• International Journal of Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Systems
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.221-227
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• 2007

This paper introduces an on-line particle-filtering-based framework for failure prognosis in nonlinear, non-Gaussian systems. This framework uses a nonlinear state-space model of the plant(with unknown time-varying parameters) and a particle filtering(PF) algorithm to estimate the probability density function(pdf) of the state in real-time. The state pdf estimate is then used to predict the evolution in time of the fault indicator, obtaining as a result the pdf of the remaining useful life(RUL) for the faulty subsystem. This approach provides information about the precision and accuracy of long-term predictions, RUL expectations, and 95% confidence intervals for the condition under study. Data from a seeded fault test for a UH-60 planetary carrier plate are used to validate the proposed methodology.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.647-652
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• 2015

Background: Lung cancer was one of the most common cancers in both men and women all over the world. In this study, we aimed to clarify who could survive after long term chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: We enrolled 186 patients with stage IV NSCLC after long term chemotherapy from Jun 2006 to Nov 2014 diagnosed in Jiangsu Cancer Hospital. Multiple variables like age, gender, smoking, histology of adenocarcinoma and squamous-cell cancer, number of metastatic sites, metastatic sites (e.g. lung, brain, bone, liver and pleura), hemoglobin, lymphocyte rate (LYR), Change of LYR during multiple therapies, hypertension, diabetes, chronic bronchitis, treatments (e.g.radiotherapy and targeted therapy) were selected. For consideration of factors influencing survival and response for patients with advanced NSCLC, logistic regression analysis and Cox regression analysis were used in an attempt to develop a screening module for patients with elevated survival after long term chemotherapy become possible. Results: Of the total of 186 patients enrolled, 69 survived less than 1 year (short-term group), 45 one to two years, and 72 longer than 3 years (long-term group). For logistic regression analysis, the short-term group was taken as control group and the long-term group as the case group. We found that age, histology of adenocarcinoma, metastatic site (e.g. lung and liver), treatments (e.g. targeted therapy and radiotherapy), LYR, a decreasing tendency of LYR and chronic bronchitis were individually associated with overall survival by Cox regression analysis. A multivariable Cox regression model showed that metastatic site (e.g. lung and liver), histology of adenocarcinoma, treatments (e.g. targeted therapy and radiotherapy) and chronic bronchitis were associated with overall survival. Thus metastatic site (e.g. lung and liver) and chronic bronchitis may be important risk factors for patients with advanced NSCLC. Gender, metastatic site (e.g. lung and liver), LYR and the decreasing tendency of LYR were significantly associated with long-term survival in the individual-variable logistic regression model (P<0.05). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, gender, metastatic site (e.g. lung and liver) and the decreasing tendency of LYR associated with long-term survival. Conclusions: In conclusion, female patients with stage IV adenocarcinoma of NSCLC who had decreasing tendency of LYR during the course therapy and had accepted multiple therapies e.g. more than third-line chemotherapy, radiotherapy and/or targeted therapy might be expected to live longer.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.164-171
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• 2015

Purpose: To investigate the long-term prognosis of patients with Kawasaki disease in Korea, and discuss the need for long-term follow-up. Methods: The subjects were 48 patients among 354 who had been hospitalized due to Kawasaki disease, and who consented to echocardiography and exercise challenge testing. The mean duration from the onset of disease to follow-up testing after rehospitalization was 11.6 years (8.2-17.0). Patients without coronary artery aneurysms at the initial presentation of the disease were classified in group 1, and patients with small aneurysms were in group 2. Test abnormalities and differences between the two groups were analyzed. Result: There were no significant differences in the results of follow-up echocardiography and exercise challenge testing between the two groups. Although no abnormal findings were noted at follow-up in most patients, a 9-year-old boy in group 2 showed coronary artery dilation. The exercise test indicated normal results in both groups, and echocardiography results were also normal in 100% of cases in group 1 and 93.3% of cases in group 2. Conclusions: As some patients with coronary aneurysms showed coronary artery dilation, we believe that long-term follow-up may be selectively required in patients with coronary artery complications.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.62 no.5
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• pp.536-544
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• 2019

Objective : The objective of this study was to evaluatelong-term radiologic prognosis and characteristics of in-stent stenosis (ISS) after stent assisted coiling (SAC) for cerebral aneurysm and analyze its risk factors. Methods : Radiological records of 362 cases of SAC during 10 years were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were included in this study if they had follow-up angiogram using catheter selected angiography at least twice. All subjected were followed up from 12 months to over 30 months. Of 120 patients, 123 aneurysms were enrolled. Patient data including age, sex, aneurysm size, neck size, procedural complication, kinds of stent, ISS associated symptom, ruptured state, location of ISS, degree of ISS, radiologic prognosis of ISS, follow-up period of time, and medical comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), dyslipidemia, and smoking were collected.Statistical comparisons of group clinical characteristics were conducted for the total population. Results : Among 123 casesof aneurysm, 22 cases (17.9%) of ISS were revealed on follow-up angiography. Multiple stenting was performed in three cases and intra-procedural rupture occurred in two cases. Most cases were asymptomatic and symptomatic stenosis was identified in only one case. Sixteen cases were ruptured aneurysm. Mild stenosis was observed in 11 cases. Moderate stenosis was found in eight cases and severe stenosis was identified in three cases. Mean timing of identification of ISS was 8.90 months. The most common type was proximal type. Most cases were improved or not changed on follow-up angiography. Only one case was aggravated from mild stenosis to occlusion of parent artery. Mean follow-up period was 44.3 months. We compared risk factors and characteristic between ISS group and non-ISS group using univariate analysis. Multiple stenting was performed for three cases (13.6%) of the ISS group and four cases (4.0%) of the non-ISS group, showing no statistical difference between the two groups (p=0.108). Additionally, the proportion of patients who had more than two risk factors among four medical risk factors (hypertension, DM, dyslipidemia, and smoking) was higher in the ISS group than that in the non-ISS group, the difference between the two was not statistically significant either (31.8% vs. 12.9%, p=0.05). Conclusion : Clinical course and long-term prognosis of ISS might be benign. Most cases of ISS could be improved or not aggravated. Control of medical co-morbidity might be important. To the best of our knowledge, our study had more cases with longer follow-up period of time than other reports.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2016

Unfortunately, the five-year survival rate of lung cancer is relatively low compared with other cancers. Therefore, better predictors are need for prognosis, therapeutic strategy, risk stratification and predicting long-term mortality of lung cancer. Recently, increasing data suggest that Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS) and procalcitonin levels are useful predictor cancer prognosis. In this study, we retrospectively investigated the correlation of GPS or procalcitonin to clinical variables in patients with pretreatment lung cancer. In 135 patients with pretreatment lung cancer, GPS, procalcitonin, demographic characteristics, hematological, coagulation, biochemical, inflammatory and cardiac markers were measured. Monocyte, eosinophil, basophil, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, red cell distribution width (RDW), platelet to lymphocyte ratio, mean platelet volume to platecrit ratio, D-dimer and prothrombin time (PT) levels were higher, whereas mean platelet volume was lower than their normal ranges. Glucose and sodium levels were low, whereas gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), total bilirubin, creatinine and inorganic phosphorus concentrations were increase compared their normal ranges. Procalcitonin, high sensitivity C-reactive protein and troponin-I concentrations were elevated compared with their normal ranges. GPS had significantly positive or negative relations to cancer stage, hematological, coagulation, biochemical, inflammatory and troponin-I. Based on the data, we suggest that GPS may be a potent and useful predictor for prognosis, therapeutic strategy, risk stratification and predicting long-term mortality of lung cancer.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.373-382
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• 2003

The successful use of osseointegrated implants to replace missing teeth has been demonstrated for both the completely and the partially edentulous patients. Many studies have confirmed an excellent long-term prognosis. The successful outcome of any implant procedure is surely dependent on the interrelationship of the various components that includes the following: biocompatibility of the implant material, macroscopic and microscopic nature of the implant surface, the status of the implant bed in both a health(noninfected) and a morphologic(bone quality) context, the surgical technique, the undisturbed healing phase, the subsequent prosthetic design, and long-term loading phase. Periodontally compromised patients have poor status of the implant bed and periodontal pathogen. No longitudinal data are available whether these factors affect the prognosis of implants. In this study, 102 machined $Br{{\aa}}nemark$ implants are inserted to analyze the success rate of 1-4 years and marginal bone loss in 49 chronic periodontitis patients. The following conclusions could be drawn from this study. 1. The cumulative success rate of implants at the 4-year of loading was 95.10%. 2. 5 failed implants have been removed. One implant have been removed due to infection, two implants were removed due to failure of osseointegration. and other two implants were removed due to mechanical failure caused by over-loading. 3. Mean marginal bone loss from the time of loading was 0.94mm at first year, 1.12mm at second year, 1.25mm at third year. These results suggest that implant therapy is good treatment modality in chronic periodontitis patients, and periodontal treatment including oral hygiene program is completed prior to insertion of implants.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.219-225
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• 2010

Purpose: The long-term survival rate of gastric cancer patients after surgery has recently increased as a result of making an early diagnosis of gastric cancer. Therefore, the incidence of remnant gastric cancer is increasing. This study was performed to evaluate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with remnant gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: From January 2005 to December 2009, twenty-nine patients with remnant gastric cancer and who underwent surgery at Pusan National University Hospital were enrolled in this study. We retrospectively reviewed and analyzed their medical records. We also divided them into two groups: the remnant gastric cancer (RGC)-B group (first operation for benign disease) and the RGC-M group (first operation for malignant disease). Results: The RGC-B group included ten patients and the RGC-M group included nineteen patients. The mean interval between the first and second operations was 17 years. The curative resection rate was 93.1% (27/29). The postoperative complication rate was 20.7% (6/29) and there was no perioperative mortality. Ten (37%) of twenty-seven patients experienced recurrence after curative resection and eight patients (27.6%) expired due to aggravation of remnant stomach cancer. An advanced TNM stage and non-curative resection were the negative prognostic factors for survival for patients with remnant stomach cancer (P=0.0453 and P<0.001). The RGC-M group showed a shorter interval (P<0.001) and the RGC-B group had more advanced TNM stage (P=0.003). Conclusions: Long-term follow-up should be considered not only for patients who undergo an operation for malignant disease, but also for the patients who underwent an operation for benign disease. When remnant gastric cancer is diagnosed, curative resection is essential to improve the survival.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.50
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• pp.299.1-299.13
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• 2018

Background: Sarcopenia is associated with a poor prognosis in patients with liver cirrhosis. However, it is not known whether the rate of skeletal muscle depletion is also associated with a poor prognosis. We investigated the prognostic impact of the rate of skeletal muscle depletion in patients with liver cirrhosis. Methods: We included retrospectively all patients with liver cirrhosis who underwent both multiple computed tomography scans and hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) measurements. Results: A total of 131 patients with liver cirrhosis were enrolled. The mean age of the patients was 53.7 years and alcoholic liver disease was the most common cause (61.8%). Sixty-four patients (48.9%) were diagnosed with sarcopenia. The median changes in skeletal muscle area per year (${\Delta}SMA/y$) were -0.89%. During a median follow-up period of 46.2 months (range, 3.4-87.6), 45 patients (34.4%) died. In multivariate analyses, age, Child-Pugh score, HVPG, presence of sarcopenia and ${\Delta}SMA/y$ were independently associated with mortality. Cumulative mortality was significantly higher in patients with ${\Delta}SMA/y$ < -2.4% than those with ${\Delta}SMA/y{\geq}-2.4%$ (log-rank test, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Both the presence and rate of change of sarcopenia are independently associated with long-term mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.95-105
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• 2011

Since the successful introduction of all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) and its combination with anthracycline-containing chemotherapy, the prognosis for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) has markedly improved. With ATRA and anthracycline-based-chemotherapy, the complete remission rate is greater than 90%, and the long-term survival rate is 70-89%. Moreover, arsenic trioxide (ATO), which was introduced for APL treatment in 1994, resulted in excellent remission rates in relapsed patients with APL, and more recently, several clinical studies have been designed to explore its role in initial therapy either alone or in combination with ATRA. APL is a rare disease in children and is frequently associated with hyperleukocytosis, which is a marker for higher risk of relapse and an increased incidence of microgranular morphology. The frequency of occurrence of the promyelocytic leu-kemia/retinoic acid receptor-alpha (PML/$RAR{\alpha}$) isoforms bcr 2 and bcr 3 is higher in children than in adults. Although recent clinical studies have reported comparable long-term survival rates in patients with APL, therapy for APL in children is challenging because of the risk of early death and the potential long-term cardiac toxicity resulting from the need to use high doses of anthracyclines. Additional prospective, randomized, large clinical trials are needed to address several issues in pediatric APL and to possibly minimize or eliminate the need for chemotherapy by combining ATRA and ATO. In this review article, we discuss the molecular pathogenesis, diagnostic progress, and most recent therapeutic advances in the treatment of children with APL.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.167-170
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• 2006

Extramedullary plasmacytoma is rare tumor of plasma cell tumor, which involve soft tissue without any signs of systemic spread and occurs predominantly in the head and neck, especially the nasal cavity and the paranasal sinuses. Ten to twenty percent of extramedullary plasmacytoma have regional lymph metastasis at the time of diagnosis and approximately one third of patients with extramedullary plasmacytoma will subsequently develop multiple myeloma during long-term follow-up. Primary treatment modality is moderate-dose radiation and surgery is rarely used. Extramedullary plasmacytoma has good prognosis, but requires long-term systemic evaluation and follow-up. We report a case of extramedullary plasmacytoma of the sinonasal cavity with a review of literature.