• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.841-848
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• 2013

Background: The incidence of various types of cancers including the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has increased during the recent years. Diet and lifestyle factors have been reported to play an important role in the etiology of NHL. However, no such data are available from the Middle Eastern countries, including Oman. Materials and Methods: Forty-three histologically confirmed cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) diagnosed at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) and the Royal Hospital (RH), Muscat, Oman and forty-three age and gender matched controls were the subjects of this study. Frequency matching was used to select the control population. Information on social and demographic data as well as the dietary intake was collected by personal interviews, using a 117-items semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Results: A non-significant increased risk of NHL was observed with higher body mass index (BMI) (OR=1.20, 95%CI: 0.45, 2.93), whereas a significantly decreased risk of NHL was associated with a higher educational level (OR=0.12, 95%CI: 0.03, 0.53). A significantly increased risk was observed for higher intake of energy (OR=2.67, 95%CI: 0.94, 7.57), protein (OR=1.49, 95%CI: 0.54, 4.10) and carbohydrates (OR=5.32, 95%CI: 1.78, 15.86). Higher consumption of daily servings from cereals (OR=3.25, 95%CI: 0.87, 12.09) and meat groups (OR=1.55, 95%CI: 0.58, 4.15) were also found to be associated with risk of NHL, whereas a significantly reduced risk was associated with higher consumption of vegetables (OR=0.24, 95%CI: 0.07, 0.82). The consumption of fruits, milk and dairy products however showed no significant association with the risk of developing NHL. Conclusion: The results suggest that obesity, high caloric intake, higher consumption of carbohydrate and protein are associated with increased risk of NHL, whereas a significantly reduced risk was observed with higher intake of vegetables.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.443-451
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• 2017

Mammography is commonly used for screening early breast cancer. However, mammographic images, which depend on the physical properties of breast components, are limited to provide information about whether a lesion is malignant or benign. Although a dual-energy subtraction technique decomposes a certain material from a mixture, it increases radiation dose and degrades the accuracy of material decomposition. In this study, we simulated a breast phantom using attenuation characteristics, and we proposed a technique to enable the accurate material decomposition by applying weighting factors for the dual-energy mammography based on a photon-counting detector using a Monte Carlo simulation tool. We also evaluated the contrast and noise of simulated breast images for validating the proposed technique. As a result, the contrast for a malignant tumor in the dual-energy weighted subtraction technique was 0.98 and 1.06 times similar than those in the general mammography and dual-energy subtraction techniques, respectively. However the contrast between malignant and benign tumors dramatically increased 13.54 times due to the low contrast of a benign tumor. Therefore, the proposed technique can increase the material decomposition accuracy for malignant tumor and improve the diagnostic accuracy of mammography.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartD
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• v.15D no.6
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• pp.767-776
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• 2008

Microarray technology is extensively being used in experimental molecular biology field. Microarray experiments generate quantitative expression measurements for thousands of genes simultaneously, which is useful for the phenotype classification of many diseases. One of the two major problems in microarray data classification is that the number of genes exceeds the number of tissue samples. The other problem is that current methods generate classifiers that are accurate but difficult to interpret. Our paper addresses these two problems. We performed a direct integration of individual microarrays with same biological objectives by transforming an expression value into a rank value within a sample and generated rank-comparison decision rules with variable number of genes for cancer classification. Our classifier is an ensemble method which has k top scoring decision rules. Each rule contains a number of genes, a relationship among involved genes, and a class label. Current classifiers which are also ensemble methods consist of k top scoring decision rules. However these classifiers fix the number of genes in each rule as a pair or a triple. In this paper we generalized the number of genes involved in each rule. The number of genes in each rule is in the range of 2 to N respectively. Generalizing the number of genes increases the robustness and the reliability of the classifier for the class prediction of an independent sample. Also our classifier is readily interpretable, accurate with small number of genes, and shed a possibility of the use in a clinical setting.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.207-213
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• 2006

Purpose: This study was performed to evaluate the usefulness of computed tomography (CT) gastrography in the surgical management of a gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathologic data of 38 patients who had undergone CT gastrography from among patients who had gastric GISTS surgically resected at the Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital, between January 2001 and February 2006. We compared CT gastrography data, including tumor size and location and distance from the gastroesophageal junction or pylorus with endoscopic, surgical and pathologic findings. Results: The longitudinal tumor locations on CT gastrography and endoscopy were identical to the surgical findings. For tumor sizes on CT gastrography of less than 5 cm, we performed 11 (42.3%) laparoscopic wedge resections from among 26 cases. In the 12 cases with tumor sizes of 5 cm or over, only 1 (8.3%) laparoscopic wedge resection was performed. When the tumor was located in the middle third of the stomach, a laparoscopic wedge resection was performed in 88.9% (8/9) of the cases, but when it was located in the upper or lower third, a laparoscopic wedge resection was performed in only 13.8% (4/29) of the cases. Conclusion: Three-dimensional information from CT gastrography allows the surgeon to perform preoperative planning, including accurate localization.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.229-238
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• 2018

Background Nipple-sparing mastectomies (NSMs) are increasingly performed to obtain the best aesthetic and psychological outcomes in breast cancer treatment. However, merely preserving the nipple-areolar complex (NAC) does not guarantee a good outcome. Darkly pigmented NACs and a tendency for poor scarring outcomes are particular challenges when treating Asian patients. Herein, we review the reconstructive outcomes following NSM at Singapore General Hospital. Methods All breasts reconstructed following NSM over an 11-year period from 2005 to 2015 were reviewed. Information was collected from the patients' records on mastectomy indications, operative details, and complications. Patient satisfaction, breast sensation, and aesthetic outcomes were evaluated in 15 patients. Sensation was quantified using the Semmes-Weinstein monofilament test. Results A total of 142 NSMs were performed in 133 patients for breast cancer (n=122, 85.9%) or risk reduction (n=20, 14.1%). Of the procedures, 114 (80.2%) were autologous reconstructions, while 27 (19.0%) were reconstructions with implants. Complications occurred in 28 breasts (19.7%), with the most common complication being NAC necrosis, which occurred in 17 breasts (12.0%). Four breasts (2.8%) had total NAC necrosis. The overall mean patient satisfaction score was 3.0 (good). The sensation scores were significantly diminished in the skin envelope, areola, and nipple of breasts that had undergone NSM compared to non-operated breasts (P<0.05). Half of the subset of 15 patients in whom aesthetic outcomes were evaluated had reduced nipple projection. Conclusions Immediate reconstruction after NSM was performed with a low complication rate in this series, predominantly through autologous reconstruction. Patients should be informed of potential drawbacks, including NAC necrosis, reduced nipple projection, and diminished sensation.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.805-811
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• 2016

The present study was performed to evaluate the anti-oxidant and anti-proliferating activity of the water extract mixture of Cordyceps militaris (CM) and Allium tuberosum (AT). The water extract mixture rate of CM and AT was optimized by means of a sensory evaluation test. The optimized mixture rate were decided at 70% of CM, 30% of AT, and 10% of apple concentrate as an additive. The values of total acidity, pH, sugar contents, and turbidity of the water extract mixture were 0.1%, 4.28, 9.10 °Brix, and 1.48 respectively. The water extract mixture had effective DPPH radical scavenging activity, reducing power effect, and ABTS radical activity. DPPH radical activities of the water extract and the water extract mixture were 43.2% and 51.7% respectively; their reducing power (OD₇₀₀) was 1.14 and 1.43 respectively; and ABTS^.+ radical activities were 47.1% and 62.2% respectively. Also, the water extract mixture showed a higher anti-proliferating effect than the AT extract on human prostate cancer cells. These results provided experimental evidence that the water extract mixture of CM and AT is a better source of anti-oxidant and anti-cancer ingredients than a single extract of CM. In conclusion, the water extract mixture of CM and AT will be beneficial in development of a functional drink.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2008

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(HNSCC) is notorious for its poor outcome and increasing incidence. But, the studies of cytogenetic analysis in HNSCC are relatively rare, because of difficulties in culturing solid tumor cells and complexity in chromosomal DNA abberations associated with the lesions. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the location of chromosomal aberrations in Korean HNSCC cell lines (SNU-1041, 1066, and 1076) with comparative genomic hybridization(CGH) and array based CGH(array-CGH). Chromosomal gains of 3q23-q27, 5p13-p15.3, 7p21-pter, 8q11.2-q12, 8q21.1-qter, 9q22-q34, 16q22-q24, and 20q11.2-qter, as well as chromosomal losses on 3p10-p14 were found in all 3 SNU cell lines. Losses on 3p15- p23, 4q22-q27, 4q31.3-qter, 6q14-q15, 7q31-q34, 8p12-pter, 18q21-q23, and 21q11.2-q12 were observed in 2 of 3 cell lines. In array-CGH, many genes were altered including gains of PIK3CA, MYC, EVI1, MAD1L1 genes and losses of SERPIN genes. These aberrations of gene and chromosome coincide with other results of study, generally. These data about the patterns of chromosomal aberrations could be a basic step for understanding more detailed genetic events in the carcinogenesis and also provide information for diagosis and treatment in HNSCC.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1314-1323
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• 1999

컴퓨터의 사용이 일반화됨에 따라 데이타를 생성하고 수집하는 것이 용이해졌다. 이에 따라 데이타로부터 자동적으로 유용한 지식을 얻는 기술이 필요하게 되었다. 데이타 마이닝에서 얻어진 지식은 정확성과 이해성을 충족해야 한다. 본 논문에서는 데이타 마이닝을 위하여 퍼지 결정트리에 기반한 효율적인 퍼지 규칙을 생성하는 알고리즘을 제안한다. 퍼지 결정트리는 ID3와 C4.5의 이해성과 퍼지이론의 추론과 표현력을 결합한 방법이다. 특히, 퍼지 규칙은 속성 축에 평행하게 판단 경계선을 결정하는 방법으로는 어려운 속성 축에 평행하지 않는 경계선을 갖는 패턴을 효율적으로 분류한다. 제안된 알고리즘은 첫째, 각 속성 데이타의 히스토그램 분석을 통해 적절한 소속함수를 생성한다. 둘째, 주어진 소속함수를 바탕으로 ID3와 C4.5와 유사한 방법으로 퍼지 결정트리를 생성한다. 또한, 유전자 알고리즘을 이용하여 소속함수를 조율한다. IRIS 데이타, Wisconsin breast cancer 데이타, credit screening 데이타 등 벤치마크 데이타들에 대한 실험 결과 제안된 방법이 C4.5 방법을 포함한 다른 방법보다 성능과 규칙의 이해성에서 보다 효율적임을 보인다.Abstract With an extended use of computers, we can easily generate and collect data. There is a need to acquire useful knowledge from data automatically. In data mining the acquired knowledge needs to be both accurate and comprehensible. In this paper, we propose an efficient fuzzy rule generation algorithm based on fuzzy decision tree for data mining. We combine the comprehensibility of rules generated based on decision tree such as ID3 and C4.5 and the expressive power of fuzzy sets. Particularly, fuzzy rules allow us to effectively classify patterns of non-axis-parallel decision boundaries, which are difficult to do using attribute-based classification methods.In our algorithm we first determine an appropriate set of membership functions for each attribute of data using histogram analysis. Given a set of membership functions then we construct a fuzzy decision tree in a similar way to that of ID3 and C4.5. We also apply genetic algorithm to tune the initial set of membership functions. We have experimented our algorithm with several benchmark data sets including the IRIS data, the Wisconsin breast cancer data, and the credit screening data. The experiment results show that our method is more efficient in performance and comprehensibility of rules compared with other methods including C4.5.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.2857-2860
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• 2016

Background: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection is one of the important causes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Thailand, involved in the pathogenesis and leading to a development of HCC with or without cirrhotic changes of the liver. This study was aimed to investigate the predictive factors for HCC among CHB patients in a tertiary care center in Thailand. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of CHB patients with or without HCC during the period of January 2009 and December 2014 at Thammasat University Hospital, Pathumthani, Thailand. Data on clinical characteristics, biochemical tests and radiologic findings were collected from review of medical records. Results: A total of 266 patients were diagnosed with CHB in Thammasat university hospital during the study period. However, clinical information of only 164/266 CHB patients (98 males, 66 females with mean age of 49.4 years) could be completely retrieved in this study. The prevalence of HCC in CHB infection in this study was 38/164 (23.2%). CHB patients with HCC had a mean age older than those without HCC (59.5 vs 47 years, P-value = 0.01). Furthermore, history of upper GI bleeding, tattooing, blood transfusion, and chronic alcoholism were significantly more common in CHB patients with HCC than patients without HCC (13.2% vs 3.2% P-value 0.03, OR = 4.6, 95%CI = 1.2-18.1, 20% vs 3.9%, P-value = 0.01, OR= 6.1, 95% CI= 1.6-23.6, 20% vs 6.3%, P-value = 0.03, OR = 3.8, 95%CI =1.1-12.7, 62.2% vs 30.3%, P-value <0.0001, OR = 3.7, 95%CI= 1.7-8.1 respectively). Interestingly, more CHB patients with HCC had evidence of cirrhosis than those without HCC (78.9% vs 20.4%, P-value <0.0001, OR = 14.6, 95%CI = 5.8-36.7). In CHB patients with HCC, surgical therapy provided longer survival than radiofrequency ablation (RFA) (72 vs 46.5 months, P-value= 0.04). The mean survival time after HCC diagnosis was 17.2 months. Conclusions: HCC remains a major problem among patients with CHB infection in Thailand. Possible risk factors are male gender, history of upper GI bleeding, chronic alcoholism, tattooing, blood transfusion and evidence of cirrhosis. For early stage HCC patients, surgical treatment provided longer survival time than RFA. Most HCC patients presented with advanced disease and had a grave prognosis. Appropriate screening of CHB patients at risk for HCC might be an appropriate approach for early detection and improvement of long-term outcomes.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.427-436
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• 2021

Background: Pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies have been used to treat patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). However, the effect of therapies in cancer patients has yet to be investigated comprehensively. We hypothesized that cyclic thermal therapy would improve blood flow and microcirculation and improve the symptoms driven by CIPN. Methods: The criteria of assessment were blood volume in region of interest (ROI) in the images, and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Quality of Life Questionnaire-Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy 20 questionnaire scores. The blood volume was quantified by using red blood cell (RBC) scintigraphy. All patients were treated 10 times during 10 days. The thermal stimulations, between 15° and 41°, were repeatedly delivered to the patient's hands. Results: The total score of the questionnaires, the score of questions related to the upper limbs, the score of questions closely related to the upper limbs, and the score excluding the upper limbs questions was decreased. The blood volume was decreased, and the variance of blood volume was decreased. During cooling stimulation, the blood volume was decreased, and its variance was decreased. During warming stimulation, the blood volume was decreased, and its variance was decreased. Conclusions: We suggest that cyclic thermal therapy is useful to alleviate CIPN symptoms by blood circulation improvement. RBC scintigraphy can provide the quantitative information on blood volume under certain conditions such as stress, as well as rest, in peripheral tissue.