• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.157-162
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• 1996

Fine needle aspiration(FNA) is an effective tool in diagnosing mammary carcinoma. We experienced 7 cases of histologically confirmed mammary mucinous carcinoma among 3,052 aspirated cases of breast from 1992 to 1996 in Asan Medical Center. The average age of the patient was 48(33-64) years. The mean size of the lesions was $1.6(0.7{\sim}3)cm$, and they were palpated as well-defined, firm to hard masses. The cytologic features that may be useful in making a FNA diagnosis of mucinous carcinoma of the breast were analysed. Mucinous background and tumor cell clusters with occasional single cells were observed in all cases. Among them, two cases showed abundant scattered single cells, whereas only few single cells were seen in the other two cases. Tumor cells exhibited mild pleomorphism in four cases and moderate pleomorphism in three cases. Nucleoli tended to be not prominent and are observed in three cases, rarely noted in other three cases and not seen in one. There was microcalcification in four cases(57%). In conclusion, mucinous background and clustered tumor cells showing mild to moderate pleomorphism with characteristic clinical findings allow us to diagnose mucinous carcinoma of the breast.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.87-92
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• 1997

Reports on the cytologic or histopathologic findings of inflammatory pseudotumors are relatively infrequent and most of them have dealt with those involving the lung, liver, genitourinary tract, alimentary tract, spleen, mediastinum, retroperitoneum, etc. Moreover there have not been any cytologic studios of those involving lymph nodes. We present fine needle aspiration cytologic features of inflammatory pseudotumor occurring in a lymph node in a 64 year-old man. The aspirate consisted of proliferating spindle cells and admixed histiocytes, fibroblasts, lymphocytes, and plasma cells. Histiocytes were present either singly or in loosely cohesive small clusters. A few multinucleated giant cells were present as well. However, tuberculosis could be excluded by the absence of typical granuloma, caseation necrosis, or characteristic mixed spindle and inflammatory cell components. Other benign and malignant lymphadenopathies could also be differentiated based on cytologic findings.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.60-64
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• 2004

The macrofollicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (MVPC) is characterized by macrofollicles occupying more than half of the tumor and demonstrating nuclear features of classic papillary carcinoma. It is difficult to recognize on fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology due to the paucity of aspirated neoplastic cell clusters, especially when the tumor is associated with extensive areas of hemorrhage. Case: A 34-year-old female presented with a well-demarcated nodule in the thyroid gland, diagnosed as a benign nodule on ultrasonography and computed tomography. FNA cytology smear revealed a few small aggregates of follicular cells with morphological features suspicious for papillary carcinoma, set in a background of hemorrhage, inflammatory cells, and hemosiderin-laden macrophages. Intraoperative frozen section revealed macrofollicular nests filled with hemorrhage and composed of follicular cells demonstrating nuclear clearing and grooves. Conclusion: MVPC is a rare but distinctive variant of papillary carcinoma, which is easily mistaken for adenomatous goiter or benign macrofollicular neoplasm on radiologic findings. The cytopathologist should alert oneself on encountering benign radiologic findings and any smear composed of scant numbers of follicular cells with nuclear features suspicious for papillary carcinoma despite the bland-looking background of hemorrhage and hemosiderin-laden macrophages, and recommend intraoperative frozen sections for a definite diagnosis.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 2018

The characteristic features of the arachnid central nervous system (CNS) are related to its body segmentation, and the body in the Opiliones appears to be a single oval structure because of its broad connection between two tagmata (prosoma and opisthosoma). Nevertheless, structural organization of the ganglionic neurons and nerves in the harvestman Leiobunum japonicum is quite similar to the CNS in most other arachnids. This paper describes the fine structural details of the main groups of neuropiles in the CNS ganglia revealed by the transmission electron microscopy. In particular, electron-microscopic features of neural clusters in the main neuroganglia of the CNS (supraesophageal ganglion, protocerebral ganglion, optic lobes, central body, and subesophageal ganglion) could provide indications for the nervous pathways associated with nerve terminations and plexuses. The CNS of this harvestman consists of a supraesophageal ganglion (brain) and a subesophageal mass, and there are no ganglia in the abdomen. Cell bodies of neuroganglia are found in the periphery, but central parts of the ganglia are mostly fibrous in all ganglia. Neuroglial cells occupy the spaces left by nerve cells. Since the nerve cells in the ganglia are typical composed of monopolar neurons, axons and dendrites of neurons are distributed along the same direction.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.131-134
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• 1995

When tachyzoites (RH strain) of Toxoplasmo gondii are injected intramuscularly, experimental mice survive up to 7 days, 1-2 days longer than those infected intraperitoneally. We observed sequential histopathological changes in inguinal Iymph nodes after intramuscular injection of tachyzoites to thighs of specific pathogen free (SPF) mice. Initial findings on 1 or 3 days after the injection were reactive germinal centers, distended sinuses and epithelioid cell clusters in cortical and paracortical regions. Later on 5 days after the injection, however, effacement of nodal structure with depletion of cells and focal necrosis were observed . Necrotizing Iymphadenitis in the experimental murine toxoplasmosis suggests the causal relation between T. gondii infection and the human disease.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.1699-1704
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• 2009

If detected early enough, cervical cantor may have a good survival rate due to its preneoplastic state. However, the process is so time consuming that a medical expert can handle only a small amount of such examinations. In this paper, we propose a new nucleus extraction algorithm for uterine cervical pap smears in order to mitigate such burdens of medical experts. In the preneoplastic state cytodiagnosis images, it is important to differentiate three main areas - background, cytoplasm and nucleus. Thus, we apply lighting compensation and $3{\times}3$ mask of B channel in order to restore damaged image and remove noises respectively. The cell object is obtained from those clean binarized images with Grossfire algorithm. When there are clusters of cells, the target nucleus can be obtained with repetitive binarization of R channel brightness. In our experiment of using uterine cervical pap smears of 400 magnifications that is common in the diagnostic cytology, our method is able to extract 40 nucleus out of 45 population successfully.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.572-578
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• 2016

Communication between endothelial cells (ECs) and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) via miR-143/145 clusters is vital to vascular stability. Previous research demonstrates that miR-143/145 released from ECs can regulate SMC proliferation and migration. In addition, a recent study has found that SMCs also have the capability of manipulating EC function via miR-143/145. In the present study, we artificially increased the expression of miR-143/145 in ECs, to mimic a similar change caused by miR-143/145 released by SMCs, and applied untargeted metabolomics analysis, aimed at investigating the consequential effect of miR-143/145 overexpression. Our results showed that miR-143/145 overexpression alters the levels of metabolites involved in energy production, DNA methylation, and oxidative stress. These changed metabolites indicate that metabolic pathways, such as the SAM cycle and TCA cycle, exhibit significant differences from the norm with miR-143/145 overexpression.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.157-165
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• 2016

This study investigated several anatomical characteristics of Paulownia tomentosa roots. The root wood was separated into three parts from stem base (top, middle, and base) at different positions below ground. Qualitative anatomical data suggested that the growth rings in earlywood and latewood were structurally different. Furthermore, the root wood vessels were found having 2 to 3 radial multiples and they were appeared in the form of clusters. In addition, some sheath cells and septate axial parenchyma were observed. Regarding the quantitative anatomical characteristics, vessel and ray numbers per $mm^2$, as well as ray width and height differed significantly among the top, middle, and base rood wood parts. However, there were no significant differences in vessel diameters, cell wall thickness, and width and length of wood fibers among those parts. The crystallinity of the root top part was slightly higher than that of the middle and base parts. Furthermore, the vessel numbers, ray numbers, and ray width and height in the near pith (NP) area were higher compared to those in the near bark (NB) area. However, the fiber width and fiber length at NP were lower than those at NB. Overall, this study demonstrated some significant differences in the anatomical characteristics of the top, middle, and base parts of root wood from Paulownia tomentosa.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.65-69
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• 2015

Objectives : The root ofCyanchum wifordii(CW) had been used as herbal medicine, 'Baeksuo', in Korea. However, the root ofCynanchum auriculatum(CA) had also been mis-used as 'Baeksuo' in herbal markets, due to its morphological similarity with CW. This study aimed to compare discriminative features and establish the identification-keys between two herbal medicines using microscopic methods.Methods : Microscopic preparations including fixation, rapid dehydration, paraffin infiltration, paraffin embedding, sectioning, mounting, and staining, were performed and the microscopic features between CW and CA samples were compared.Results : The starch grain of parenchymal cells, the amounts of calcium oxalate crystals, cell sizes, and the shape of phloem were not different between CW and CA samples. However, the clusters of stone cells which were conglomerated at outer cortex were apparently observed in CA sample (4~8 layers of stone cells), but not in CW sample (2~4 layers of stone cells, or not). Xylem of CW consisted of several vessels and fiber bundles which were formed as linear shapes and discontinuous radial lines, while that of CA, in which radial lines was not observed, were shaped as a wedge and scattered near cambium with comparatively few fiber bundles enclosed vessels. Especially, in the xylem of CA, fiber bundles located towards cambium were relatively more developed than those located outward cambium.Conclusions : The identification-keys established in this study would be helpful to discriminate microscopic features between CW and CA.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2012

The composite membranes using Nafion as matrix and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate (EMITCB) as ion-conducting medium in replacement of water were prepared and characterized. The amount of EMITCB in Nafion varied from 30 to 50wt%. The composite membranes are characterized by ion conductivity, thermogravitational analyses (TGA) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The composite membranes containing EMITCB of 40wt% showed the maximum ionic conductivity which was ~0.0146 S $cm^{-1}$ at 423.15 K. It is inferred that the decrease in ionic conductivity of all the composite membranes might be due to the decomposition of a tetracyanoboric acid formed in the composite membranes. The results of SAXS indicated that the ionic clusters to conduct proton in the composite membranes were successfully formed. In accordance with the results of ionic conductivity as a function of a reciprocal temperature, SAXS showed a proportional decrease in scattering maximum $q_{max}$ as the amount of EMITCB increases in the composite membranes, which results in the increase in ionomer cluster size. The TGA showed no significant decomposition of the ionic liquid as well as the composite membranes in the range of operating temperature ($120-150^{\circ}C$) of high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HTPEMFC). As a result, EMITCB is able to play an important role in transferring proton in the composite membranes at elevated temperatures with no external humidification for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.