understanding of Eco-friendly hospital and their working environment satisfaction level.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.374-380
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• 2004

Although exophytic endobronchial lesions can readily be diagnosed by routine forceps biopsy through the fiberoptic bronchoscope, submucosal or peribronchial tumor can be difficult to diagnose. So we evaluated the diagnostic utility of transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) through the fiberoptic bronchoscope in patients presenting with endoscopic abnormalities suggestive of submucosal or peribronchial tumor. Patients and Methods : Retrospective review of 120 lung cancer patients who were found to have the lesions suggestive of peribronchial and submucosal tumor during fiberoptic bronchoscopy was performed from Jan. 1994 to Dec. 2002 at Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine. Results : Forcep biopsy was positive in 63 cases (52.5%) and TBNA in 91 (75.8%), which was significantly better than forcep biopsy (p=0.001). The combination of forceps biopsy and TBNA was positive in 106 cases (88.3%), which was significantly better than forceps biopsy alone (p=0.0001). The difference of TBNA yield according to cell type or bronchoscopic appearance of lesion was not significant, but it showed the relatively better result in small cell carcinoma. Conclusions : We concluded that TBNA significantly increase the yield over forcep biopsy alone in the detection of submucosal or peribronchial bronchogenic carcinoma.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2007

In Korea, hepatoma is the thirdly frequent cause of death from cancer occupying 17.2% among the whole deaths from cancer and the rate of death from hepatoma comes to about 21's persons per one-hundred thousand ones. This paper proposes an automatic method for the extraction of areas being suspicious as hepatoma from a CT scan and evaluates the availability as an auxiliary tool for the diagnosis of hepatoma. For detecting tumors in the internal of the liver from CT scans, first, an area of the liver is extracted from about $45{\sim}50's$ CT scans obtained by scanning in 2.5-mm intervals starting from the lower part of the chest. In the extraction of an area of the liver, after unconcerned areas outside of the ribs being removed, areas of the internal organs are separated and enlarged by using intensity information of the CT scan. The area of the liver is extracted among separated areas by using information on position and morphology of the liver. Since hepatoma is a hypervascular turner, the area corresponding to hepatoma appears more brightly than the surroundings in contrast-enhancement CT scans, and when hepatoma shows expansile growth, the area has a spherical shape. So, for the extraction of areas of hepatoma, areas being brighter than the surroundings and globe-shaped are selected as candidate ones in an area of the liver, and then, areas appearing at the same position in successive CT scans among the candidates are discriminated as hepatoma. For the performance evaluation of the proposed method, experiment results obtained by applying the proposed method to CT scans were compared with the diagnoses by radiologists. The evaluation results showed that all areas of the liver and liver tumors were extracted exactly and the proposed method has a high availability as an auxiliary diagnosis tools for the discrimination of liver tumors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.2857-2860
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• 2016

Background: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection is one of the important causes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Thailand, involved in the pathogenesis and leading to a development of HCC with or without cirrhotic changes of the liver. This study was aimed to investigate the predictive factors for HCC among CHB patients in a tertiary care center in Thailand. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of CHB patients with or without HCC during the period of January 2009 and December 2014 at Thammasat University Hospital, Pathumthani, Thailand. Data on clinical characteristics, biochemical tests and radiologic findings were collected from review of medical records. Results: A total of 266 patients were diagnosed with CHB in Thammasat university hospital during the study period. However, clinical information of only 164/266 CHB patients (98 males, 66 females with mean age of 49.4 years) could be completely retrieved in this study. The prevalence of HCC in CHB infection in this study was 38/164 (23.2%). CHB patients with HCC had a mean age older than those without HCC (59.5 vs 47 years, P-value = 0.01). Furthermore, history of upper GI bleeding, tattooing, blood transfusion, and chronic alcoholism were significantly more common in CHB patients with HCC than patients without HCC (13.2% vs 3.2% P-value 0.03, OR = 4.6, 95%CI = 1.2-18.1, 20% vs 3.9%, P-value = 0.01, OR= 6.1, 95% CI= 1.6-23.6, 20% vs 6.3%, P-value = 0.03, OR = 3.8, 95%CI =1.1-12.7, 62.2% vs 30.3%, P-value <0.0001, OR = 3.7, 95%CI= 1.7-8.1 respectively). Interestingly, more CHB patients with HCC had evidence of cirrhosis than those without HCC (78.9% vs 20.4%, P-value <0.0001, OR = 14.6, 95%CI = 5.8-36.7). In CHB patients with HCC, surgical therapy provided longer survival than radiofrequency ablation (RFA) (72 vs 46.5 months, P-value= 0.04). The mean survival time after HCC diagnosis was 17.2 months. Conclusions: HCC remains a major problem among patients with CHB infection in Thailand. Possible risk factors are male gender, history of upper GI bleeding, chronic alcoholism, tattooing, blood transfusion and evidence of cirrhosis. For early stage HCC patients, surgical treatment provided longer survival time than RFA. Most HCC patients presented with advanced disease and had a grave prognosis. Appropriate screening of CHB patients at risk for HCC might be an appropriate approach for early detection and improvement of long-term outcomes.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.429-434
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• 2019

A lateral flow immunoassay platform utilizing antibody functionalized water soluble CdSe/ZnS semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) was developed for the analysis of human serum amyloid A-1 (hSAA1) in a buffer solution. hSAA1 was chosen as a target protein because it is regarded as a potential biomarker associated with early diagnosis and prognosis in patients of lung cancer. The immunoassay strip on a nitrocellulose membrane was fabricated by spraying two lines composed of a test line with a monoclonal antibody against hSAA1 (10G1) (anti hSAA1) and a control line of anti-chicken IgY. While the CdSe/ZnS QDs synthesized in an organic phase were transferred to a water phase by ligand exchange using carboxylic acid modified alkane thiol. The QDs was then conjugated to monoclonal antibody against hSAA1 (14F8) [anti hSAA1 (14F8)] and used as a fluorescent detection probe. The sequential lateral flow of hSAA1 in different concentration and QDs-anti hSAA1 (14F8) complex allowed to form the surface sandwich complex of anti hSAA1 (10G1)/hSAA1/QD-anti hSAA1 (14F8), which was then analyzed using fluorescence microscope. A 100 nM concentration of hSAA1 protein can be detected by naked eyes under an optimized lateral flow buffer condition with a sensing time of 5 mins.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.103-109
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• 2021

Gastric adenocarcinoma of the fundic gland mucosa type (GA-FGM) was proposed as a new variant of gastric adenocarcinoma of the fundic gland type (GA-FG). However, at present, the influence of Helicobacter pylori and the speed of progression and degree of malignancy in GA-FGM remain unclear. Herein, we report the first case of intramucosal GA-FGM that was endoscopically observed before and after H. pylori eradication over 15 years. The lesion showed the same tumor size with no submucosal invasion and a low MIB-1 labeling index 15 years after its detection using endoscopy. The endoscopic morphology changed from 0-IIa before H. pylori eradication to 0-IIa+IIc and then 0-I after H. pylori eradication. These findings suggest that the unaltered tumor size reflects low-grade malignancy and slow growth, and that the endoscopic morphology is influenced by H. pylori eradication.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.119-129
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• 2022

Cervical cytology has been widely used as a screening tool for cervical cancer. However, Human papillomavirus (HPV) detection and subtype testing are suggested to overcome the high false-negative rate associated with cytology. We aimed to investigate the clinical usefulness and infection rate in the HPV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test performed in hospitals. HPV PCR data from 217 patients were analyzed. Analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in the infection rate among different age groups (P=0.015). The biopsy results showed that epithelial cell abnormalities and high HPV-positivity rate was observed in 1 (100%) subject aged <29 years, in 4 out of 5 (80%) patients in their 30s, and in 3 out of 4 (75%) patients aged ≥70 years. The prevalence of HPV infection was very high (46.1%). The highest prevalence (87.5%) was observed among patients in their <29, followed by those in their 30s (67.7%) and those in their 40s (31.9%).A high rate of epithelial cell abnormalities (≥ cervical intraepithelial neoplasia type 1, mild dysplasia) was observed in HPV-infected women aged<30 years. Therefore, extensive research and prevention activities are needed in this age group. HPV PCR testing is recommended to complement cervical cytology

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.331-337
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• 2023

In this paper, we propose a deep learning model to detect lumbar 3 (L3) CT images to determine the occurrence and degree of sarcopenia. In addition, we would like to propose an optimization technique that uses oversampling ratio and class weight as design parameters to address the problem of performance degradation due to data imbalance between L3 level and non-L3 level portions of CT data. In order to train and test the model, a total of 150 whole-body CT images of 104 prostate cancer patients and 46 bladder cancer patients who visited Gangneung Asan Medical Center were used. The deep learning model used ResNet50, and the design parameters of the optimization technique were selected as six types of model hyperparameters, data augmentation ratio, and class weight. It was confirmed that the proposed optimization-based L3 level extraction model reduced the median L3 error by about 1.0 slices compared to the control model (a model that optimized only 5 types of hyperparameters). Through the results of this study, accurate L3 slice detection was possible, and additionally, we were able to present the possibility of effectively solving the data imbalance problem through oversampling through data augmentation and class weight adjustment.