• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.124-131
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• 2024

Breast cancer classification using ultrasound, while widely employed, faces challenges due to its relatively low predictive value arising from significant overlap in characteristics between benign and malignant lesions, as well as operator-dependency. To alleviate these challenges and reduce dependency on radiologist interpretation, the implementation of automatic breast cancer classification in ultrasound image can be helpful. To deal with this problem, we propose a semi-supervised deep learning framework for breast cancer classification. In the proposed method, we could achieve reasonable performance utilizing less than 50% of the training data for supervised learning in comparison to when we utilized a 100% labeled dataset for training. Though it requires more modification, this methodology may be able to alleviate the time-consuming annotation burden on radiologists by reducing the number of annotation, contributing to a more efficient and effective breast cancer detection process in ultrasound images.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.4871-4876
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• 2014

Background: We sought to evaluate the role of tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) on the promotion of coal tar pitch extract (CTPE)-induced tumorigenesis of human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) and tumor metastasis in nude mice, and related mechanisms. Materials and Methods: BEAS-2B cells were first treated with 2.4 mg/mL CTPE for 72 hours. After removal of CTPE, the cells were continuously cultured and passaged using trypsin-EDTA. THP-1 cells were used as macrophage-like cells. BEAS-2B cells under different conditions (n=6/group) were injected into the back necks of nude mice, and alterations of tumor xenograft growth, indicative of tumorigenicity, and tumor metastasis were determined. Pathological changes (tumor nests and microvascular lesions) of HE-stained tumor tissues were also evaluated. The expression of AP-1(c-Jun) in xenografts and metastatic tumors was determined using immunohistochemistry. Results: Tumor size and weight in nude mice transplanted with the mixture of CTPE-induced passage 30 BEAS-2B and THP-1 cells (2:1) were increased compared to those from the CTPE-treated BEAS-2B cells at passage 30 alone at different observation time points. Tumor metastasis to lymph nodes and liver was only detected after transplantation of a mixture the two kinds of cells. The numbers of tumor nests and microvascular lesions, and the expression levels of AP-1 (c-Jun) in tumors from the mixture of two kinds of cells were increased apparently in contrast to those in tumor from the CTPE-treated BEAS-2B cells of passage 30 alone. In addition, there was positive correlation between AP-1 (c-Jun) expression level and the number of microvascular lesions, or between AP-1 (c-Jun) expression level and tumor metastasis in these two groups. Conclusions: TAMs not only facilitate tumorigenesis transformation of CTPE-induced BEAS-2B cells, but also promote tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis in nude mice in vivo, which may be mediated by AP-1.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.160-167
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of pre-eruptive intracoronal radiolucencies (PEIR) from panoramic radiographs in Korean children and adolescents. This study examined panoramic radiographs of 3,000 patients aged between 5 and 14 years old who visited ten dental hospitals in Korea. The age and gender of the patients, the tooth type, the number of intracoronal radiolucent lesions, and the location and size of the lesions were recorded. The overall prevalence of patients with PEIR was 2.5%. The difference in the presence of PEIR between both genders was not significant. Within each tooth type, the mandibular first molar showed highest prevalence of PEIR (29.6%). The central part of the crown was the most frequently observed location of PEIR (56.8%). The size of the PEIR lesions was mostly limited to less than one-third of the thickness of coronal dentin.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.83 no.4
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• pp.876-886
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• 2022

Purpose To evaluate the performance of MicroPure US imaging to detect and characterize microcalcifications. Materials and Methods A total of 171 lesions with suspicious microcalcifications seen on mammography and B-mode US were included and simultaneously evaluated using MicroPure US imaging. The size of microcalcifications was divided into small (punctate, amorphous, fine pleomorphic, and fine linear) and large (coarse heterogeneous), and the extent was divided into narrow (grouped) and wide (others). MicroPure US imaging visibility was divided into four types based on the number of microcalcifications on the two images: B > M (more on B-mode), B = M (similar), B < M (more on MicroPure), and negative. Triple pairwise comparison was used to evaluate the imaging features according to the MicroPure US imaging visibility. Results Among the 171 lesions examined, 157 lesions (91.8%) were detected by MicroPure US imaging. The proportion of Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) category 4A was significantly higher in the MicroPure positive group, and that of category 4B was significantly higher in the MicroPure negative group (p = 0.035). The other imaging features did not differ. Among the positive MicroPure subgroups, all features showed no significant difference. Conclusion MicroPure US imaging demonstrated 91.8% positivity in detecting microcalcifications on B-mode US. MicroPure US imaging visibility correlated with the BI-RADS category of microcalcifications.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.21-29
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• 2017

Objective : The purpose of this study was to analyze outcomes and identify prognostic factors in patients with cerebral metastases from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with gamma knife radiosurgery (GKS) particularly, focusing on associations of biomarkers and systemic treatments. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 134 patients who underwent GKS for brain metastases due to NSCLC between January 2002 and December 2012. Representative biomarkers including epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation, K-ras mutation, and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) mutation status were investigated. Results : The median overall survival after GKS was 22.0 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.8-35.1 months). During follow-up, 63 patients underwent salvage treatment after GKS. The median salvage treatment-free survival was 7.9 months (95% CI, 5.2-10.6 months). Multivariate analysis revealed that lower recursive partition analysis (RPA) class, small number of brain lesions, EGFR mutation (+), and ALK mutation (+) were independent positive prognostic factors associated with longer overall survival. Patients who received target agents 30 days after GKS experienced significant improvements in overall survival and salvage treatment-free survival than patients who never received target agents and patients who received target agents before GKS or within 30 days (median overall survival: 5.0 months vs. 18.2 months, and 48.0 months with p-value=0.026; median salvage treatment-free survival: 4.3 months vs. 6.1 months and 16.6 months with p-value=0.006, respectively). To assess the influence of target agents on the pattern of progression, cases that showed local recurrence and new lesion formation were analyzed according to target agents, but no significant effects were identified. Conclusion : The prognosis of patients with brain metastases of NSCLC after GKS significantly differed according to specific biomarkers (EGFR and ALK mutations). Our results show that target agents combined with GKS was related to significantly longer overall survival, and salvage treatment-free survival. However, target agents were not specifically associated with improved local control of the lesion treated by GKS either development of new lesions. Therefore, it seems that currently popular target agents do not affect brain lesions themselves, and can prolong survival by controlling systemic disease status.

• Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.28-42
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• 2023

Background and Purpose: We investigated the correlation between the deep distribution of white matter hyperintensity (WMH) (dWMH: WMH in deep and corticomedullary areas, with minimal periventricular WMH) and a positive agitated saline contrast echocardiography result. Methods: We retrospectively recruited participants with comprehensive dementia evaluations, an agitated saline study, and brain imaging. The participants were classified into two groups according to WMH-distributions: dWMH and dpWMH (mainly periventricular WMH with or without deep WMH.) We hypothesized that dWMH is more likely associated with embolism, whereas dpWMH is associated with small-vessel diseases. We compared the clinical characteristics, WMH-distributions, and positive rate of agitated saline studies between the two groups. Results: Among 90 participants, 27 and 12 met the dWMH and dpWMH criteria, respectively. The dWMH-group was younger (62.2±7.5 vs. 78.9±7.3, p<0.001) and had a lower prevalence of hypertension (29.6% vs. 75%, p=0.008), diabetes mellitus (3.7% vs. 25%, p=0.043), and hyperlipidemia (33.3% vs. 83.3%, p=0.043) than the dpWMH-group. Regarding deep white matter lesions, the number of small lesions (<3 mm) was higher in the dWMH-group(10.9±9.7) than in the dpWMH-group (3.1±6.4) (p=0.008), and WMH was predominantly distributed in the border-zones and corticomedullary areas. Most importantly, the positive agitated saline study rate was higher in the dWMH-group than in the dpWMH-group (81.5% vs. 33.3%, p=0.003). Conclusions: The dWMH-group with younger participants had fewer cardiovascular risk factors, showed more border-zone-distributions, and had a higher agitated saline test positivity rate than the dpWMH-group, indicating that corticomedullary or deep WMH-distribution with minimal periventricular WMH suggests embolic etiologies.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2016

Elsinoe fawcettii causing citrus scab was suppressed by rhizobacterial strains such as Burkholderia gladioli MRL408-3, TRH423-3 and Pseudomonas fluorescens THJ609-3, TRH415-2 having antifungal activity. The leaf surface of Satsuma mandarin, which was pre-treated with the rhizobacterial strains, was observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) after inoculation with E. fawcettii. The number of lesions was reduced on the leaves pre-treated with the rhizobacterial strains compared to those of untreated leaves. Especially, the lesions numbers was apparently reduced on the leaves pre-treated with B. gladioli MRL408-3. The observation by SEM revealed that not only the germination rate but also the length of germ tube of the pathogen were decreased on the rhizobacterial strains pre-treated leaves. These inhibition of the fungal growth was more strongly expressed on the leaves pre-treated with commercial fungicide imibenconazole, by which the lesions was rarely found on the leaves. Based on these results, it was suggested that rhizobacterial strains may inhibit the germination and growth of the E. fawcettii on the surface of citrus leaves, resulting in decrease of disease severity.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.524-531
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• 1996

Purpose : To evaluate the pattern- of skeletal metastases and to classify the pattern of renal uptakes on bone scans in renal cell carcinoma. Materials and Methods : We reviewed the bone scans of 158 patients with RCC established pathologically. In order to identify individual scan lesion as a bone metastasis, we reviewed all available correlative radiological studies, follow-up bone scans, and biopsies for each lesion. The metastatic bone lesions were divided into seven anatomic regions; skull, spine, shoulder girdle, sternum, ribs, pelvis, and long bones of extremities. The individual scan lesions were divided into two groups as the pattern of uptakes, hot and cold lesion. In addition, the contours and uptakes of kidneys with RCC were classified into 6 groups ; normal uptake, photon-deficient lesion, faint up-take with enlargement, uneven uptake with enlargement, lateralization with crescentic shape, and increased uptake. Results : Twenty out of 158(12.7%) patients with RCC at varying stages showed 71 metastatic bone lesions at presentation and on follow- up bone scans. Nearly 80% of all metastatic lesions were in the axial skeleton with predominantly increased uptake of the radioactivity However a considerable number(22.5%) showed cold lesions on bone scan. A half of bone scans revealed abnormal uptake of involved kidney and much more(82.4%) in case of bone metastases. Two common patterns of abnormal renal uptake were photon-deficient lesion (50%) and faint uptake with enlargement(24.3%). In four patients with bone pain or pathologic fracture, bone scans were useful for the serendipitious localization of previously unrecognized primary lesion of RCC as well as for the detection of bone metastases from RCC. Conclusion : The understanding of the pat-terns of skeletal metastases and renal uptakes on bone scans in RCC is important for the useful information about primary lesion(RCC) as well as detection of bone metastases.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.16-22
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• 1993

Morphological and cultural characteristics of fungi causing rice sclerotial diseases were examined. Hyphal widths of R. solani and R. oryzae were same and ranged $6.0-12.0\;{\mu}m$ with average $9.0\;{\mu}m$, the widest among those of the sclerotial fungi examined. Hyphal width of R. oryzae sativae ranged $6.0-9.0{\mu}m$ with average $7.4{\mu}m$. Hyphal width of R. cerealis was the narrowest among those of Rhizoctonia species examined, and the same was hyphal width of S. oryzae among those of Sclerotium species. Nuclear staining by HCL-Giemsa method showed that R. solani and R. oryzae had many nuclei within one hyphal cell, S. oryzae one nucleus, and the other sclerotial fungi mostly two nuclei. The nuclear number of R. solani was the largest, which ranged 2-17 with average 6.3. Average size of sclerotia of the sclerotial fungi except S. hydrophilum and S. oryzae produced in lesions ranged 1.0-2.0mm. Average size of sclerotia of S. hydrophilum and S. oryzae was 0.5mm and 0.24mm, respectively. Sclerotia of R. solani and R. oryzae produced in culture were more variable in size and larger than those produced in lesions. However, the sclerotial sizes of the other sclerotial fungi produced in culture were almost the same as those produced in lesions. Sclerotial colors of sclerotial fungi produced in lesions were similar to those produced in culture, but sclerotial shapes of some sclerotial fungi exhibited somewhat difference between the sclerotia produced in lesions and in culture. Optimum temperature for mycelial growth of R. cerealis was $23^{\circ}C$, and that of the other sclerotial fungi ranged from $27\;to\;33^{\circ}C$. Maximum temperature for mycelial growth of some sclerotial fungi was as high as $41^{\circ}C$, while that of R. cerealis was as low as $31^{\circ}C$. Minimum temperature for mycelial growth of R. cerealis was $2^{\circ}C$, and that of the other sclerotial fungi ranged from $6\;to\;10^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.102-108
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• 2004

Orf virus (ORFV), a member of genus Parapoxvirus (family-Poxviridae), a causative agent of contagious ecthyma in sheep and goat leading to a condition commonly known as vesicular dermatitis. Recently, twelve goats from Iksan in Jeonbuk province were observed with clinical signs like necrotic vesicular lesions around the mucosa of mouth, nasal cavity, eye, ear, teats, abdomen and groin. Based on these clinical symptoms, contagious ecthyma infection was suspected. The skin scrapping was collected from lesions for isolation of DNA and subsequent PCR amplification of ORFV specific 235 bp region of B2L gene. All of the samples were found positive by PCR analysis. Sequencing and further phylogenetic analysis of the PCR product revealed 100% identity to Japan isolate of ORFV (Okinawa, GenBank accession number AB080769), and showed 99.6% of similarity to New Zealand strain (NZ-2, GenBank accession number U06671). It was concluded that ORFV strain detected in the present study is homologous to Japan isolate and New Zealand strain. The PCR test based on amplification of B2L gene is a highly useful tools for rapid and specific diagnosis of contagious ecthyma.