• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권8호
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• pp.3017-3026
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• 2022

The ¹³¹Cs radioisotope with a short half-life time and high average radiation energy can treat the cancer effectively in prostate brachytherapy. The typical ¹³¹Cs production processes have a separation step of the cesium from ¹³¹Ba to obtain a high specific radioactivity. Herein, we suggested a novel ¹³¹Cs separation method based on the Ba²⁺ adsorption of alginate beads. It is necessary to reduce the affinity of alginate beads to cesium ions for a high production yield. The carboxyl group of the alginate beads was replaced by a sulfonate group to reduce the cesium affinity while reinforcing their affinity to barium ions. The modified beads exhibited superior Ba²⁺ adsorption performances to native beads. In the fixed-bed column tests, the saturation time and adsorption capacity could be estimated with the Yoon-Nelson model in various injection flow rates and initial concentrations. In terms of the Cs elution, the modified alginate showed better performance (i.e., an elution over 88%) than the native alginate (i.e., an elution below 10%), indicating that the functional group modification was effective in reducing the affinity to cesium ions. Therefore, the separation of cesium from the barium using the modified alginate is expected to be an additional option to produce ¹³¹Cs.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제17권3호
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• pp.1373-1377
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• 2016

Background: We vigorously reviewed patients' operation record who had adhesion of the Denonvilliers' fascia and found out most of these patients had prostatic bleeding after prostatic gland biopsies. We examined the magnitude of prostatic bleeding and frequency after biopsies and the relationship with oncological outcomes. Materials and Methods: A total of 285 patients were selected for the final analyses. Inclusion criteria were as follows: receiving MRI three weeks after biopsiesand laparoscopic radical prostatectomy within 300 days after biopsy. We divided the patients into two groups with (group A) or without (group B) prostatic bleeding. We examined the magnitude of prostatic bleeding after biopsies and the relationship with operation time (OT), positive surgical margin (PSM), biochemical recurrence (BCR) and other factors. Furthermore, we created a logistic-regression model to derive a propensity score for prostatic bleeding after biopsies, which included all patient and hospital characteristics as well as selected interaction terms, and we examined the relationship with PSM and BCR. Results: In all patients, the OT in the group B was shorter than the group A (p < 0.001). Prostatic bleeding was associated with PSM (p=0.000) and BCR (p=0.036). In this propensity-matched cohort, 11 of 116 patients in the group B had PSM as compared with 36 of 116 patients from group A (match-adjusted odds ratio, 4.30; 95%CI confidence interval, 2.06 to 8.96; P=0.000). In addition, eight of 116 patients in group B encountered BCR, as compared with 18 of 116 patients in group A (match-adjusted odds ratio, 2.48; 95%CI, 1.03 to 5.96; P=0.042). Kaplan-Meier analysis in the propensity matching cohort showed a significant biochemical recurrence-free survival advantage for being free of prostate bleeding after biopsies. Conclusions: Our findings in the present cohort should help equip surgeons to pay attention to careful excision especially for those who experienced deferred prostatic bleeding.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제17권sup3호
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• pp.113-117
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• 2016

Quantile regression is an efficient method for predicting and estimating the relationship between explanatory variables and percentile points of the response distribution, particularly for extreme percentiles of the distribution. To study the relationship between urbanization and cancer morbidity, we here applied quantile regression. This cross-sectional study was conducted for 9 cancers in 345 cities in 2007 in Iran. Data were obtained from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and the relationship between urbanization and cancer morbidity was investigated using quantile regression and least square regression. Fitting models were compared using AIC criteria. R (3.0.1) software and the Quantreg package were used for statistical analysis. With the quantile regression model all percentiles for breast, colorectal, prostate, lung and pancreas cancers demonstrated increasing incidence rate with urbanization. The maximum increase for breast cancer was in the 90th percentile (${\beta}$=0.13, p-value<0.001), for colorectal cancer was in the 75th percentile (${\beta}$=0.048, p-value<0.001), for prostate cancer the 95th percentile (${\beta}$=0.55, p-value<0.001), for lung cancer was in 95th percentile (${\beta}$=0.52, p-value=0.006), for pancreas cancer was in 10th percentile (${\beta}$=0.011, p-value<0.001). For gastric, esophageal and skin cancers, with increasing urbanization, the incidence rate was decreased. The maximum decrease for gastric cancer was in the 90th percentile(${\beta}$=0.003, p-value<0.001), for esophageal cancer the 95th (${\beta}$=0.04, p-value=0.4) and for skin cancer also the 95th (${\beta}$=0.145, p-value=0.071). The AIC showed that for upper percentiles, the fitting of quantile regression was better than least square regression. According to the results of this study, the significant impact of urbanization on cancer morbidity requirs more effort and planning by policymakers and administrators in order to reduce risk factors such as pollution in urban areas and ensure proper nutrition recommendations are made.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권24호
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• pp.10729-10733
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• 2015

Background: Adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is a treatment option for prostate cancer (PC) patients after radical prostatectomy (RP). Although it can achieve a good progression-free survival rate, some patients still develop clinical metastasis. We here investigated risk factors of clinical metastasis in post-prostatectomy patients who received immediate adjuvant ADT. Materials and Methods: We identified 197 patients with non-metastatic PC who underwent RP at our institution between 2000 and 2012, followed by adjuvant ADT. The associations of various clinicopathologic factors with clinical metastasis (primary endpoint) and cancer-specific survival (secondary endpoint) were assessed. Multivariate analysis was conducted using a Cox proportional hazards model. Median follow-up was 87 months after RP. Results: Nine (4.6%) patients developed clinical metastasis and six (3.0%) died from PC. Eight of nine metastatic patients had a pathologic Gleason score (GS) 9 and developed bone metastasis, while the remaining one had pathologic GS 7 and developed metastasis only to para-aortic lymph nodes. On multivariate analyses, pathologic GS ${\geq}9$ and regional lymph node metastasis (pN1) were independent predictors of clinical metastasis and pathologic GS ${\geq}9$ was an independent predictor of cancer-specific death. Conclusions: Pathologic GS ${\geq}9$ and pN1 were independent predictors of clinical metastasis in post-prostatectomy patients who received immediate adjuvant ADT. Furthermore, pathologic GS ${\geq}9$ was an indispensable condition for bone metastasis, which may imply that patients with GS ${\leq}8$ on adjuvant ADT are unlikely to develop bone metastasis.

• 한국발생생물학회지:발생과생식
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.231-239
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• 2020

Many benefits of silk protein fibroin (SPF) have been suggested in biomedical applications; and notably, significant SPF effects have been observed for metabolic syndromes that are directly linked to insulin resistance, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Based on our previous findings, we believe that SPF from spiders exhibits outstanding glucose-lowering effects in diabetic BKS.Cg-m+/+Lepr^db mice. In order to evaluate the dietary effects of SPF in diabetic animals, we generated several lines of transgenic rice (TR) that expresses SPF, and the feeding of TR-SPF to diabetic animals decreased blood glucose levels, but did not change insulin levels. Western blot analyses of hepatic proteins showed that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) expression and phosphorylation both decreased in TR-SPF-fed groups, compared with controls. This finding suggests that the glucose-lowering effects in this diabetic animal model might be AMPK-independent. In contrast, six-transmembrane protein of prostate 2 (STAMP2) was upregulated after TR-SPF exposure. Together with STAMP2, the Akt protein phosphorylation increased after TR-SPF exposure, which indicates that STAMP2 leads to Akt phosphorylation and thus increases insulin sensitivity in hepatocytes. Importantly, the hepatic steatosis that was seen in the liver of diabetic mice was remarkably alleviated in TR-SPF-fed mice. Hepatocytes that were immunopositive for STAMP2 were overwhelmingly observed in hepatic tissues from TR-SPF-fed mice compared to the control. Taken together, these results suggest that feeding diabetic mice with TR-SPF upregulates STAMP2 expression and increases Akt phosphorylation in hepatic tissues and thus potentially alleviates insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제31권7호
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• pp.631-640
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• 2021

Houttuynia cordata Thunberg는 전통의학에서 다양한 약리학적 작용에 대해 연구되어 왔다. 본 연구에서, 거세 및 테스토스테론 프로피오네이트(TP) 주입에 의해 유도된 양성 전립선 비대증(BPH) 모델에 대한 Houttuynia cordata 에탄올 추출물(HCE)의 영향을 조사했다. 총 30마리의 쥐를 6개의 그룹으로 나누었다. 한 그룹은 정상 대조군으로 사용되었고 다른 그룹은 거세 후 14일 동안 복강내 TP를 주입하여 BPH를 유도하였다. 양성 대조군은 BPH 모델에 매일 피나스테라이드(5 mg/kg)를 투여했다. 피나스테라이드 대신 HCE (0.5, 1, 2mg/kg)를 투여한 군은 실험 군으로서 대조군과 비교하였다. 체중 100 g 기준으로 전립선 무게에 대한 통계적 유의성은 없었다. ELISA 검사로 5-α 환원효소 및 디하이드록시 테스토스테론(DHT) 농도를 측정하였으며, 모든 실험군에서 유의미한 감소가 있었다. 5-α 환원효소의 경우 HCE (0.5 mg/kg) 군이 가장 낮았고, DHT는 HCE (2 mg/kg) 군에서 가장 낮은 수치를 보였다. 전립선에 대한 조직병리학적 관찰에서 대조군과 HCE (2 mg/kg) 투여 군은 정상 세포 형태를 보였고 세포팽창이 없었다. 그러나 음성 대조군과 HCE (1 mg/kg) 군에서는 세포가 부풀어 오르고 세포 사이의 간격이 좁아졌다. 특히 HCE (0.5 mg/kg) 군에서는 일부 세포가 터지는 현상이 나타났다. 따라서 2 mg/kg 이상의 HCE를 투여하는 것이 BPH의 보호 효과에 적합할 것이다.

• 한국정보전자통신기술학회논문지
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• 제16권5호
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• pp.331-337
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• 2023

본 논문에서는 근감소증의 발병 여부와 정도를 확인하기 위해 3번 요추부 (L3) CT 영상을 검출하는 딥러닝 모델을 제안하는 것이다. 또한, CT 데이터 내에 L3 레벨과 L3 레벨이 아닌 부분의 데이터 불균형으로 인한 성능 저하의 문제점을 오버샘플링 비율과 클래스 가중치를 설계변수로 하는 최적화 기법을 제시하고자 한다. 모델 학습 및 검증을 위하여 강릉아산병원에 내원한 전립선암 환자 104명, 방광암 환자 46명의 총 150명의 전신 CT 영상이 활용되었다. 딥러닝 모델은 ResNet50을 활용하였으며, 최적화기법의 설계변수로는 모델 하이퍼파라미터 5종과 데이터 증강비율 및 클래스 가중치로 선정하였다. 제안하는 최적화 기반의 L3 레벨 추출 모델은 대조군 (하이퍼파라미터 5종만을 최적화한 모델)과 비교하여 중간 L3 오차가 약 1.0 슬라이스 감소한 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 본 연구결과를 통하여 정확한 L3 슬라이스 검출이 가능하며, 추가적으로 데이터 증강을 통한 오버 샘플링과 클래스 가중치 조절을 통해 데이터 불균형 문제를 효과적으로 해결할 수 있는 가능성을 제시할 수 있다.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• 제33권3호
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• pp.226-232
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• 2015

Purpose: Toxicity of mucosa is one of the major concerns of radiotherapy (RT), when a target tumor is located near a mucosal lined organ. Energy of photon RT is transferred primarily by secondary electrons. If these secondary electrons could be removed in an internal cavity of mucosal lined organ, the mucosa will be spared without compromising the target tumor dose. The purpose of this study was to present a RT dose reduction in near target inner-surface (NTIS) of internal cavity, using Lorentz force of magnetic field. Materials and Methods: Tissue equivalent phantoms, composed with a cylinder shaped internal cavity, and adjacent a target tumor part, were developed. The phantoms were irradiated using 6 MV photon beam, with or without 0.3 T of perpendicular magnetic field. Two experimental models were developed: single beam model (SBM) to analyze central axis dose distributions and multiple beam model (MBM) to simulate a clinical case of prostate cancer with rectum. RT dose of NTIS of internal cavity and target tumor area (TTA) were measured. Results: With magnetic field applied, bending effect of dose distribution was visualized. The depth dose distribution of SBM showed 28.1% dose reduction of NTIS and little difference in dose of TTA with magnetic field. In MBM, cross-sectional dose of NTIS was reduced by 33.1% with magnetic field, while TTA dose were the same, irrespective of magnetic field. Conclusion: RT dose of mucosal lined organ, located near treatment target, could be modulated by perpendicular magnetic field.

• 대한약침학회지
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.32-41
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• 2015

Objectives: Condurango (Gonolobus condurango) extract is used by complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners as a traditional medicine, including homeopathy, mainly for the treatment of syphilis. Condurango bark extract is also known to reduce tumor volume, but the underlying molecular mechanisms still remain unclear. Methods: Using a cervical cancer cell line (HeLa) as our model, the molecular events behind condurango extract's (CE's) anticancer effect were investigated by using flow cytometry, immunoblotting and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Other included cell types were prostate cancer cells (PC3), transformed liver cells (WRL-68), and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Results: Condurango extract (CE) was found to be cytotoxic against target cells, and this was significantly deactivated in the presence of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), a scavenger of reactive oxygen species (ROS), suggesting that its action could be mediated through ROS generation. CE caused an increase in the HeLa cell population containing deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage at the G zero/Growth 1 (G0/G1) stage. Further, CE increased the tumor necrosis factor alpha ($TNF-{\alpha}$) and the fas receptor (FasR) levels both at the ribonucleic acid (RNA) and the protein levels, indicating that CE might have a cytotoxic mechanism of action. CE also triggered a sharp decrease in the expression of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells ($NF-{\kappa}B$) both at the RNA and the protein levels, a possible route to attenuation of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), and caused an opening of the mitochondrial membrane's permeability transition (MPT) pores, thus enhancing caspase activities. Conclusion: Overall, our results suggest possible pathways for CE mediated cytotoxicity in model cancer cells.

• 한국자원식물학회지
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• 제31권2호
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• pp.109-116
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• 2018

발기부전(erectile dysfunction, impotence)은 성교과정을 위한 음경이 딱딱하게 발기되지 않거나 유지하지 못하는 것을 말한다. 잦은 발기 부전은 심장 질환, 비만, 알코올 중독, 스트레스, 흡연 및 우울증을 비롯하여 치료가 필요한 건강상의 문제가 원인이 된다. 본 연구는 산수유(Cornus officinalis)를 포함한 복합 추출물이 발기부전 랫드모델에서 성기능과 관련된 인자에 미치는 영향을 알아보고자 하였다. 발기부전 랫드모델은 Cimetidine/5% EtOH를 2주 동안 경구투여하여 유도한 후, 산수유 등 복합추출물을 각각 다른 농도로 경구투여하였다. 그 결과, 산수유 등 복합추출물 처리군(CPL-300, 600, 900 mg/kg)에서 성 기능 인자(NO, cGMP)가 대조군에 비해 유의성 있게 향상되었다. 또한 혈청 테스토스테론은 산수유 등 복합추출물 처리 후 용량 의존적으로 증가하였다. 더욱이, 산수유 등 복합추출물의 투여는 발기부전 랫드모델에서 전립선의 크기를 회복시키는 것을 확인하였다. 결과를 종합하자면 산수유 등 복합추출물이 랫드모델에서 성기능 인자와 테스토스테론을 증가시킴으로써 발기부전을 완화시킨다는 것을 보여 주었고, 이는 산수유 등 복합추출물이 천연 추출물로 향 후 발기부전 치료에 사용될 수 있음을 시사한다. 하지만 산수유 복합추출물의 남성 성기능의 직접적인 연관관계, 유효성분과 그 메커니즘을 자세히 밝히기 위해서는 추가적인 연구가 필요하다고 사료된다.