• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.131-140
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• 2018

Objectives The purpose of this study is to assess the quality of case reports from the Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine. Methods Case reports were selected from the Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine from January 2015 to April 2018, by utilizing Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS). The quality of the reports were reviewed based on the Consensus-based Clinical Case Reporting Guideline Development (CARE) guideline. Results Total of 13 case reports were finally selected for the assessment. 73.08% of the case reports included necessary information based on the CARE guideline but the rest of the reports did not. More than 50% of the reports were missing data regarding 'Timeline', 'Diagnostic challenges', 'Intervention adherence and tolerability', 'Adverse and unanticipated events', or 'Patient perspective or experience'. Also, the reports did not include 'Key word', 'Introduction in abstract', 'Case presentation in abstract', or 'The rationale for conclusions' information. Conclusions Case reports from the Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine have important role in pediatrics. Efforts are needed to improve the quality of the case reports as well as to develop reporting guidelines for the Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 1997

The fine needle aspiration biopsy(FNAB) has become a popular method to diagnose mass lesions of the liver. Although many reports have listed FNAB criteria to be used to diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC), a diagnostic dilemma still exists at the extreme ends of the spectrum, particularly for well differentiated HCC. The authors reviewed a series of FNAB specimens of the liver to distinguish well differentiated HCC from nonneoplastic liver. Fifteen cytologic features were examined in this study: high cellularity, large sheet formation, trabecular pattern, acinar pattern, dispersed pattern, irregular arrangement, increased nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio, naked nuclei, irregular chromatin, irregular nuclear contour, multinucleation, uniform macronucleoli, multiple nuclei, uniform small cytoplasm and monotony of atypia. These features were examined in a series of 76 FNAB specimens. Fifty two specimens were from patients with HCC and 24 specimens were from patients with nonneoplastic lesion or tumors other than HCC containg adequate amount of nonneoplastic hepatocytes in smear. All specimens were coded as to the presence or absence of the above cytologic features. With the use of step-wise logistic regression analysis, three features were identified as the key cytologic features predictive of HCC: irregular chromatin, monotony of atypia and absence of large sheet formation. When these criteria were used, the sensitivity diagnosing HCC by FNAB was 94.2%, specificity 100%, positive predictive value 100% and negative predictive value was 88.9%.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.49-61
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• 2020

Objectives: The objective of this study is to analyze clinical reports of treatment of menopausal depression in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Methods: This study included randomized controlled trials (RCT) in treating menopausal depression. Literature studies of Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database(CNKI) were performed. Clinical reports on menopausal depression treatment were searched using the following key words in the CNKI: 'menopausal depression' and 'postmenopausal depression'. Results and Conclusions: A total of 24 RCT articles on menopausal depression were selected. The most widely used diagnostic tool for menopausal depression was CCMD-3. Effective rate and HAMD were the most commonly used assessment tools. Bosinhaeultang-gagam (Bushenjieyu-tang jiajian) and Gami-gammaegdaejotang(Jiawei ganmaidazao-tang) were used much more than other prescriptions, while Bupleuri Radix was the most used single medicine herb. Additionally, the Chinese medicine treatment group showed less adverse reactions than the control group. As a result, we could know frequently used herbal prescription and single medicinal herbs and this can be helpful in developing more advanced studies in future.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.147-154
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• 2018

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a contested illness with ill-defined boundaries. There is no clearly defined cut-point that separates FM from non-FM. Diagnosis of FM has been faced with several challenges that occur, including patients' health care-seeking behavior, symptoms recognition, and FM labeling by physicians. This review focuses on important but less visible factors that have a profound influence on under- or over-diagnosis of FM. FM shows different phenotypes and disease expression in patients and even in one patient over time. Psychosocial and cultural factors seem to be a contemporary ferment in FM which play a major role in physician diagnosis even more than having severe symptom levels in FM patients. Although the FM criteria are the only current methods which can be used for classification of FM patients in surveys, research, and clinical settings, there are several key pieces missing in the fibromyalgia diagnostic puzzle, such as invalidation, psychosocial factors, and heterogeneous disease expression. Regarding the complex nature of FM, as well as the arbitrary and illusory constructs of the existing FM criteria, FM diagnosis frequently fails to provide a clinical diagnosis fit to reality. A physicians' judgment, obtained in real communicative environments with patients, beyond the existing constructional scores, seems the only reliable way for more valid diagnoses. It plays a pivotal role in the meaning and conceptualization of symptoms and psychosocial factors, making diagnoses and labeling of FM. It is better to see FM as a whole, not as a medical specialty or constructional scores.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.80-95
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to assess the quality of the Journal of Korean medicine case reports. Methods: Case reports published in the Journal of Korean Medicine from January 2015 to March 2020 were selected by using Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS) and the journal search system of the Korean Medical Association (https://www.jkom.org). The quality of the case reports was assessed using the Consensus-based Clinical Case Reporting Guideline Development (CARE) guidelines. Results: 33 case reports were selected for the assessment. Based on the CARE guidelines, 61.54% of the case reports included necessary information, but the quality level was uneven. More than 60% of the reports were missing data regarding 'Discussion of the strengths and limitations in your approach to this case', 'Intervention adherence and tolerability', 'Timeline', 'Medical, family, and psychosocial history including relevant genetic information', 'Patient perspective or experience', 'Adverse and unanticipated events', 'Administration of intervention', and 'De-identified demographic information and other patient specific information'. In most reports of over 90%, data regarding 'Diagnostic challenges', 'Intervention adherence and tolerability', and 'Key word' were not included. Conclusions: Efforts are needed to improve the quality of case reports in the Journal of Korean Medicine, and it is necessary to develop appropriate guidelines for case reporting for the Journal of Korean Medicine. In addition, all articles submitted to the Journal of Korean Medicine are to be complied with submission instructions and CARE guidelines.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.389-394
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• 2001

Cerebral dural sinus thrombosis(CDST) has been described as a rare disease with a variety of patho-etiological factors. The diagnosis of CDST is difficult due to various symptoms and signs, none of which is specific to CDST. But timely diagosis is critical for effective management. The introduction and widespread use of computed tomography(CT), magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and cerebral angiography made early diagnosis of CDST possible. In particular, MR venography is the most useful tool for establishing a correct diagnosis quickly. In early literature, mortality ranked between 30% and 50% but in more recent series it is between 5.5% and 30%. With the advent of diagnostic and therapeutic tools, early diagnosis and proper management has made the prognosis better. The appropriate therapy for CDST, however, has been the subject of much cortroversy. Individual variations of the venous system and collateral vessels are key factors to decide the proper treatment. In this report, we present two cases with symptomatic CDST treated without open surgical or direct endovascular interventions with good outcome.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.4769-4775
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• 2015

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most prevalent cancer and thirdly leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The estimated risk of hepatocellular carcinoma is 15 to 20 times as high among persons infected with HCV as it is among those who are not infected, with most of the excess risk limited to those with advanced hepatic fibrosis or cirrhosis. Glypican3 (GPC3) plays a key role in relation to signaling with growth factors, regulating the proliferative activity of cancer cells. Glutamine synthetase (GS) catalyzes the synthesis of glutamine from glutamate and ammonia in the mammalian liver. GS was suggested as a specific marker for tracing cell lineage relationships during hepatocarcinogenesis. In normal liver, GS expression is seen in pericentral hepatocytes, but not by midzonal or periportal hepatocytes. In HCC, strong and diffuse GS expression in seen in tumor cells. Results: Glypican3 immunopositvity was highly specific and sensitive indicator for hepatocellular carcinoma as well as glutamine synthetase which was found to be a sensitive and specific indicator for development of hepatocellular carcinoma when compared to cirrhosis, liver cell dyspalsia and metastatic carcinomas. Statistical analysis revealed a significant association between GPC3 and GS with tumor size (P=0.003, p=0.006, respectively). Diffuse staining significantly associated with large tumor size while, focal and mixed staining was detected more with small tumor size. Studying the relation with tumor grade also revealed significant association between diffuse GPC3 and GS staining with high tumor grade. Diffuse staining was detected in 91.7% and 100% respectively of poorly differentiated specimens and only in 33.3% and 22.2% of well differentiated specimens. Conclusions: While using GPC3 and GS to screen for premalignant hepatic lesions remains controversial, our data suggest that GPC3 and GS may be a reliable diagnostic immunomarkers to distinguish HCC from benign hepatocellular lesions. However, negative immunostaining should not exclude the diagnosis of HCC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.2725-2729
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• 2015

Background: Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) and prostate cancer are the most frequent cancers in the male genitourinary tract. Measurement of biological biomarkers may facilitate clinical monitoring and aid early diagnosis of TCC. The aim of the present investigation was to detect the mRNA levels of S100A12 and RAGE (receptor for advanced glycation end products) in patients suffering from bladder TCC. Materials and Methods: To explore the involvement of S100A12 and RAGE genes, total RNA was harvested from cancer tissues and samples obtained from normal non-tumorized urothelium of the same patients. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was subsequently employed to determine the mRNA levels of S100A12 and RAGE. Results: The results showed that mRNA expression of S100A12 and RAGE was significantly up-regulated in the cancer tissue. Conclusions: According to the results presented in the current study, mRNA expression of S100A12 and RAGE might be as a useful biomarker for TCC. Therefore, this ligand-receptor axis possibly plays important roles in the development of TCC and may serve either as an early diagnostic marker or as a key factor in monitoring of response to treatment. More research is required concerning inhibition of the S100A12-RAGE axis in different cancer models.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.1397-1404
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• 2014

Grab cranes are used for multi-purpose when the sand and soil are deposited into harbor wharf or the undersea construction is performed. Among the components of crane grab, the wire drum and disc brake pad are key expendables and have disadvantages that lot of heat is generated and very expensive when replacing them. In this study, the thermal image analysis for the disc brake, which works with wire drum of the crane is suggested. The suggested system performs the pad thermal diagnosis through the thermal image using the characteristics that the disc and pad surface temperatures are distributed abnormally before the brake failure and the disc pad damage. Therefore, the damage by the failure can be prevented by discovering the abnormality of the machine parts before failure and the life cycle of the pad and the cost can be extended and saved by operating the crane performing constant checkup for the overload.

• The Journal of the Society of Korean Medicine Diagnostics
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.77-89
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• 2013

Objectives Tongue diagnosis is an important diagnostic method in traditional Eastern medicine, and it has a high potential to be used in the future healthcare because of easy, quick, and non-contact measuring features. Recently, research and development efforts on computerized tongue diagnosis systems (CTDS) have been active that led to the technical advancements in the field of photographing techniques, image extraction and classification algorithms. In this study, we analyzed the trends in the CTDS patents. Using the WIPS search engine (www.wipsglobal.com), quantitative and qualitative patent analyses were performed through Korea, China, Japan, U.S.A and Europe. Methods For a systematic search and data analysis, we defined patent categories based on the application area and technical details. By applying thus-obtained categorical key words, we obtained 360 relevant patents on photographing techniques, image extraction and classification algorithms for the purpose of diagnosis or security. Results As a result, companies related to image acquisition, medical imaging and mobile devices and research groups of universities in East Asia were major patent applicants. In all the five countries, the number of patents have been increasing since 1980. In particular, technology related to color correction and image segmentation were most actively patented categories, and expected to continue a high application rate.