• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.347-370
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• 2019

In the computer-aided detection (CAD) system of pulmonary nodules, a high false positive rate is common because the density and the computed tomography (CT) values of the vessel and the nodule in the CT images are similar, which affects the detection accuracy of pulmonary nodules. In this paper, a method of automatic detection of pulmonary nodules based on multi-scale enhancement filters and 3D shape features is proposed. The method uses an iterative threshold and a region growing algorithm to segment lung parenchyma. Two types of multi-scale enhancement filters are constructed to enhance the images of nodules and blood vessels in 3D lung images, and most of the blood vessel images in the nodular images are removed to obtain a suspected nodule image. An 18 neighborhood region growing algorithm is then used to extract the lung nodules. A new pulmonary nodules feature descriptor is proposed, and the features of the suspected nodules are extracted. A support vector machine (SVM) classifier is used to classify the pulmonary nodules. The experimental results show that our method can effectively detect pulmonary nodules and reduce false positive rates, and the feature descriptor proposed in this paper is valid which can be used to distinguish between nodules and blood vessels.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.391-397
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• 2009

Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo kiautschensis) is a natural monument (No. 324) and is also classified as an endangered wildlife grade II the Ministry of Environment of Korea. Eurasian eagle owl is threatened by the human being. But the efficient rescue and treatment for Eurasian eagle owl are still problematic, due to lack of basic data. In this study, to obtain basic resources for establishing more efficient rescue system, we held a physical examination and measured size physical part. In addition, we analyzed blood sample and feces samples and autopsy. We conduct the physical examination with measuring tapes and scales for 16 live features and 11 dead features. After inhalation anesthesia take the blood samples from wing vein. Blood samples are analyzed in hematologic and chemistric methods. We collected the feces through individual floor of cages from 12 live features and conducted the feces analysis. Autopsy was conducted for 11 dead samples. In physical examination, the mean body weight and total length of live features was 2.26${\pm}$0.35kg, 61${\pm}$2.38cm, the mean body weight and total length of dead features was 1.57${\pm}$0.51kg, 59.31${\pm}$3.51cm. Mean PCV was 46.57${\pm}$4.97%, while mean TPP was 3.49${\pm}$0.57g/dL. In feces sample analysis, 9 of 12 owls(75%) were infested by gastrointestinal helminths. The infection rates were: Trematoda (41.7%), Capilaria sp.(66.7%), acanthocephalans (25%). In autopsy, we confirmed 11 features were infested by duplicated infection of more than 2 helminths. Result of this study will be used for establishing reference range for physical features, blood analysis in Eurasian eagle owl. Therefore, to obtain basic resources for establishing more efficient rescue system, we have to make long-term conservation plans for Eurasian eagle owl.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.249-253
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• 2013

Background: Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is an aggressive tumor of mesothelial surfaces. Previous studies have observed an association between ABO blood groups and risk of certain malignancies, including pancreatic and gastric cancer; however, no information on any association with MM risk is available. The aim of this study was to investigate possible associations amoong MM clinicopathological features and ABO blood groups and Rh factor. Materials and Methods: In 252 patients with MM, the ABO blood group and Rh factor were examined and compared with the control group of 3,022,883 healthy volunteer blood donors of Turkish Red Crescent between 2004 and 2011. The relationship of blood groups with various clinicopathological features were also evaluated in the patient group. Results: The median age was 55 (range: 27-86) and 61.5% of patients were male. While 82.8% of patients had a history of exposure to asbestos, 60.7% of patients had a smoking history. Epithelioid (65.1%) was the most common histology and 18.7% of patients had mixed histology. Overall, the ABO blood group distribution of the 252 patients with MM was comparable with the general population. The median overall survival (OS) was 14 months (95% confidence interval, 11.3-16.6 months). The median OS for A, B, AB, and O were 11, 15, 16, and 15 months respectively (p=0.396). First line chemotherapy was administered to 118 patients. The median OS of patients on pemetrexed or gemcitabine was longer than patient who was not administered chemotherapy [17 months (95%CI, 11.7-22.2) vs. 9 months (95%CI, 6.9-11.0); p<0.001]. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that patients with MM can benefit from treatment with pemetrexed or gemcitabine in combination with cisplatin. We did not observe a statistically significant association between ABO blood group and risk of MM.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.1-4
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• 2009

Objective : In the present study, the authors investigated the clinical and imaging features as well as the therapeutic outcomes of SIH (spontaneous intracranial hypotension) patients. Methods : A retrospective review of 12 SIH patients was carried out. The diagnostic work-up included lumbar tapping and measurement of CSF opening pressure, radioisotope cisternography, brain and spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography (CT) myelography. Autologous epidural blood patching was performed in patients who did not respond to conservative therapies, including analgesics, steroids, hydration and rest. Results : Typical postural headache was found in 11 (91%) patients. Nine (75%) patients showed pachymeningeal enhancement on their initial T1-weighted MR images. The CSF opening pressure was less than 60 mm$H_2O$ in 9 of 11 patients. Autologous epidural blood patching was performed in 7 patients, and all of them showed good responses. Conclusion : SIH can present with various clinical presentations and neuroimaging findings. Autologous epidural blood patching is thought to be the treatment of choice for patients with SIH.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1257-1264
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• 2019

The traditional cuff-based method for BP(Blood Pressure) measurement is not suitable for continuous real-time BP measurement techniques. For this reason, the previous studies estimated various blood pressures by fusion with the electrocardiography (ECG) and photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor signals. However, conventional techniques based on PPG bio-sensing measurement face many challenging issues such as noisy supply fluctuation, small pulsation, and drifting non-pulsatile. This paper proposed a novel BP estimation methods using PPG and ECG sensors, which can be derived from the relationship between PPG and ECG using PTT(Pulse Transit Time) and PWV(Pulse Wave Velocity). Unlike conventional height ratio features, which are extracted on the basis of the peaks in the PPG and ECG waveform. The proposed method can be reliably obtained even if there are missing peaks among the sensed PPG signal. The increased reliability comes from periodical estimation of the peak-to-peak interval time using ECG and PPG. After 250,000 times trials of the blood pressure measurement, the proposed estimation technique was verified with the accuracy of ±28.5% error, compared to a commercialized BP device.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.183-192
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• 2019

Objective : The objective of this study was to analyze patient-specific blood flow in ruptured aneurysms using obtained non-Newtonian viscosity and to observe associated hemodynamic features and morphological effects. Methods : Five patients with acute subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by ruptured posterior communicating artery aneurysms were included in the study. Patients' blood samples were measured immediately after enrollment. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was conducted to evaluate viscosity distributions and wall shear stress (WSS) distributions using a patient-specific geometric model and shear-thinning viscosity properties. Results : Substantial viscosity change was found at the dome of the aneurysms studied when applying non-Newtonian blood viscosity measured at peak-systole and end-diastole. The maximal WSS of the non-Newtonian model on an aneurysm at peak-systole was approximately 16% lower compared to Newtonian fluid, and most of the hemodynamic features of Newtonian flow at the aneurysms were higher, except for minimal WSS value. However, the differences between the Newtonian and non-Newtonian flow were not statistically significant. Rupture point of an aneurysm showed low WSS regardless of Newtonian or non-Newtonian CFD analyses. Conclusion : By using measured non-Newtonian viscosity and geometry on patient-specific CFD analysis, morphologic differences in hemodynamic features, such as changes in whole blood viscosity and WSS, were observed. Therefore, measured non-Newtonian viscosity might be possibly useful to obtain patient-specific hemodynamic and morphologic result.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 2007

The flow characteristics of chicken blood in a micro-tube with a $100{\mu}m$ diameter are investigated using a micro-Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique. Chicken blood with 40% hematocrit is supplied into the micro-tube using a syringe pump. For comparison, the same experiments are repeated for human blood with 40% hematocrit. Chicken blood flow has a cell-free layer near the tube wall, and this layer's thickness increases with the increased flow speed due to radial migration. As a hemorheological feature, the aggregation index of chicken blood is about 50% less than that of human blood. Therefore, the non-Newtonian fluid features of chicken blood are not very remarkable compared with those of human blood. As the flow rate increases, the blunt velocity profile in the central region of the micro-tube sharpens, and the parabolicshaped shear stress distribution becomes to have a linear profile. The viscosity of both blood samples in a low shear rate condition is overestimated, while the viscosity in a high shear rate range is underestimated due to radial migration and the presence of a cell-depleted layer.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.83 no.3
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• pp.185-194
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• 2020

Blood eosinophil counts have emerged as a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) biomarker that predict the effects of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in clinical practice. Post-hoc and prospective analysis of randomized control trials have shown that higher blood eosinophil counts at the start of the study predict a greater response to ICS. COPD patients with frequent exacerbations (2 or more moderate exacerbations/yr) or a history of hospitalization have a greater response to ICS. Ex-smokers also appear to have a greater ICS response. Blood eosinophil counts can be combined with clinical information such as exacerbation history and smoking status to enable a precision medicine approach to the use of ICS. Higher blood eosinophil counts are associated with increased eosinophilic lung inflammation, and other biological features that may contribute to the increased ICS response observed. Emerging data indicates that lower blood eosinophil counts are associated with an increased risk of bacterial infection, suggesting complex relationships between eosinophils, ICS response, and the airway microbiome.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.233-242
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• 2021

Objective: To evaluate the association of MRI features with the major genomic profiles and prognosis of World Health Organization grade III (G3) gliomas compared with those of glioblastomas (GBMs). Materials and Methods: We enrolled 76 G3 glioma and 155 GBM patients with pathologically confirmed disease who had pretreatment brain MRI and major genetic information of tumors. Qualitative and quantitative imaging features, including volumetrics and histogram parameters, such as normalized cerebral blood volume (nCBV), cerebral blood flow (nCBF), and apparent diffusion coefficient (nADC) were evaluated. The G3 gliomas were divided into three groups for the analysis: with this isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-mutation, IDH mutation and a chromosome arm 1p/19q-codeleted (IDHmut1p/19qdel), IDH mutation, 1p/19q-nondeleted (IDHmut1p/19qnondel), and IDH wildtype (IDHwt). A prediction model for the genetic profiles of G3 gliomas was developed and validated on a separate cohort. Both the quantitative and qualitative imaging parameters and progression-free survival (PFS) of G3 gliomas were compared and survival analysis was performed. Moreover, the imaging parameters and PFS between IDHwt G3 gliomas and GBMs were compared. Results: IDHmut G3 gliomas showed a larger volume (p = 0.017), lower nCBF (p = 0.048), and higher nADC (p = 0.007) than IDHwt. Between the IDHmut tumors, IDHmut1p/19qdel G3 gliomas had higher nCBV (p = 0.024) and lower nADC (p = 0.002) than IDHmut1p/19qnondel G3 gliomas. Moreover, IDHmut1p/19qdel tumors had the best prognosis and IDHwt tumors had the worst prognosis among G3 gliomas (p < 0.001). PFS was significantly associated with the 95th percentile values of nCBV and nCBF in G3 gliomas. There was no significant difference in neither PFS nor imaging features between IDHwt G3 gliomas and IDHwt GBMs. Conclusion: We found significant differences in MRI features, including volumetrics, CBV, and ADC, in G3 gliomas, according to IDH mutation and 1p/19q codeletion status, which can be utilized for the prediction of genomic profiles and the prognosis of G3 glioma patients. The MRI signatures and prognosis of IDHwt G3 gliomas tend to follow those of IDHwt GBMs.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.03b
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• pp.6-9
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• 2008

Analyzing the characteristics of blood flow in the blood vessels is very important to diagnose the circulatory diseases. In order to investigate the hemodynamic characteristics in vivo, the measurements of blood flows inside the extraembryonic arterial and venous blood vessels of chicken embryos were carried out using an in vivo micro-PIV technique. The circulatory diseases are closely related with the formation of abnormal hemodynamic shear stress regions, thereby it is important to get blood velocity and vessel's morphological information according to the vessel configuration and the flow conditions. In this study, the flow images of RBCs in blood vessels were obtained using a high-speed CMOS camera with a spatial resolution of approximately 14.6${\mu}$m${\times}$14.6${\mu}$m in the whole circulation network of blood vessels. The blood flows in the veins and arteries show steady laminar and unsteady pulsatile flow characteristics, respectively. The mean blood flows merged (in veins) and bifurcated (in arteries) smoothly into the main blood vessel and branches, respectively, without any flow separation or secondary flow which accompanying large variation of shear stress. Vorticity was high in the inner regions for both types of vessels, where the radius of curvature varied greatly. The instantaneous flows in the arterial blood vessels showed noticeable pulsatility due to the heart beat, and the main features of the velocity waveforms, including pulsatile shape, retrograde flow, mean velocity, maximum velocity and pulsatile frequency, were significantly dependent on the pulsatile condition which dominates the arterial blood flow. In near future, these in vivo experimental results of blood flow measured in various extraembryonic blood vessels would be very useful to understand the hemodynamic characteristics of human blood flows and various blood flow researches for clinically useful hemodynamic discoveries as well.