• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• 제45권2호
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• pp.73-80
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• 2015

Purpose: This study evaluated the effect of various head orientations during cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) image acquisition on linear measurements of potential implant sites. Materials and Methods: Six dry human skulls with a total of 28 implant sites were evaluated for seven different head orientations. The scans were acquired using a Hitachi CB-MercuRay CBCT machine. The scanned volumes were reconstructed. Horizontal and vertical measurements were made and were compared to measurements made after simulating the head position to corrected head angulations. Data was analyzed using a two-way ANOVA test. Results: Statistical analysis revealed a significant interaction between the mean errors in vertical measurements with a marked difference observed at the extension head position (P<0.05). Statistical analysis failed to yield any significant interaction between the mean errors in horizontal measurements at various head positions. Conclusion: Head orientation could significantly affect the vertical measurements in CBCT scans. The main head position influencing the measurements is extension.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제82권3호
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• pp.201-210
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• 2019

Background: Radial probe endobronchial ultrasound (R-EBUS) is widely used for diagnosing peripheral pulmonary lesions. However, the utility of R-EBUS-guided transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) for diffuse lung lesions (DLLs) remains unknown. We designed this study to evaluate the utility of R-EBUS-guided TBLB in DLLs. Methods: This retrospective study enrolled patients admitted from January 2016 to November 2017 who underwent TBLB for DLLs. The R-EBUS-guided TBLB and blind TBLB groups were compared. DLL was defined as any lung disorder that involved more than one segment of the lung. In both the groups, fluoroscopy and guided sheath were not used during TBLB. Results: A total of 127 patients underwent TBLB for DLLs (67 patients in the R-EBUS-guided TBLB group and 60 in the blind TBLB group). There were no differences in age, sex, and comorbid illnesses between the two groups. Furthermore, there was no difference in the TBLB diagnostic yield of the two groups (p=0.660) although more samples were collected from the R-EBUS-guided TBLB group (p=0.003). Procedure time was significantly longer in the R-EBUS-guided TBLB group than in the blind TBLB group (p<0.001). Thus, incidence of pneumothorax was significantly lower in the R-EBUS-guided TBLB group than in the blind TBLB group (p=0.032). Conclusion: Diagnostic yield in DLLs did not differ between the R-EBUS-guided TBLB and blind TBLB groups. Findings show that R-EBUS-guided TBLB in DLLs may reduce risk of pneumothorax.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.76-84
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• 2022

Purpose: Whole-exome sequencing (WES) has been a useful tool for novel gene discovery of various disease categories, further increasing the diagnostic yield. This study aimed to investigate the clinical utility of WES prospectively in undiagnosed genetic diseases. Materials and Methods: WES tests were performed on 110 patients (age range, 0-28 years) with suspected rare genetic diseases. WES tests were performed at a single reference laboratory and the variants reported were reviewed by clinical geneticists, pediatricians, neurologists, and laboratory physicians. Results: The patients' symptoms varied with abnormalities in the head or neck, including facial dysmorphism, being the most common, identified in 85.4% of patients, followed by abnormalities in the nervous system (83.6%). The average number of systems manifesting phenotypic abnormalities per patient was 3.9±1.7. The age at presentation was 2.1±2.7 years old (range, 0-15 years), and the age at WES testing was 6.7±5.3 years (range, 0-28 years). In total, WES test reported 100 pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants or variants of uncertain significance for 79 out of 110 probands (71.8%). Of the 79 patients with positive or inconclusive calls, 55 (50.0%) patients were determined to have good genotype-phenotype correlations after careful review. Further clinical reassessment and family member testing determined 45 (40.9%) patients to have been identified with a molecular diagnosis. Conclusion: This study showed a 40.9% diagnostic yield for WES test for a heterogeneous patient cohort with suspected rare genetic diseases. WES could be the feasible genetic test modality to overcome the diversity and complexity of rare disease diagnostics.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제45권2호
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• pp.397-403
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• 1998

연구배경: 흉막휴출증에서 기관지내시경의 역할에 대한 연구는 제한적이었으며, 임파구 우세인 삼출성의 확진을 위한 침습적인 검사로 지금까지 흉막생검이 표준적인 방법이었으나, 최근에 폐암에 따른 악성흉수의 증가와 함께 객혈 및 방사선적 다른 동반된 소견이 있는 환자에서는 기관지내시경검사가 더 효과적인 진단방법일 수 있다. 방 법: 흉막유출이 있는 평균 53세의 112예 환자(남자 75예, 여자 37예)에서 원인규명을 위한 단계적인 수순으로 비침습적인 객담검사 및 흉수분석을 시행하고 원인미상으로 확진을 위한 침습적인 검사가 요구되는 임파구 우세의 삼출성 흉막휴출증환자에서는 임의순으로 흉막생검과 기관지내시경검사를 실시하여 객혈 및 방사선적으로 다른 동반된 소견의 존재유무에 따른 진단율을 비교하고, 기관지내시경의 추가적인 진단적 역할을 조사하였다. 결 과: 흉막유출의 원인으로 결핵이 57예(51%)로 가장 많았고, 침습적인 검사의 비교에서는 동반된 다른 소견에 관계없이 기관지내시경검사 보다 흉막생검이 높은 진단율을 보였다. 흉막생검후 원인미상인 예에서의 기관지내시경에 의한 추가적인 진단율은 동반된 소견의 존재시 36%, 흉막유출단독시 7%였으며 전체적인 흉막유출증 환자에서 기관지내시경의 진단적 기여는 4.5%였다. 결 론: 삼출성 흉막유출증의 원인으로 결핵이 가장 흔한 지역에서, 삼출성 흉막유출증의 원인진단을 위한 침습적인 검사의 필요시 임상적 및 방사선적 동반된 소견유무에 관계없이 일차적으로 흉막생검이 기관지내시경보다 효과적이며, 추가적인 진단에 대한 기관지내시경검사의 역할은 동반된 소견이 없는 예에서는 극히 제한적이다.

• 대한한방부인과학회지
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• 제32권2호
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• pp.29-49
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• 2019

Objectives: This study was a methodological study to verify the reliability and validity and to make a diagnosis of a diagnostic tool for climacteric and postmenopausal syndrome pattern identification (CaPSPI). Methods: This study was conducted from June 1, 2018 to October 18, 2018 with ${{\bigcirc}{\bigcirc}}$ University Korean Medicine Hospital IRB's approval (2018-3). To make a diagnosis using CaPSPI, we decided the cut-points for the tool. Three professors of ${{\bigcirc}{\bigcirc}}$Korean Medical University conducted pattern identification diagnosis. The result is marked from 0 to 3, 0 is 'No', 1 is 'Slightly Yes', 2 is 'Yes' and 3 is 'Very Yes'. And if two or more professors' diagnoses are the same, we took the diagnoses as a diagnostic criteria. The decision of pattern by three experts converted to 0-1 scores in two ways. In "method 1", if the diagnosis was zero points, the score was 0 (have no such identification), and the rest was 1 (have such identification). In "method 2", if the diagnosis was zero or 1 point, the score was 0, and the rest was 1. After that, intraclass correlation was calculated for experts agreement. And logistic regression was conducted. A response variable was the results of the experts' diagnosis and an explanatory variable was the results of the pattern identification diagnostic tool. Results: The diagnosis of the three experts showed excellent concordance of more than 0.794 and showed a significant correlation with the diagnostic tool. Both 'Method 1' and 'Method 2' showed statistically significant effects with the diagnosis of 3 experts and the results of the diagnostic tool. The frequency of cumulative pattern identification diagnosis in 'Method 1' and 'Method 2' were found to be 578 occasions and 203 occasions, respectively. The average number of pattern held by participants in 'Method 1' and 'Method 2' were found to be 5.26 and 1.85, respectively. In both "Method 1" and "Method 2," the yield frequency of liver qi depression was the highest, and the frequency of kidney yin deficiency and liver-kidney yin deficiency was relatively high. Conclusions: Based on the above results, it is thought that, in diagnosis using CaPSPI of menopausal women, 'method 1' could be used for the health diagnosis and prevention, 'method 2' could be used for the pattern diagnosis. On the conclusion, CaPSPI is thought to be available for pattern diagnosis of menopause women.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제29권9호
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• pp.1036-1039
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• 1996

폐의 암육종은 상피조직과 간염조직이 혼재하는 악성종양으로 전체 폐종양의 0.3%에 불과한 매우 희귀한 종양이며 흡연과 깊은 관계가 있는 질환이다. 폐에서의 위치에 따라 비교적 예후가 양호한 endobronchial type과 빠른 원격전이로 예후가 불량한 solid parenchymal type으로 분류된다. 비침습적 진단방법으론 발견이 어렵고 생검에 의해 종종 발견된다. 폐문과 종격동으로 전이를 잘하며 광범위 절제가 치료의 기본이고 항암제 요법을 병용하기도 한다. 암육종의 예후는 매우 불랑하여 술후 평균생존 기간은 9개월 정도이고 2년까지 생존율은 10% 미만인것으로 보고 된다.

• 생물환경조절학회지
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.96-101
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• 2004

This study was conducted to determine the daily application rate and amount of N and K with fertigation during different growth stages in semi-forcing culture of cucumber plants (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Eunseongbaekdadagi). The diagnostic criteria for N and K also investigated based on petiole sap analysis. The dry weight increased slowly until 30 days after transplanting. The highest dry weights were observed at 60 days after planting, then it decreased. As the plant grew, the contents of N and K in the petiole sap and fruit of cucumber decreased. The daily uptake of N and K were highly correlated with the growing days. The $NO_3$ concentrations in petiole sap were in the range from 3,500 to 4,500 mgㆍ$L^{-1}$ in the early growth stage, but those were in the range from 2,000 to 3,000 mgㆍ$L^{-1}$ after then. However, K concentration in petiole sap were in the rang from 5,000 to 7,000 mgㆍ$L^{-1}$ The fluctuation in petiole sap concentration of K was severe in the monthly fertigation and moderate in the daily fertigation. The fertigation by petiole sap diagnosis forced EC of soil to be low and yield to increase compared to the control.

• Journal of Computing Science and Engineering
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• 제8권2호
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• pp.119-128
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• 2014

The appearance of retinal blood vessels is an important diagnostic indicator of serious disease, such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. Automatic segmentation of the retinal vasculature is a primary step towards automatic assessment of the retinal blood vessel features. This paper presents an automated method for the enhancement and segmentation of blood vessels in fundus images. To decrease the influence of the optic disk, and emphasize the vessels for each retinal image, a multidirectional morphological top-hat transform with rotating structuring elements is first applied to the background homogenized retinal image. Then, an improved multiscale line detector is presented to produce a vessel response image, and yield the retinal blood vessel tree for each retinal image. Since different line detectors at varying scales have different line responses in the multiscale detector, the line detectors with longer length produce more vessel responses than the ones with shorter length; the improved multiscale detector combines all the responses at different scales by setting different weights for each scale. The methodology is evaluated on two publicly available databases, DRIVE and STARE. Experimental results demonstrate an excellent performance that approximates the average accuracy of a human observer. Moreover, the method is simple, fast, and robust to noise, so it is suitable for being integrated into a computer-assisted diagnostic system for ophthalmic disorders.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권21호
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• pp.9101-9105
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• 2014

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy and effectiveness of automated breast volume scanning (ABVS) and hand-held ultrasound (HHUS) in the detection of breast cancer in a large population group with a long-term follow-up, and to investigate whether different ultrasound systems may influence the estimation of cancer detection. Materials and Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained for this retrospective study, and informed consent was waived. From September 2010 to August 2011, a total of 1,866 ABVS and 3,700 HHUS participants, who underwent these procedures at our institute, were included in this study. Cancers occurring during the study and subsequent follow-up were evaluated. The reference standard was a combination of histology and follow-up imaging (${\geq}12months$). The recall rate, cancer detection yield, diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and positive (PPV) and negative (NPV) predictive values were calculated with exact 95% confidence intervals. Results: The recall rate was 2.57 per 1,000 (48/1,866) for ABVS and 3.57 per 1,000 (132/3,700) for HHUS, with a significant difference (p=0.048). The cancer detection yield was 3.8 per 1,000 for ABVS and 2.7 per 1,000 for HHUS. The diagnostic accuracy was 97.7% for ABVS and 96.5% for HHUS with statistical significance (p=0.018). The specificity of ABVS and HHUS were 97.8%, 96.7%, respectively (p=0.022). Conclusions: ABVS shows a comparable diagnostic performance to HHUS. ABVS is an effective supplemental tool for mammography in breast cancer detection in a large population.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제38권6호
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• pp.656-664
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• 2022

Pectobacterium odoriferum is the primary causative agent in Kimchi cabbage soft-rot diseases. The pathogenic bacteria Pectobacterium genera are responsible for significant yield losses in crops. However, P. odoriferum shares a vast range of hosts with P. carotovorum, P. versatile, and P. brasiliense, and has similar biochemical, phenotypic, and genetic characteristics to these species. Therefore, it is essential to develop a P. odoriferumspecific diagnostic method for soft-rot disease because of the complicated diagnostic process and management as described above. Therefore, in this study, to select P. odoriferum-specific genes, species-specific genes were selected using the data of the P. odoriferum JK2.1 whole genome and similar bacterial species registered with NCBI. Thereafter, the specificity of the selected gene was tested through blast analysis. We identified novel species-specific genes to detect and quantify targeted P. odoriferum and designed specific primer sets targeting HAD family hydrolases. It was confirmed that the selected primer set formed a specific amplicon of 360 bp only in the DNA of P. odoriferum using 29 Pectobacterium species and related species. Furthermore, the population density of P. odoriferum can be estimated without genomic DNA extraction through SYBR Green-based real-time quantitative PCR using a primer set in plants. As a result, the newly developed diagnostic method enables rapid and accurate diagnosis and continuous monitoring of soft-rot disease in Kimchi cabbage without additional procedures from the plant tissue.