• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.9
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• pp.901-904
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• 2007

Purpose : Reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome is a complex disorder with characteristic clinical and radiologic findings that mainly involve the white/gray matter of the parieto-occipital lobes. The purpose of this study was to determine its clinical and radiological characteristics. Methods : A total of 15 pateints were involved in the study. Their medical records and radiological features of brain MRI were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. Results : Fifteen pateints were involved. (9 males and 5 females). The patients' ages ranged from 2-20 years (mean age : 10 years). The brain MRI revealed fairly symmetric areas of increased T2 signal involving both white and gray matter of parieto-occipital regions. The condition seemed to be associated with cyclosporin A and steroid therapy or a variety of other conditions in which blood pressure rises acutely. Conclusion : Reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome is a complicated neurological condition, but a better understanding of this complex syndrome may obviate unnecessary investigations and lead to prompt and appropriate management of the associated problems.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.445-454
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• 2015

Objective : In the present study we analyzed neuroprotective and antiapoptotic effect of the difumarate salt S-15176, as an anti-ischemic, an antioxidant and a stabilizer of mitochondrial membrane in secondary damage following spinal cord injury (SCI) in a rat model. Methods : Three groups were performed with 30 Wistar rats; control (1), trauma (2), and a trauma+S-15176 (10 mg/kg i.p., dimethyl sulfoxide) treatment (3). SCI was performed at the thoracic level using the weight-drop technique. Spinal cord tissues were collected following intracardiac perfusion in 3rd and 7th days of posttrauma. Hematoxylin and eosin staining for histopatology, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay for apoptotic cells and immunohistochemistry for proapoptotic cytochrome-c, Bax and caspase 9 were performed to all groups. Functional recovery test were applied to each group in 3rd and 7th days following SCI. Results : In trauma group, edematous regions, diffuse hemorrhage, necrosis, leukocyte infiltration and severe degeneration in motor neurons were observed prominently in gray matter. The number of apoptotic cells was significantly higher (p<0.05) than control group. In the S-15176-treated groups, apoptotic cell number in 3rd and 7th days (p<0.001), also cytochrome-c (p<0.001), Bax (p<0.001) and caspase 9 immunoreactive cells (p<0.001) were significantly decreased in number compared to trauma groups. Hemorrhage and edema in the focal areas were also noticed in gray matter of treatment groups. Results of the locomotor test were significantly increased in treatment group (p<0.05) when compared to trauma groups. Conclusion : We suggest that difumarate salt S-15176 prevents mitochondrial pathways of apoptosis and protects spinal cord from secondary injury and helps to preserve motor function following SCI in rats.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.330-335
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• 2002

The study was performed to investigate the comparison of relative signal intensity of normal- and abnormal-side retrodiscal tissue, and relationship between clinical examination, joint effusion and relative signal intensity of retrodiscal tissue in patients with unilateral TMJ internal derangement. The study group comprised 19 females and 9 males, with a mean age of 29 years. After measurements of the signal intensity were made on the MR imager for the T2 weighted images on retrodiscal tissue and brain gray matter, we calculated relative value and tried to find relationship between clinical examination, joint effusion and relative signal intensity on normal- and abnormal-side. The results are as follows. 1. The gray matter is an appropriate reference point. 2. The relative signal intensity is high significantly in abnormal-side retrodiscal tissue compared with normal-side retrodiscal tissue. 3. The relative signal intensity is high significantly in painful joints compared with nonpainful joints and in joints with joint effusion compared with joints without joint effusion. 4. The relative signal intensity in normal joints, joints with reduction and joints without reduction is increased in order significantly.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.190-197
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• 2009

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine structural abnormalities of brain in patients with pathological gambling(PG) using voxel-based morphometry. Methods : We compared gray matter(GM) volumes between 10 patients with PG and 14 age- and IQ-matched healthy controls and examined the relationship of GM volumes with clinical variables in patients with PG. Results : We found significant increase of GM volume in the superior, middle, and inferior frontal gyri, the midbrain, the middle temporal gyrus, the precuneus, and the fusiform gyrus of patients with PG. A significant decrease of GM volume was observed in the parahippocampal gyrus and the lingual gyrus of the patient group. In addition, GM volumes in some of these regions were positively associated with South Oaks Gambling Screen score and negatively with age of onset in patients with PG. Conclusion : Current findings indicate that structural abnormalities in the fronto-temporal cortex, the midbrain, and the precuneus might be involved in the pathophysiology of PG, and contribute to some of the behavioral changes observed in patients with PG.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 2012

Objectives : Although there have been studies that examine sex differences of the brain structures using magnetic resonance imaging, studies that specifically investigate cerebellar structural differences between men and women are scarce. The purpose of current study was to examine sex differences in structures of the cerebellum using cerebellar template and cerebellum analysis methods. Methods : Sixteen men and twenty women were included in the study. A MATLAB based program (MathWorks, Natick, MA, USA), Statistical Parametric Mapping 5 (SPM5) using the spatially unbiased infra-tentorial atlas template (SUIT) as the cerebellum template, was used to analyze the brain imaging data. Results : There was no significant difference in age between men (mean age=28.1) and women (mean age=27.2). Men showed higher gray matter density than women in two left cerebellar areas including the clusters in the lobules IV and V (a cluster located across the lobules IV and V), and the lobule VIIIb (lobules IV and V, t=4.75, p<0.001 ; lobule VIIIb, t=3.08, p=0.004). Conclusions : The current study found differences in cerebellar gray matter density between men and women. The current study holds its significance for applying the template specifically developed for the analysis of cerebellum.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.232-238
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• 2011

Objectives Optimized voxel based morphometry (VBM) has been increasingly applied to investigate differences in the brain morphology between a group of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and control subjects. Optimized VBM permits comparison of gray matter (GM) volume at voxel-level from the entire brain. The purpose of this study was to assess the regional GM volume change measured by optimized VBM in MCI subjects compared to controls. Methods Twenty patients with MCI and 20 control subjects with normal cognition were recruited for this study. We applied the optimized VBM protocol to the image data including study-specific template and the modulation of the data with the Jacobian determinants. GM volume differences between the MCI subjects and the control subjects and their correlations with the neuropsychological performances were investigated. Results Optimized VBM analysis revealed GM volume reduction in hippocampus, precentral gyrus, insula and parietal operculum in the MCI group compared to the control group (family wise error corrected p < 0.05). Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD-K) word list recall scores were significantly correlated with the GM volumes of hippocampus, precuneus and posterior cingulate in the MCI group (FWE corrected p < 0.05). Conclusions The results confirm previous findings of atrophic changes in medial temporal lobe and parietal lobe in the MCI group and suggest that these abnormalities may be related with cognitive decline and prognosis in patients with MCI.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.31-39
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• 2001

NMR spectroscopy enables us to measure the molar concentration of the metabolites in the organisms, and this technique is the only method to measure the concentration non-invasively. The proton NMR spectroscopy has been used to study the biochemical changes in human as well as in animal brain. MRI uses the proton densities and its relaxation times for reconstructing images, but MRS gives the biochemical changes inside the body. NMR spectroscopy could provide the information which MRI and CT could not, and this makes NMR spectroscopy more useful in diagnosing diseases. This study was tried to develop the quantitation of the molar concentration of the metabolites in the brain using the proton MR spectroscopy. The spectra of each metabolites was obtained, and the proton MR spectra was obtained from the insula gray matter areas of the 16 volunteers. And this spectra was analyzed to estimated the molar concentrations of the metabolites in the region. The results showed the very similar to those of the others.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2015

Purpose: Several morphometric studies have been performed to investigate brain abnormalities in congenitally deaf people. But no report exists concerning structural brain abnormalities in congenitally deaf adolescents. We evaluated the regional volume changes in gray matter (GM) using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in congenitally deaf adolescents. Materials and Methods: A VBM8 methodology was applied to the T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of eight congenitally deaf adolescents (mean age, 15.6 years) and nine adolescents with normal hearing. All MRI scans were normalized to a template and then segmented, modulated, and smoothed. Smoothed GM data were tested statistically using analysis of covariance (controlled for age, gender, and intracranial cavity volume). Results: The mean values of age, gender, total volumes of GM, and total intracranial volume did not differ between the two groups. In the auditory centers, the left anterior Heschl's gyrus and both inferior colliculi showed decreased regional GM volume in the congenitally deaf adolescents. The GM volumes of the lingual gyri, nuclei accumbens, and left posterior thalamic reticular nucleus in the midbrain were also decreased. Conclusions: The results of the present study suggest that early deprivation of auditory stimulation in congenitally deaf adolescents might have caused significant underdevelopment of the auditory cortex (left Heschl's gyrus), subcortical auditory structures (inferior colliculi), auditory gain controllers (nucleus accumbens and thalamic reticular nucleus), and multisensory integration areas (inferior colliculi and lingual gyri). These defects might be related to the absence of general auditory perception, the auditory gating system of thalamocortical transmission, and failure in the maturation of the auditory-to-limbic connection and the auditorysomatosensory-visual interconnection.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.275-282
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• 2013

In medical image processing field, object recognition is usually carried out by computerized processing of various input information such as brightness, shape, and pattern. If the information mentioned does not make sense, however, many limitations could occur with object recognition during computer processing. Therefore, this paper suggests effective object recognition method based on the magnetic resonance (MR) theory to resolve the basic limitations in computer processing. We propose the efficient method of robust gray-white matter segmentation by texture analysis through the Susceptibility Weighted Imaging (SWI) for contrast enhancement. As a result, an average area difference of 5.2%, which was higher than the accuracy of conventional region segmentation algorithm, was obtained.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.99-106
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• 2019

Amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) allows early and accurate diagnosis in suspected cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and contributes to future treatment plans. In the present study, a method of implementing a diagnostic system to distinguish ${\beta}$-Amyloid ($A{\beta}$) positive from $A{\beta}$ negative with objectiveness and accuracy was proposed using a machine learning approach, such as the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Support Vector Machine (SVM). $^{18}F$-Florbetaben (FBB) brain PET images were arranged in control and patients (total n = 176) with mild cognitive impairment and AD. An SVM was used to classify the slices of registered PET image using PET template, and a system was created to diagnose patients comprehensively from the output of the trained model. To compare the per-slice classification, the PCA-SVM model observing the whole brain (WB) region showed the highest performance (accuracy 92.38, specificity 92.87, sensitivity 92.87), followed by SVM with gray matter masking (GMM) (accuracy 92.22, specificity 92.13, sensitivity 92.28) for $A{\beta}$ positivity. To compare according to per-subject classification, the PCA-SVM with WB also showed the highest performance (accuracy 89.21, specificity 71.67, sensitivity 98.28), followed by PCA-SVM with GMM (accuracy 85.80, specificity 61.67, sensitivity 98.28) for $A{\beta}$ positivity. When comparing the area under curve (AUC), PCA-SVM with WB was the highest for per-slice classifiers (0.992), and the models except for SVM with WM were highest for the per-subject classifier (1.000). We can classify $^{18}F$-Florbetaben amyloid brain PET image for $A{\beta}$ positivity using PCA-SVM model, with no additional effects on GMM.