• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.235-243
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• 2009

The purpose of this experiment is to know the relation of the detection and characterization of liver's diseases as comparison of finding at MR imaging using a Ferucarbotran (SPIO) and Gd-EOB-DTPA (Primovist) agents in diffuse liver disease. A total of 50 patients (25 men and 25 women, mean age: 50 years) with liver diseases were investigated at 3.0T machine (GE, General Electric Medical System, Excite HD) "with 8 Ch body coil for comparison of diseases and contrast's uptake relation, which used the LAVA, MGRE." All images were performed on the same location with before and after Ferucarbotran and Gd-EOB-DTPA administrations (p<0.05). Contrast to noise ratio of Ferucarbotran and Gd-EOB-DTPA in the HCC were $3.08{\pm}0.12$ and $7.00{\pm}0.27$ with MGRE and LAVA pulse sequence, $3.62{\pm}0.13$ and $2.60{\pm}0.23$ in the hyper-plastic nodule, $1.70{\pm}0.09$ and $2.60{\pm}0.23$ in the meta, $2.12{\pm}0.28$ and $5.86{\pm}0.28$ in the FNH, $4.45{\pm}0.28$ and $1.73{\pm}0.02$ in the abscess and ANOVA test was used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of each disease (p<0.05). In conclusions, two techniques were well demonstrated with the relation of the detection and characterization of liver's diseases.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.57-62
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• 2006

Several methods for determining the response of corn to glyphosate were investigated to provide a fast and reliable method for identifying glyphosate-resistant corn in vivo. Two bioassays were developed. One assay is named 'whole plant / leaf growth assay', in which the herbicide glyphosate is applied on the upper part of 3rd leaf and the growth of herbicide-untreated 4th leaf is measured at 3 day after treatment. in this assay, the leaf growth of conventional corn was inhibited in a dose dependent from 50 to $1600{\mu}g/mL$ of glyphosate and growth inhibition at $1600{\mu}g/mL$ was 55% of untreated control. The assay has the potential to be used especially in the case that the primary cause of glyphosate resistance is related with a reduction of the herbicide translocation. Another assay is named 'leaf segment / shikimate accumulation assay', in which the four excised leaf segments ($4{\times}4mm$) are placed in each well of a 48-well microtiter plate containing $200{\mu}L$ test solution and the amount of shikimate is determined after incubation for 24 h in continuous light at $25^{\circ}C$. In this assay, 0.33% sucrose added to basic test solution enhanced a shikimate accumulation by 3 to 4 times and the shikimate accumulation was linearly occurred from 2 to $8{\mu}g/mL$ of glyphosate, showing an improved response to the method described by Shaner et al. (2005). The leaf segment / shikimate accumulation assay is simple and robust and has the potential to be used as a high throughput assay in the case that the primary cause of glyphosate resistance is related with EPSPS, target site of the herbicide. Taken together, these two assays would be highly useful to initially select the lines obtained after transformation, to investigate the migration of glyphosate-resistant gene into other weeds and to detect a weedy glyphosate-resistant corn in field.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.201-205
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• 2009

Background: Cryosurgery has been used to treat primary malignant pulmonary tumors at our institute since November 2004. In this study we analyzed our treatment results and complication rates. Material and Method: A retrospective study using medical charts and imaging data was conducted involving 17 patients with a total of 17 malignant pulmonary tumors who were treated between November 2004 and March 2007. Fourteen patients were males and 3 were females. The median age of the patients was 64 years (range, $54{\sim}77$ years). The average size of the tumors was 48.8mm (range, $36{\sim}111mm$) in diameter. The patients were followed with chest CT scans 7 days, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months postoperatively. PET scans were obtained between 6 and 9 months postoperatively. The treatment response was analyzed according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria. Result: Six months after treatment, 6 tumors (35.3%) showed a complete response, 4 (23.5%) had a partial response, 3 (17.6%) had stable disease, and 4 (23.5%) showed disease progression. In tumors <4 cm in diameter, a complete response was reported in 50% of the tumors. A $x^2$-test showed that in tumors <4 cm in diameter, the p-value for results better than a partial response was 0.034. With respect to procedural complications, there was 1 case of blood-tinged sputum which resolved spontaneously within 1 or 2 days, a spontaneously relieved case of subcutaneous emphysema, and 1 patient with a fever. There were no mortalities and the average hospital stay was 6.3 days. Conclusion: The effects of cryosurgery on primary lung cancer is greatest in patients with small tumors. Considering the facts that cryosurgery is minimally invasive, has a low complication rate, and can be performed repetitively, we believe that it may play an important role in the treatment of high risk lung cancer patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.5 s.274
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• pp.362-368
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• 2007

Background: Spontaneous pneumothorax patients with blebs or bullae are considered to be good candidates for operation, and various objective diagnostic modalities have been performed for detection of blebs and bullae. This study was performed to compare the efficacy of thoracoscopic examination with using a minimally invasive 2 mm thoracoscope with high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) for treating primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Material and Method: From June 2001 to March 2002, 34 patients with spontaneous pneumothorax undewent study with 2 mm video-thoracoscopic examination and HRCT. We regarded a blob larger than 5 mm in diameter as significant. Standard thoracoscopic wedge resection was performed in 18 patients with significant blob via a 2 mm video-thoracoscopic examination. 1 patient incurred bleeding, and the remaining 15 patients were treated with pleural drainage. Result: Multiple or single blob lesions were detected by 2 mm video-thoracoscope in 52.9% (18/34) of the patients with primary pneumothorax. For a total of 19 patients who were operated on, the diagnostic accuracy of the 2 mm video-thoracoscopic examination for bullae and blob was 94.7% (18/19), which was superior to that of HRCT (73.7%, 14/19). At a mean follow-up of $30{\pm}3$ months, no recurrence occurred in both the operative group and the non-operative group. Conclusion: 2 mm video-thoracoscopic examination under local anesthesia has higher diagnostic accuracy than HRCT, and it is a useful alternative for determining the operative indications for spontaneous pneumothorax.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.153-164
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• 2010

To determine the clinical target volumes considering vascularity and cellularity of tumors, the software was developed for mapping of the analyzed biological clinical target volumes on anatomical images using regional cerebral blood volume (rCBV) maps and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps. The program provides the functions for integrated registrations using mutual information, affine transform and non-rigid registration. The registration accuracy is evaluated by the calculation of the overlapped ratio of segmented bone regions and average distance difference of contours between reference and registered images. The performance of the developed software was tested using multimodal images of a patient who has the residual tumor of high grade gliomas. Registration accuracy of about 74% and average 2.3 mm distance difference were calculated by the evaluation method of bone segmentation and contour extraction. The registration accuracy can be improved as higher as 4% by the manual adjustment functions. Advanced MR images are analyzed using color maps for rCBV maps and quantitative calculation based on region of interest (ROI) for ADC maps. Then, multi-parameters on the same voxels are plotted on plane and constitute the multi-functional parametric maps of which x and y axis representing rCBV and ADC values. According to the distributions of functional parameters, tumor regions showing the higher vascularity and cellularity are categorized according to the criteria corresponding malignant gliomas. Determined volumes reflecting pathological and physiological characteristics of tumors are marked on anatomical images. By applying the multi-functional images, errors arising from using one type of image would be reduced and local regions representing higher probability as tumor cells would be determined for radiation treatment plan. Biological tumor characteristics can be expressed using image registration and multi-functional parametric maps in the developed software. The software can be considered to delineate clinical target volumes using advanced MR images with anatomical images.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 1991

There are some rather conflicting reports correlating ECS-induced changes of brain acetylcholine, and recently, Zawia and Bondy(1990) proposed the biological role of polyamine system in the long-term adaptive responses of brain to electrical stimulation. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of a single or repeated ECS(10mA, 100cps, 1sec; 5 ECS spread out over 9 days) on the brain acetylcholine(ACh) and polyamine contents of male mice. The ACh contents of temporal cortex(TCx) and decorticated cerebrum(dc-CB) were markedly increased by 79.9% and 49.4%, respectively, 10 and 30 min after ECS, and the increases were significantly attenuated with repeated 5 ECS, particularly in dc-CB. The putrescine concentrations of both TCx and dc-CB were little different and not affected by 1 ECS or 5 ECS. But the spermidine(Sd) concentration was higher in dc-CB and spermine(Sm) higher in TCx. While they were moderately decreased after 1 ECS, and their decreases were accentuated after 5 ECS, particularly in dc-CB.Sm(30mg/kg, i.p. inject. 30min before ECS) did not affect the ECS-induced increase of ACh content. Thease results suggest that both of brain ACh and polyamine may be implicated with the long-term adaptive responses to electrical stimulation

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.542-547
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• 1996

All patients who underwent video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for diagnostic purposes from Jan. 1992 to Aug. 1995 were reviewed. The total number of patients were 111 with 57 male and 54 female, and the mean age was 49 years (range 1 to 74). Multiple biopsies from more than one location were performed in 17 patients , pleural biopsies were performed In 49 patients, lung biopsies in 43 patients, mediastinal mass or Iymph node biopsies in 33 patients, and two pericardium biopsies and one dia- phragm biopsy, for a total of 128 biopsies. Seventeen pleural biopsy cases and one lung biopsy case underwent operation under local anesthesia , the rest were performed under general anesthesia. In patients who underwent lung biopsy, the mean age was 49.1 ye rs (range 22~ 73). The operating time was 40 to 170 minutes (mean 97), intravenous or intramuscular injection for pain control was required 0 to 22 times(mean 4.7), and chest tube was inserted from 1 to 26 days(mean 7). In all patients except two, a diagnosis was obtained from the biopsy and complication was encountered in one patient in whom intraoperative paroxysmal atrial tachycardia was detected. In 7 patients, a thorn- cotomy had to be done due to pleural adhesion or intraoperative bleeding, and 7 patients had postoperative complications associated with the chest tube. In the pleural biopsy group, the mean age was 49 years (range 17~ 74). The operating time was 25 to 80 minutes (mean 49), intravenous or intramuscular injection for pain control was needed 0 to 20 times (mean 3.6), and the chest tube was i.nserted for 0 to 67 days(mean 9.8). In all the patients, a diagnosis was possible. The chest tube was inserted for longer than 7 days in 11 patients. In the Iymph node biopsy roup, the mean age was 44.2 years (range 1 ~ 68). The operating time was )0 to 3)5 minutes(mean 105), pain control was required 0 to 15 times(mean 3.2), and a chest tube was kept in place for 1 to 36 days(mean 6.1). In one patient, a diagnosis was not possible and a chest tube was kept in place for longer than 7 days in 7 patients. In the multiple biopsy group, the mean age was 53.1 years(range 20~ 71). The operating time was 15 to 165 minutes(mean 85), and pain control was done from 0 to 17 times(mean 3.1). The chest tube was kept in place for 1 to 16 days (mean 7.9).

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.317-322
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• 2009

Purpose: $^{18}$F-flurodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake on positron emission tomography (PET) scan has been found to reflect tumor aggressiveness and prognosis in various types of cancer. However, pattern of FDG uptake in biliary malignancies and its clinical significance have not been studied well. The purpose of this study was to assess the additional value of $^{18}$F-FDG PET in differential diagnosis and prognosis of cholangiocarcinoma (CC) according to the tumor location and tumor morphology. Materials and Methods: From April 2005 to May 2008, eighty two patients (M:F = 55:27, age 66.2$\pm$9.6 yrs) with CC underwent $^{18}$F-FDG PET. For semiquantitative analysis, the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV$_{max}$) was obtained from the primary tumor. The difference of SUV$_{max}$ according to the tumor location and tumor growth pattern, such as scirrhous type, nodular type, polypoid type were compared. Results: Overall sensitivity of PET scan was 81.7% in CC. SUV$_{max}$ on PET scan in intrahepatic CC was significantly higher compared to extrahepatic CC. In extrahepatic CC, polypoid type showed significantly higher SUV$_{max}$ compared to scirrhous type. Conclusion: $^{18}$F-FDG PET may have a significant impact on clinical decision-making and on the management of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. And it is related to the shape of the tumor and the sensitivity of detection is higher in the mass-forming type than in the scirrhous type.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.244-252
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• 1998

The thyroid nodules are the most common endocrine disease requiring surgical management. We perfomed a clinical study of 298 cases with thyroid nodules, who were admitted to and operated at the Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Gyeong sang National University from January 1987 to April 1997 and the results were summarized as follows: 1) Patients were composed of 214 cases(71.8%) of benign nodule and 84 cases(28.2%) of malignant nodule. Benign and malignant nodules were prevalent in fifth decade. 2) The sex distribution showed a preponderance of females with ratio of 5.88:1 in benign nodule and 11:1 in malignant nodule. 3) The nodules were located in the right lobe(134 cases, 44.9%), the left lobe(121 cases, 40.6%), both lobes(34 cases, 11.4%), and isthmus(8 cases, 2.7%). The possibility of malignancy was higher in the solid rather than cystic lesions. 4) Radioactive iodine scintiscans were perfomed in 273 cases and revealed cold nodules in 237 cases(86.8%), 58 of these cases(24.4%) were malignant. 5) According to the histopathologic classification, benign nodules included follicular adenomas 136 cases(63.5%), adenomatous goiters 67 cases(31.3%), Hurthle cell adenomas 4 cases(1.9%), cysts 3 cases(1.4%) and thyroiditis 4 cases(1.4%). In malignant nodules, papillary carcinomas 72 cases(85.7%), follicular carcinoma 8 cases(9.5%), undifferentiated carcinoma 2 cases(2.4%), medullary carcinoma 1 case(1.2%) and malignant lymphoma 1 case(1.2%). 6) The most commonly performed operative procedure was a lobectomy with isthmusectomy(85.5%) for bengn nodules and a total thyroidectomy(51.2%) for malignant nodules. 7) The rate of complications was higher in the cases with malignant nodules(20.2%) than in the benign cases(0.5%). The recurrence rate was 8.3%(7 cases).

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2010

Purpose : To evaluate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinicopathological features of triple negative breast cancer, and compare them with those of non-triple negative breast cancer. Materials and Methods : This study included 231 pathologically confirmed breast cancers from January 2007 to May 2008. We retrospectively reviewed the MRI findings according to the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) lexicon: mass or non-mass type, mass shape, mass margin, non-mass distribution, and enhancement pattern. Histologic type, histologic grade, and the results for epidermal growth factor receptor, p53, and Ki 67 were reviewed. Results : Of 231 patients, 43(18.6%) were triple negative breast cancer. Forty triple negative breast cancers (93.0%) were mass-type lesion on MRI. A round or oval or lobular shape (p=0.006) and rim enhancement (p=0.004) were significantly more in triple negative breast cancer than non- triple negative breast cancer. In contrast, irregular shape (p=0.006) and spiculated margins (p=0.032) were significantly more in non-triple negative breast cancer. Old age (p=0.019), high histologic grade (p<0.0001), EGFR positivity (p<0.0001), p53 overexpression (p=0.038), and Ki 67 expression (<0.0001) were significantly associated with the triple negative breast cancer. Conclusion : MRI finding may be helpful for differentiation between triple negative and non-triple negative breast cancer.