• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.44-50
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• 2011

Background: Cardiovascular complications are major causes of morbidity and mortality following non-cardiac thoracic operations. Recent studies have demonstrated that elevation of N-Terminal Pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels can predict cardiac complications following non-cardiac major surgery as well as cardiac surgery. However, there is little information on the correlation between lung resection surgery and NT-proBNP levels. We evaluated the role of NT-proBNP as a potential marker for the risk stratification of cardiac complications following lung resection surgery. Material and Methods: Prospectively collected data of 98 patients, who underwent elective lung resection from August 2007 to February 2008, were analyzed. Postoperative adverse cardiac events were categorized as myocardial injury, ECG evidence of ischemia or arrhythmia, heart failure, or cardiac death. Results: Postoperative cardiac complications were documented in 9 patients (9/98, 9.2%): Atrial fibrillation in 3, ECG-evidenced ischemia in 2 and heart failure in 4. Preoperative median NT-proBNP levels was significantly higher in patients who developed postoperative cardiac complications than in the rest (200.2 ng/L versus 45.0 ng/L, p=0.009). NT-proBNP levels predicted adverse cardiac events with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.76 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.545~0.988, p=0.01]. A preoperative NT-proBNP value of 160 ng/L was found to be the best cut-off value for detecting postoperative cardiac complication with a positive predictive value of 0.857 and a negative predictive value of 0.978. Other factors related to cardiac complications by univariate analysis were a higher American Society of Anesthesiologists grade, a higher NYHA functional class and a history of hypertension. In multivariate analysis, however, high preoperative NT-proBNP level (>160 ng/L) only remained significant. Conclusion: An elevated preoperative NT-proBNP level is identified as an independent predictor of cardiac complications following lung resection surgery.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2020

Purpose: The objective of this study was to analyze the results of several noninvasive prenatal tests (NIPTs) from a single center and confirm their efficacy and reliability. In addition, we aimed to confirm the changes in the number of invasive tests performed after introducing NIPT. Materials and Methods: NIPT data from a large single center from March 2014 to November 2018 were analyzed. Karyotyping was confirmed based on chorionic villus sampling, amniocentesis, or postnatal cord/peripheral blood sampling. Data on maternal age, gestational age, fetal fraction, and ultrasonographic results were analyzed. As the secondary outcome, the number of amniocentesis cases before and after the introduction of NIPT was compared. Results: Overall, 1,591 single pregnancy cases that underwent NIPT were enrolled. The mean maternal age was 36.05 (22-45) years. The average gestational age and fetal fraction were 12⁺¹ (9⁺³ to 27⁺¹) weeks and 10.95% (3.6% to 31.3%), respectively. A total of 1,544 cases (97.0%) were reported to have negative NIPT results and 40 (2.5%) had positive NIPT results. The sensitivity and specificity of the overall abnormalities in NIPT were 96.29% and 99.36%, respectively. The positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value were 72.22% and 99.93% respectively. The mean number of amniocentesis cases were 21.7 per month (21.7±3.9), which significantly decreased from 31.5 per month (31.5±4.8) before conducting NIPT as a screening test. Conclusion: NIPT is currently a useful, powerful, and safe screening test. In particular, trisomy 21 is highly specific due to its high PPV. NIPT can reduce the potential risks of procedure-related miscarriages during invasive testing.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.379-391
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• 2021

Purpose: Promoter DNA methylation of various genes has been associated with metachronous gastric cancer (MGC). The cancer-specific methylation gene, cysteine dioxygenase type 1 (CDO1), has been implicated in the occurrence of residual gastric cancer. We evaluated whether DNA methylation of CDO1 could be a predictive biomarker of MGC using specimens of MGC developing on scars after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). Materials and Methods: CDO1 methylation values (TaqMeth values) were compared between 33 patients with early gastric cancer (EGC) with no confirmed metachronous lesions at >3 years after ESD (non-MGC: nMGC group) and 11 patients with MGC developing on scars after ESD (MGCSE groups: EGC at the first ESD [MGCSE-1 group], EGC at the second ESD for treating MGC developing on scars after ESD [MGCSE-2 group]). Each EGC specimen was measured at five locations (at tumor [T] and the 4-point tumor-adjacent noncancerous mucosa [TAM]). Results: In the nMGC group, the TaqMeth values for T were significantly higher than that for TAM (P=0.0006). In the MGCSE groups, TAM (MGCSE-1) exhibited significantly higher TaqMeth values than TAM (nMGC) (P<0.0001) and TAM (MGCSE-2) (P=0.0041), suggesting that TAM (MGCSE-1) exhibited CDO1 hypermethylation similar to T (P=0.3638). The area under the curve for discriminating the highest TaqMeth value of TAM (MGCSE-1) from that of TAM (nMGC) was 0.81, and using the cut-off value of 43.4, CDO1 hypermethylation effectively enriched the MGCSE groups (P<0.0001). Conclusions: CDO1 hypermethylation has been implicated in the occurrence of MGC, suggesting its potential as a promising MGC predictor.

• Economic Analysis
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.1-42
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• 2021

The outlook for Korea's consumer price inflation rate has a profound impact not only on the Bank of Korea's operation of the inflation target system but also on the overall economy, including the bond market and private consumption and investment. This study presents the prediction results of consumer price inflation in Korea for the next three years. To this end, first, model selection is performed based on the out-of-sample predictive power of autoregressive distributed lag (ADL) models, AR models, small-scale vector autoregressive (VAR) models, and large-scale VAR models. Since there are many potential predictors of inflation, a Bayesian variable selection technique was introduced for 12 macro variables, and a precise tuning process was performed to improve predictive power. In the case of the VAR model, the Minnesota prior distribution was applied to solve the dimensional curse problem. Looking at the results of long-term and short-term out-of-sample predictions for the last five years, the ADL model was generally superior to other competing models in both point and distribution prediction. As a result of forecasting through the combination of predictions from the above models, the inflation rate is expected to maintain the current level of around 2% until the second half of 2022, and is expected to drop to around 1% from the first half of 2023.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.367-377
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• 2023

This study investigates the utility of the Triglyceride-glucose(TyG) index and Cardiometabolic Index(CMI) as predictors for diagnosing metabolic syndrome. The study involved 1970 males, 1459 females, totaling 3429 participants who underwent health checkups at P Hospital in Busan between January 2023 and June 2023. Metabolic syndrome diagnosis was based on the presence of 3 or more risk factors out of the 5 criteria outlined by the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute(AHA/NHLBI), and participants with 2 or fewer risk factors were categorized as normal. Statistical analyses included independent sample t-tests, chi-square tests, Pearson's correlation analysis, Receiver Operating Characteristic(ROC) curve analysis, and logistic regression analysis, using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences(SPSS) program. Significance was established at p<0.05. The comparison revealed that the metabolic syndrome group exhibited attributes such as advanced age, male gender, elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressures, high blood sugar, elevated triglycerides, reduced LDL-C, elevated HDL-C, higher Cardiometabolic Index, Triglyceride-glucose index, and components linked to abdominal obesity. Pearson correlation analysis showed strong positive correlations between waist circumference/height ratio, waist circumference, Cardiometabolic Index, and triglycerides. Weak positive correlations were observed between LDL-C, body mass index, and Cardiometabolic index, while a strong negative correlation was found between Cardiometabolic Index and HDL-C. ROC analysis indicated that the Cardiometabolic Index(CMI), Triglyceride-glucose(TyG) index, and waist circumference demonstrated the highest Area Under the Curve(AUC) values, indicating their efficacy in diagnosing metabolic syndrome. Optimal cut-off values were determined as >1.34, >8.86, and >84.5 for the Cardiometabolic Index, Triglyceride-glucose index, and waist circumference, respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed significant differences for age(p=0.037), waist circumference(p<0.001), systolic blood pressure(p<0.001), triglycerides(p<0.001), LDL-C(p=0.028), fasting blood sugar(p<0.001), Cardiometabolic Index(p<0.001), and Triglyceride-glucose index (p<0.001). The odds ratios for these variables were 1.015, 1.179, 1.090, 3.03, and 69.16, respectively. In conclusion, the Cardiometabolic Index and Triglyceride-glucose index are robust predictive indicators closely associated with metabolic syndrome diagnosis, and waist circumference is identified as an excellent predictor. Integrating these variables into clinical practice holds the potential for enhancing early diagnosis and prevention of metabolic syndrome.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.1031-1043
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• 2022

Objective: To compare digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) and MRI as an adjunct to full-field digital mammography (FFDM) for the preoperative evaluation of women with breast cancer based on mammographic density. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 280 patients with breast cancer who had undergone FFDM, DBT, and MRI for preoperative local tumor staging. Three radiologists independently sought the index cancer and additional ipsilateral and contralateral breast cancers using either FFDM alone, DBT plus FFDM, or MRI plus FFDM. Diagnostic performances across the three radiologists were compared among the reading modes in all patients and subgroups with dense (n = 186) and non-dense breasts (n = 94) according to mammographic density. Results: Of 280 patients, 46 (16.4%) had 48 additional (39 ipsilateral and nine contralateral) cancers in addition to the index cancer. For index cancers, both DBT plus FFDM and MRI plus FFDM showed sensitivities of 100% in the non-dense group. In the dense group, DBT plus FFDM showed lower sensitivity than that of MRI plus FFDM (94.6% vs. 99.6%, p < 0.001). For additional ipsilateral cancers, DBT plus FFDM showed specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) of 100% in the non-dense group, but sensitivity and negative predictive value (NPV) were not statistically different from those of MRI plus FFDM (p > 0.05). In the dense group, DBT plus FFDM showed higher specificity (98.2% vs. 94.1%, p = 0.005) and PPV (83.1% vs. 65.4%; p = 0.036) than those of MRI plus FFDM, but lower sensitivity (59.9% vs. 75.3%; p = 0.049). For contralateral cancers, DBT plus FFDM showed higher specificity than that of MRI plus FFDM (99.0% vs. 96.7%, p = 0.014), however, the other values did not differ (all p > 0.05) in the dense group. Conclusion: DBT plus FFDM showed an overall higher specificity than that of MRI plus FFDM regardless of breast density, perhaps without substantial loss in sensitivity and NPV in the diagnosis of additional cancers. Thus, DBT may have the potential to be used as a preoperative breast cancer staging tool.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2005

Photo-mutagenic compounds have been known to alter skin cancer rates by acting as initiators or by affecting subsequent steps in carcinogenesis. The objectives of this study are to investigate the utility of photo-chromosomal aberration (photo-CA) assay for detecting photo-clastogens, and to evaluate its ability to predict rodent photocarcinogenicity. Photo-CA assay was performed with five test substances that demonstrated positive results in photo-carcinogenicity tests: 8-Methoxypsoralen (photoactive substance that forms DNA adducts in the presence of ultraviolet A irradiation), chlorpromazine (an aliphatic phenothiazine an alpha-adrenergic blocking agent), lomefloxacin (an antibiotic in a class of drugs called fluoroquinolones), anthracene (a tricyclic aromatic hydrocarbon a basic substance for production of anthraquinone, dyes, pigments, insecticides, wood preservatives and coating materials) and Retinoic acid (a retinoid compound closely related to vitamin A). For the best discrimination between the test substance-mediated genotoxicity and the undesirable genotoxicity caused by direct DNA absorption, a UV dose-response of the cells in the absence of the test substances was firstly analyzed. All 5 test substances showed a positive outcome in photo-CA assay, indicating that the photo-CA test is very sensitive to the photo-genotoxic effect of UV irradiation. With this limited data-set, an investigation into the predictive value of this photo-CA test for determining the photo-carcinogenicity showed that photo-CA assay has the high ability of a test to predict carcinogenicity. Therefore, the photo-CA test using mammalian cells seems to be a sensitive method to evaluate the photo-carcinogenic potential of new compounds.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.1075-1081
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• 2014

CRBP1 (cellular retinol binding protein 1) and CRBP3 (cellular retinol binding protein 3), are important components of the retinoid signaling pathway and take part in vitamin A absorption, transport and metabolism. Based on the role of vitamin A in chicken laying performance, we investigated the polymorphism of CRBP1 and CRBP3 genes in 349 chickens using single strand conformation polymorphism and DNA sequencing methods. Only one polymorphism was identified in the third intron of CRBP1, two polymorphisms were detected in CRBP3; they were located in the second intron and the third intron respectively. The association studies between these three SNPs and laying performance traits were performed in Erlang mountainous chicken. Notably, the SNP g.14604G>T of CRBP1 was shown to be significantly associated with body weight at first egg (BWFE), age at first egg (AFE), weight at first egg (WFE) and total number of eggs with 300 age (EN). The CRBP3 polymorphism g.934C>G was associated with AFE, and the g.1324A>G was associated with AFE and BWFE, but none of these polymorphisms were associated with egg quality traits. Haplotype combinations constructed on these two SNPs of CRBP3 gene were associated with BWFE and AFE. In particular, diplotype H2H2 had positive effect on AFE, BWFE, EN, and average egg-laying interval. We herein describe for the first time basic research on the polymorphism of chicken CRBP1 and CRBP3 genes that is predictive of genetic potential for laying performance in chicken.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.517-523
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• 2013

Naphthyridine compounds are important, because they exhibit various biological activities including anticancer, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory activity. Some naphthyridines have antimitotic effects or demonstrate anticancer activity by inhibiting topoisomerase II. These compounds have been investigated as potential anticancer agents, and several compounds are now part of clinical trials. A series of naphthyridine derivatives were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic activities against human cervical cancer (HeLa), leukemia (HL-60), and prostate cancer (PC-3) cell lines using an MTT assay. Some compounds (14, 15, and 16) were more potent than colchicine against all three human cancer cell lines and compound (16) demonstrated potency with $IC_{50}$ values of 0.7, 0.1, and $5.1{\mu}M$, respectively. Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) were used for quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) molecular modeling of these compounds. We obtained accurate and predictive three-dimensional QSAR (3D-QSAR) models as indicated by the high PLS parameters of the HeLa ($q^2$, 0.857; $r^2$, 0.984; $r^2\;_{pred}$, 0.966), HL-60 ($q^2$, 0.777; $q^2$, 0.937; $r^2\;_{pred}$, 0.913), and PC-3 ($q^2$, 0.702; $q^2$, 0.983; $r^2\;_{pred}$, 0.974) cell lines. The 3D-QSAR contour maps suggested that the C-1 NH and C-4 carbonyl group of the naphthyridine ring and the C-2 naphthyl ring were important for cytotoxicity in all three human cancer cell lines.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.733-740
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• 2011

Multiple regression analysis was used for the calculation of pKa values of 15 substituted benzaldoximes by using various types of descriptors as parameters. These descriptors are based on quantum mechanical treatments. They were derived by employing semi-empirical calculation represented by the PM3 model and an Abinitio method expressed by Hartree-Fock(HF) model performed at the 6-311 G(d, p) level of theory. The parameters tested for their ability to represent the variations observed in the experimental pKa(s) are atomic and structural properties including Muliken charges on the atoms of hydroxyl group and C=N bond, the angle $C_6-C_1-C_7$, and length of O-H bond. Molecular properties are also used like energies of HOMO and LUMO, hardness(${\eta}$), chemical potential(${\mu}$), total energy(TE), dipole of molecule(DM), and electrophilicity index(W). The relation between pKa values and each of these parameters of the studied compounds is investigated. Depending on these relations, two sets of parameters were constructed for comparison between the PM3 and HF methods. The results obtained favor the Abinitio method for such applications although both models proved to have high predictive power and have sufficient reliability to describe the effect of substituents on pKa values of benzaldoxime compounds under consideration which is clear from the values of correlation coefficient $R^2$ obtained and the consistency between the experimental and the calculated values.