• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.663-671
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• 2021

Objective: To determine the association of macrocalcification and rim calcification with malignancy and to stratify the malignancy risk of thyroid nodules with macrocalcification and rim calcification based on ultrasound (US) patterns. Materials and Methods: The study included a total of 3603 consecutive nodules (≥ 1 cm) with final diagnoses. The associations of macrocalcification and rim calcification with malignancy and malignancy risk of the nodules were assessed overall and in subgroups based on the US patterns of the nodules. The malignancy risk of the thyroid nodules was categorized as high (> 50%), intermediate (upper-intermediate: > 30%, ≤ 50%; lower-intermediate: > 10%, ≤ 30%), and low (≤ 10%). Results: Macrocalcification was independently associated with malignancy in all nodules and solid hypoechoic (SH) nodules (p < 0.001). Rim calcification was not associated with malignancy in all nodules (p = 0.802); however, it was independently associated with malignancy in partially cystic or isoechoic and hyperechoic (PCIH) nodules (p = 0.010). The malignancy risks of nodules with macrocalcification were classified as upper-intermediate and high in SH nodules, and as low and lower-intermediate in PCIH nodules based on suspicious US features. The malignancy risks of nodules with rim calcification were stratified as low and lower-intermediate based on suspicious US features. Conclusion: Macrocalcification increased the malignancy risk in all and SH nodules with or without suspicious US features, with low to high malignancy risks depending on the US patterns. Rim calcification increased the malignancy risk in PCIH nodules, with low and lower-intermediate malignancy risks based on suspicious US features. However, the role of rim calcification in risk stratification of thyroid nodules remains uncertain.

• 한국방송∙미디어공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국방송공학회 2009년도 IWAIT
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• pp.794-798
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• 2009

We introduce an implementation of plug-ins on PLUTO. These plug-ins discriminate inflammatory nodules from other types of nodules in chest X-ray CT images. The PLUTO is a common platform for computer-aided diagnosis systems on Microsoft Windows series and it is easy to add new functions as plug-ins. We coded two plug-ins. One of the them calculates features based on medical knowledge. The other plug-in calculates parameters to classify the type of nodules, and it also classifies nodules into inflammatory nodules and others using SVM. These plug-ins are coded using MIST library which is produced at Nagoya University, Japan. In our previous study, the MIST library was parallelized, so that we can utilize a number of CPUs to calculate features and SVM learning/classifying depending on the amount of computation. Using these plug-ins, it became easy to extract features to discriminate inflammatory nodules from other types of nodules and to change parameters for feature extraction and SVM learning/classifying with GUI interface. The accuracy of the classifying result is 100% with 78 solid nodules which contains 43 inflammatory nodules and 35 other type of nodules.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제57권2호
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• pp.85-90
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• 2014

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the characteristics of thyroid nodules among infants diagnosed with congenital hypothyroidism. Methods: A retrospective study of 660 infants (374 males, 286 females) diagnosed with congenital hypothyroidism was carried out at the Pediatric Endocrine Clinic in Soonchunhyang University Hospital, Korea, between May 2003 and February 2013. The average age at diagnosis was $1.16{\pm}1.68$ months. Results: Of the 28 patients (4.2%) with thyroid nodules, 17 (2.6%) had cystic thyroid nodules and 11 (1.6%) had solid thyroid nodules. There were no significant differences in gender or age between congenital hypothyroidism patients who hadthyroid nodules and those who did not. All nodules were asymptomatic. The average age at diagnosis of congenital hypothyroidism with nodules was $1.42{\pm}1.39$ months. All detected nodules measured less than 1 cm in diameter. Twenty-two of the 28 infants (78.6%) had only one nodule, while multiple nodules were found in 6 infants (21.4%). Of the 28 infants diagnosed with nodules, 16 underwent thyroid ultrasonography during follow-up and 8 of them (50%) showed no signs of nodules at thyroid ultrasonography. Conclusion: The prevalence of thyroid nodules in infants with congenital hypothyroidism was 4.2%. Most thyroid nodules were small in size and benign, disappearing during follow-up observation. We therefore conclude that thyroid nodules in infants with congenital hypothyroidism can simply be observed and do not require direct treatment.

• 한국해양학회지
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.189-204
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• 1990

태평양 클라리온-클리퍼톤 균열대 서부의 KODOS(Korea Deep Ocean Study)지역에 분포하는 망간단괴의 성인과 분포, 그리고 분포 원인을 규명하기 위하여 망간단괴와 퇴적물을 채취하여 화학 및 광물학적 분석을 하였다. 이 지역의 망간단괴는 Mn/Fe 비 가 크고 구리, 니켈, 아연, 마그네슘, 토도로카이트 함량이 높으며 표면조직이 거친 속성기원의 망간단괴(S-형 망간단괴)와 철, 코발트, 버나다이트 함량이 높고 표면조직 이 매끈한 수성기원의 망간단괴(S-형 망간단괴) 그리고 화학 및 광물조성과 표면조직 이 두 기원의 중간성격을 띄는 망간단괴(R-S-형 망간단괴)로 구분된다. 성인 및 부존 밀도 등의 특성에 따라 KODOS-89 지역은 크게 4지역으로 구분된다. 즉, 부존밀도가 10 kg/m$^2$이하이고 수성기원의 망간단괴가 분포하는 최북단지역, 부존밀도가 1 kg/m$^2$ 내 외이고 속성기원의 망간단괴가 분포하는 남부 지역, 그리고 부존밀도가 10 kg/m$^2$ 이 상으로 높고 수성기원의 망간단괴가 분포하는 해저산지역으로 구분된다. 이러한 망간 단괴의 분포특성은 주로 위도에 따른 수층의 생산성 및 해저지형의 차이에 의해 기인 되었다고 생각된다.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• 제13권1호
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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 Radiology
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• 제24권9호
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• pp.903-911
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• 2023

Objective: Regrowth after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of symptomatic large thyroid nodules, initially treated as benign, sometimes turns out to be malignancies. This study aimed to assess the ultrasound (US) characteristics of thyroid nodules initially treated as benign with RFA and later diagnosed as cancers, predictive factors for cancers masquerading as benign, and methods to avoid RFA in these cancers. Materials and Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 134 consecutive patients with 148 nodules who underwent RFA between February 2008 and November 2016 for the debulking of symptomatic thyroid nodules diagnosed as benign using US-guided biopsy. We investigated the pre-RFA characteristics of the thyroid nodules, changes at follow-up after RFA, and the final surgical pathology. Results: Nodule regrowth after RFA was observed in 36 (24.3%) of the 148 benign nodules. Twenty-two of the 36 nodules were surgically removed, and malignancies were confirmed in seven (19.4% of 36). Of the 22 nodules removed surgically, pre-RFA median volume (range) was significantly larger for malignant nodules than for benign nodules: 22.4 (13.9-84.5) vs. 13.4 (7.3-16.8) mL (P = 0.04). There was no significant difference in the regrowth interval between benign and malignant nodules (P = 0.49). The median volume reduction rate (range) at 12 months was significantly lower for malignant nodules than for benign nodules (51.4% [0-57.8] vs. 83.8% [47.9-89.6]) (P = 0.01). The pre-RFA benignity of all seven malignant nodules was confirmed using two US-guided fine-needle aspirations (FNAs), except for one nodule, which was confirmed using US-guided core-needle biopsy (CNB). Regrown malignant nodules were diagnosed as suspicious follicular neoplasms by CNB. Histological examination of the malignant nodules revealed follicular thyroid carcinomas, except for one follicular variant, a papillary thyroid carcinoma. Conclusion: Symptomatic large benign thyroid nodules showing regrowth or suboptimal reduction after RFA may have malignant potential. The confirmation of these nodules is better with CNB than with FNA.

• 자원환경지질
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.455-464
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• 1993

Some nodules occur in the Milyang pyrophyllite deposit which are hydrothermal alteration products by Late Cretaceous andesitic tuff. These nodules are divided into two types on the basis of mineral assemblages; diaspore and pyrophyllite nodules. The diaspore nodules consist mainly of diaspore, kaolinite, pyrophyllite and pyrite with a small amounts of wavellite and tourmaline. They are light purplish grey in color, ellipsoid in shape and range 1 cm to 15 cm in size. A small or large diffuse band exists in some nodules. The platy coarse-grained diaspore is intergrown with the fine-aggregated kaolinite in the central part of the nodule. It appears that the grain size become fine from center to margin. The pyrophyllite nodules, which have the same shape with diaspore nodules, consist dominantly of pyrophyllite accompanied by small amounts of quartz, kaolinite, svanbergite, wavellite, tourmaline and apatite. Chemical compositions of alteration zones and nodules show that the wall rock alteration involved mainly the removal of large quantities of silica and alkalies and small quantities of Ca, Mg and Fe. The sharp increase in the Al content of the nodules is the result of residual concentration of alumina by the leaching of the mobile components. The pyrophyllite nodules were formed in the fluid saturated with quartz as ${\mu}_{HK_{-1}}$ and ${\mu}_{H_{2}O}$ increase. Under this condition, the pyrophyllite-kaolinite-quartz assemblage was stable. Diaspores formed from pyrophyllites in the fluid undersaturated with quartz as ${\mu}_{H_{2}O}$ increases (decreasing temperature). Under this condition, diaspore-pyrophyllite-kaolinite assemblage become stable. The formation temperature of the nodules on the basis of mineral assemblage is estimated as $275{\sim}340^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.141-149
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• 1990

The authors conducted a clinical observation of 55 cases of solitary pulmonary nodules at Yeungnam University Hospital from June 1986 to October 1990, and the following results were obtained : 1. The age distribution was ranged from 18 to 77 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 1.8:1. 2. Among 55 cases of nodules, 28 cases were benign and 27 cases were malignant nodules, and of malignant nodules, the primary lung cancer was 23 cases and of benign nodules, 18 cases were tuberculoma. 3. 23 cases (41.8%) was asymptomatic and the other 32 cases were symptomatic; chest pain 12 cases, hemoptysis; 8 cases, cough; 8 cases and dyspnea; 4 cases. 4. The non-smoker-to-smoker ratio was 1:1.04, but among 23 smoker over 20 pack years, 14 cases were malignant nodules. 5. According to nodular size, there is no striking differences between benign and malignant nodules except 3-4cm sized nodules. 6. The lobar distribution of nodules, 35 cases were in the right lung (upper lobe; 14 cases, middle lobe; 11 cases, and lower lobe; 10 cases) and 20 cases were in the left lung(upper lobe; 9 cases, lower lobe; 11 cases), and the malignant nodules were most commonly observed in the right upper lung.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• 제16권3_4호
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• pp.35-39
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• 1973

This investigation was conducted to study the effect of soybean mosaic virus (SMV) on various parameters of nodule formation at different stage of soybean plants. Differences in nodule formation were marked between soybean varieties tested, but nodules were small within soybean varieties infected with SMV. SMV-infection on soybeans were greatly reduced the number, size and weight of nodules, and the earlier the infection of SMV, the greater the reduction of nodules. Maximum reduction(83%) of nodules observed when "Kumkang-Daerip" soybeans were inoculated 2 weeks after seeding, but none occurred 8 weeks or later. Prominent decreases in number of nodules often resulted in an increase in nodu'e sizes in SMV-infected soybean plants.an plants.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.109-115
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• 1986

Actinorhizal plants being capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen in symbiotic association with Frankia were surveyed for their root nodules, and the root nodules were collected for further studies. Three species of Alnus and Elaeagnus (A. hirsuta, a. firma, A. japonica; E. glabra, e. umbellata, E. macrophylla) and one species of Myrica (M. rubura) were confirmed to bear the root nodules of typical external shape. Morphological studies using light microscope and scanning electron microscope revealed the presence of vesicle clusters in the cortex region of the root. Two tentative endophyte colonies were isolated from the root nodule of A. hirsuta.