• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1865-1868
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• 2016

Background: The number of patients with oral cancer in India is increasing gradually (especially in younger people). Although the diagnostic modalities and therapeutic management of oral cancer are improving, the treatment outcome and prognosis of oral cancer remain poor. The absence of definite early warning symptoms for most head and neck cancers suggests that sensitive and specific biomarkers are likely to be important in screening for high-risk patients. Aims: To analyze serum adenosine deaminase (ADA) levels in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cases who reported to our institute. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was performed on 100 histopathologically proven cases of OSCC (study group) and 100 normal healthy individuals (control group). Independent sample and one sample t-tests and one way ANOVA followed by Tuckey's POST HOC test were conducted for analysis. Results: Statistically significant increase in serum ADA levels was observed in OSCC cases compared to the control group. Also serum ADA level increased significantly with the histopathological grade. Conclusions: Serum ADA levels in OSCC may be a useful diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in clinical practice and our findings suggest that a large-scale study is warranted to confirm clinical utility as a prognostic and diagnostic biomarker.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.207-218
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• 2003

Myocardial perfusion imaging has been increasingly used to provide prognostic data and guidance on the choice of appropriate management of patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. The electrocardiogram gated myocardial SPECT program is corning into wide use with an advent of $^{99m}Tc-labeled$ tracers and an improvement of SPECT machines. The gated technique permits measurement of important cardiac prognostic indicators without any further discomforts or radiation burden in patients underwent standard myocardial perfusion SPECT. In addition, gated study significantly improves diagnostic yield by reducing the number of borderline interpretations and could find myocardial stunning and viable myocardium. Gated single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging allows the automated calculation of end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, ejection fraction, myocardial mass and the assessment of regional wall motion and thickening, and it have dramatically improved assessment of coronary artery disease in routine nuclear practice. This allows the simultaneous assessment of both perfusion and function within the same acquisition, and serves as a cost-effective technique for providing more diagnostic data with fewer diagnostic tests. Because the diagnostic and prognostic power derived from knowledge of left ventricular function can be added to that provided by assessing myocardial perfusion, gated SPECT imaging has rapidly gained widespread acceptance and is now used on a routine clinical basis in a growing number of laboratories, including South Korea. The gated SPECT technique for measurement of left ventricular parameters has been validated against a variety of well established techniques. In this work, overview of gated myocardial perfusion SPECT focus on functional parameters is presented.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.205-216
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• 2019

Diagnostic tests in medical fields detect or diagnose a disease with results measured by continuous or discrete ordinal data. The performance of a diagnostic test is summarized using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the curve (AUC). The diagnostic test is considered clinically useful if the outcomes in actually-positive cases are higher than actually-negative cases and the ROC curve is concave. In this study, we apply the stochastic ordering method in a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate the proper ROC curve and AUC when the diagnostic test results are measured in discrete ordinal data. We compare the conventional binormal model and binormal model under stochastic ordering. The simulation results and real data analysis for breast cancer indicate that the binormal model under stochastic ordering can be used to estimate the proper ROC curve with a small bias even though the sample sizes were small or the sample size of actually-negative cases varied from actually-positive cases. Therefore, it is appropriate to consider the binormal model under stochastic ordering in the presence of large differences for a sample size between actually-negative and actually-positive groups.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.5265-5272
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• 2016

Objective: The present study was conducted to evaluate invasive and noninvasive diagnostic methods for detection of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in patients admitted with dyspeptic complaints and to compare sensitivities and specificities. Method: Sets of four gastric biopsy specimens were obtained from a total of 126 patients included in the study. The presence of H. pylori was determined by invasive tests including culture, rapid urease test, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and histopathology. Among noninvasive tests, urea breath test, serological tests and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were performed. Results: H. pylori was isolated in 79 (62.7%) gastric biopsy cultures, whereas positivity was concluded for 105 (83.3%) patients by rapid urease test, for 106 (84.1%) by PCR, for 110 (87.3%) by histopathology, for 119 (94.4%) by urea breath test, and for 107 (84.9%) by ELISA. In the present study, the culture findings and histopathological examination findings were accepted as gold standard. According to the gold standard, urea breath test had the highest sensitivity (96.5%) and the lowest specificity (30%), whereas culture and histopathology had the highest specificities (100%). Conclusion: The use of PCR invasively with gastric biopsy samples yielded parallel results with the gold standard. PCR can be recommended for routine use in the diagnosis of H. pylori.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.581-589
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• 2003

The variable flotation response ores from different deposits results basically from mineralogical association and their differences. Development of new techniques for analyzing the metallurgical performance of flotation and other concentration processes is demanded even in the treatment of rather simple ores such as porphyry ores. Diagnostic metallurgical analysis can be used to quantify the most possible recovery processes. Several porphyry copper/gold ores around the world were used to examine the responses in flotation, gravity separation and cyanidation in order to define the linkage between the recovery processes for both copper and old values. Laboratory batch flotation, gravity separation and cyanidation tests were carried out on these samples. All results were used to correlate the relative recovery of copper and gold, and to predict the highest possible metal recovery in the system. The metallurgical predictions were made according to the flotation conditions used and gravity separation. The results of various concentration processes on each porphyry ore samples are presented and discussed. All seven samples have shown significantly different gold/copper metallurgy. The grade/recovery relationships of gold and copper in the laboratory batch tests for the best results and the plants are given in the Figures below. The results of laboratory tests show that the copper recoveries converged to about $90\%$, but the gold recoveries were spread over $55-80\%$, except the K S ore. Series of standard cyanidation tests on the flotation concentrate samples and gravity separation using Knelson Separator on heads ores were carried out to cross-link the metallurgy and mineralogy of gold in the porphyry ores.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 2019

Background and Objectives: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a disorder that usually occurs in the elderly, leading to dementia in some progressive cases. The purpose of this study is to examine the utility of central auditory processing tests as early diagnostic tools for identifying the elderly with MCI. Subjects and Methods: This study was conducted on 20 elderly patients with MCI and 20 healthy matched peers. The speech perception ability in a quiet environment and in the presence of background noise and also temporal resolution were assessed by using Speech Perception in Noise (SPIN) and Gap in Noise (GIN) tests, respectively. Results: The results indicated that the ability to understand speech in a quiet environment did not differ significantly between the two groups. However, SPIN at the three signal-to-noise ratios and the temporal resolution scores were significantly different between the two groups (p<0.001). Conclusions: Individuals with MCI appear to have poorer speech comprehension in noise and a lower temporal resolution than those of the same age, but without cognitive defects. Considering the utility of these tests in identifying cognitive problems, we propose that since the GIN test seems to be less influenced by intervening factors, this test can therefore, be a useful tool for the early screening of elderly people with cognitive problems.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 2019

Background and Objectives: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a disorder that usually occurs in the elderly, leading to dementia in some progressive cases. The purpose of this study is to examine the utility of central auditory processing tests as early diagnostic tools for identifying the elderly with MCI. Subjects and Methods: This study was conducted on 20 elderly patients with MCI and 20 healthy matched peers. The speech perception ability in a quiet environment and in the presence of background noise and also temporal resolution were assessed by using Speech Perception in Noise (SPIN) and Gap in Noise (GIN) tests, respectively. Results: The results indicated that the ability to understand speech in a quiet environment did not differ significantly between the two groups. However, SPIN at the three signal-to-noise ratios and the temporal resolution scores were significantly different between the two groups (p<0.001). Conclusions: Individuals with MCI appear to have poorer speech comprehension in noise and a lower temporal resolution than those of the same age, but without cognitive defects. Considering the utility of these tests in identifying cognitive problems, we propose that since the GIN test seems to be less influenced by intervening factors, this test can therefore, be a useful tool for the early screening of elderly people with cognitive problems.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.16
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• pp.7385-7390
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• 2015

Background: Transthoracic fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology and core needle biopsy (CNB) are two commonly used approaches for the diagnosis of suspected neoplastic intrathoracic lesions. This study compared the diagnostic accuracy of FNA cytology and concurrent CNB in the evaluation of intrathoracic lesions. Materials and Methods: We studied FNA cytology and concurrent CNB specimens of 127 patients retrospectively, using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), immunohistochemistry, and, on certain occasions cytochemistry. Information regarding additional tissue tests was derived from the electronic archives of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine as well as patient records. Diagnostic accuracy was calculated for each test. Results: Of 127 cases, 22 were inconclusive and excluded from the study. The remaining 105 were categorized into 73 (69.5%) malignant lesions and 32 (30.5%) benign lesions. FNA and CNB findings were in complete agreement in 63 cases (60%). The accuracy and confidence intervals (CIs) of FNA and CNB for malignant tumors were 86.3% (CI: 79.3-90.7) and 93.2% (CI: 87.3-96.0) respectively. For epithelial malignant neoplasms, a definitive diagnosis was made in 44.8% of cases by FNA and 80.6% by CNB. The diagnostic accuracy of CNB for nonepithelial malignant neoplasms was 83.3% compared with 50% for FNA. Of the 32 benign cases, we made specific diagnoses in 16 with diagnostic accuracy of 81.3% and 6.3% for CNB and FNA, respectively. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that FNA is comparable to CNB in the diagnosis of malignant epithelial lesions whereas diagnostic accuracy of CNB for nonepithlial malignant neoplasms is superior to that for FNA. Further, for histological typing of tumors and examining tumor origin, immunohistochemical work up plays an important role.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.275-278
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• 2019

Blindness was observed in five calves born from cattle fed only a commercial feed of growing stage and dried rice straws for about two years in a farm in Gyeongsangbuk-do province. Three of them died within a month after birth, and a body and sera of his mother and other 19 cattle were submitted for diagnosis. At necropsy, the calf was very weak and filled with cerebrospinal fluid in the cerebrum. Any histopathological lesion including atrophy of death of optic nerve cells was not observed, but the irregular proliferation such as lace pattern of choroidal cells and lymphocytic infiltration just below choroid was observed. No pathogen was detected as a result of the etiological tests on the internal organs of calves and bloods. In addition, the levels of serum vitamin A in different affected and his mother cattle were all lower than normal. Finally, we determined this case as an encephalopathy caused by maternal vitamin A deficiency in a calf. This report is an extreme example of how important it is to supply adequate s diets and a good quality of hay for each stage of growth in cattle.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4699-4704
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• 2013

Background: MicroRNAs have been demonstrated to play important roles in the development and progression of colorectal cancer. Several studies utilizing microRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for colorectal cancer (CRC) have been reported. The aim of this meta-analysis was to comprehensively and quantitatively summarize the diagnostic value of microRNAs for detecting colorectal cancer. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library for published studies that used microRNAs as biomarkers for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Summary estimates for sensitivity, specificity and other measures of accuracy of microRNAs in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer were calculated using the bivariate random effects model. A summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was also generated to summarize the overall effectiveness of the test. Result: Thirteen studies from twelve published articles met the inclusion criteria and were included. The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio and diagnostic odd ratio of microRNAs for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer were 0.81 (95%CI: 0.79-0.84), 0.78 (95%CI: 0.75-0.82), 4.14 (95%CI: 2.90-5.92), 0.24 (95%CI: 0.19-0.30), and 19.2 (95%CI: 11.7-31.5), respectively. The area under the SROC curve was 0.89. Conclusions: The current evidence suggests that the microRNAs test might not be used alone as a screening tool for CRC. Combining microRNAs testing with other conventional tests such as FOBT may improve the diagnostic accuracy for detecting CRC.