• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.169-182
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• 2000

Purpose: To investigate the various ictal perfusion patterns and find the relationships between clinical factors and different perfusion patterns. Materials and Methods: Interictal and ictal SPECT and SPECT subtraction were performed in 61 patients with partial epilepsy. Both positive images showing ictal hyperperfusion and negative images revealing ictal hypoperfusion were obtained by SPECT subtraction The ictal perfusion patterns of subtracted SPECT were classified into focal hyperperfusion, hyperperfusion-plus, combined hyperperfusion-hypoperfusion, and focal hypoperfusion only. Results: The concordance rates with epileptic focus were 91.8% in combined analysis of ictal hyperperfusion and hypoperfusion images of subtracted SPECT, 85.2% in hyperperfusion images only of subtracted SPECT, and 68.9% in conventional ictal SPECT analysis. Ictal hypoperfusion occurred less frequently in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) than extratemporal lobe epilepsy. Mesial temporal hyperperfusion alone was seen only in mesial TLE while lateral temporal hyperperfusion alone was observed only in neocortical TLE. Hippocampal sclerosis had much lower incidence of ictal hypoperfusion than any other pathology. Some patients showed ictal hypoperfusion at epileptic focus with ictal hyperperfusion in the neighboring brain regions where ictal discharges propagated. Conclusion: Hypoperfusion as well as hyperperfusion in ictal SPECT should be considered for localizing epileptic focus. Although the mechanism of ictal hypoperfusion could be an intra-ictal early exhaustion of seizure focus or a steal phenomenon by the propagation of ictal discharges to adjacent brain areas, further study is needed to elucidate it.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.241-252
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• 2004

Purpose: Population based structural and functional maps of the brain provide effective tools for the analysis and interpretation of complex and individually variable brain data. Brain MRI and PET standard templates and statistical probabilistic maps based on image data of Korean normal volunteers have been developed and probabilistic maps based on cytoarchitectonic data have been introduced. A quantification method using these data was developed for the objective assessment of regional intensity in the brain images. Materials and Methods: Age, gender and ethnic specific anatomical and functional brain templates based on MR and PET images of Korean normal volunteers were developed. Korean structural probabilistic maps for 89 brain regions and cytoarchitectonic probabilistic maps for 13 Brodmann areas were transformed onto the standard templates. Brain FDG PET and SPGR MR images of normal volunteers were spatially normalized onto the template of each modality and gender. Regional uptake of radiotracers in PET and gray matter concentration in MR images were then quantified by averaging (or summing) regional intensities weighted using the probabilistic maps of brain regions. Regionally specific effects of aging on glucose metabolism in cingulate cortex were also examined. Results: Quantification program could generate quantification results for single spatially normalized images per 20 seconds. Glucose metabolism change in cingulate gyrus was regionally specific: ratios of glucose metabolism in the rostral anterior cingulate vs. posterior cingulate and the caudal anterior cingulate vs. posterior cingulate were significantly decreased as the age increased. 'Rostral anterior'/'posterior' was decreased by 3.1% per decade of age ($P<10^{-11}$, r=0.81) and 'caudal anterior'/'posterior' was decreased by 1.7% ($P<10^{-8}$, r=0.72). Conclusion: Ethnic specific standard templates and probabilistic maps and quantification program developed in this study will be useful for the analysis of brain image of Korean people since the difference in shape of the hemispheres and the sulcal pattern of brain relative to age, gender, races, and diseases cannot be fully overcome by the nonlinear spatial normalization techniques.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.233-240
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• 2004

Purpose: We developed a computer-aided classifier using artificial neural network (ANN) to discriminate the cerebral metabolic pattern of medial and lateral temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Materials and Methods: We studied brain F-18-FDG PET images of 113 epilepsy patients sugically and pathologically proven as medial TLE (left 41, right 42) or lateral TLE (left 14, right 16). PET images were spatially transformed onto a standard template and normalized to the mean counts of cortical regions. Asymmetry indices for predefined 17 mirrored regions to hemispheric midline and those for medial and lateral temporal lobes were used as input features for ANN. ANN classifier was composed of 3 independent multi-layered perceptrons (1 for left/right lateralization and 2 for medial/lateral discrimination) and trained to interpret metabolic patterns and produce one of 4 diagnoses (L/R medial TLE or L/R lateral TLE). Randomly selected 8 images from each group were used to train the ANN classifier and remaining 51 images were used as test sets. The accuracy of the diagnosis with ANN was estimated by averaging the agreement rates of independent 50 trials and compared to that of nuclear medicine experts. Results: The accuracy in lateralization was 89% by the human experts and 90% by the ANN classifier Overall accuracy in localization of epileptogenic zones by the ANN classifier was 69%, which was comparable to that by the human experts (72%). Conclusion: We conclude that ANN classifier performed as well as human experts and could be potentially useful supporting tool for the differential diagnosis of TLE.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1280-1289
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• 2015

Fish-meat gel is being produced mostly relying on surimi and raw materials imported from Southeast Asia and North America and present in small amount in local markets. In this study, common farmed local fishes were examined as stable and reliable sources of surimi for fish-meat gel production. For testing, five main farmed-fish of Korea, namely; Bastard halibut (Paralichthys olivaceus), Red sea bream (Pagrus major), Korean rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli), Common mulle (Mugil cephalus), and Finespotted flounder (Pleuronichthys cornutus) were used following a traditional washing process. The quality of the surimi was determined by the values of water content, whiteness index, gel strength and impurity. Accordingly, fish-meat gel and surimi quality experiments were carried out by measuring compressive and texture properties, expressible moisture content, Hunter color scale values and SDS-page protein patterns. Also gel characteristics were compared with that of FA and RA grade surimi (Alaska Pollock). Fish-meat gels were prepared by salt mincing the farmed-fish surimi with NaCl (2% w/w) and moisture adjustment to 84% by ice water adding. Prepared fish-meat paste was filled into 20-25 cm long polyvinylidene chloride casings and heated at 90℃ for 20 min. The whiteness values of fish-meat gels produced from surimi were increased by using farmed-fish and became comparable to that of FA Alaska Pollock gel. Among all tested farmed-fish, P. olivaceus and P. major exhibited better properties than RA Alaska Pollock and similar properties to FA Alaska Pollock. Therefore, current data suggests that fish farming can be an efficient and sustainable fish-meat source for fish-meat gel production in Korea.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.4517-4525
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• 2016

Background: Sperm DNA damage is underlying aetiology of poor implantation and pregnancy rates but also affects health of offspring and may also result in denovo mutations in germ line and post fertilization. This may result in complex diseases, polygenic disorders and childhood cancers. Childhood cancer like retinoblastoma (RB) is more prevalent in developing countries and the incidence of RB has increased more than three fold in India in the last decade. Recent studies have documented increased incidence of cancers in children born to fathers who consume alcohol in excess and tobacco or who were conceived by assisted conception. The aetiology of childhood cancer and increased disease burden in these children is lin ked to oxidative stress (OS) and oxidative DNA damage( ODD) in sperm of their fathers. Though several antioxidants are in use to combat oxidative stress, the effect of majority of these formulations on DNA is not known. Yoga and meditation cause significant decline in OS and ODD and aid in regulating OS levels such that reactive oxygen speues meditated signal transduction, gene expression and several other physiological functions are not disrupted. Thus, this study aimed to analyze sperm ODD as a possible etiological factor in childhood cancer and role of simple life style interventions like yoga and meditation in significantly decreasing seminal oxidative stress and oxidative DNA damage and thereby decreasing incidence of childhood cancers. Materials and Methods: A total of 131 fathers of children with RB (non-familial sporadic heritable) and 50 controls (fathers of healthy children) were recruited at a tertiary center in India. Sperm parameters as per WHO 2010 guidelines and reactive oxygen species (ROS), DNA fragmentation index (DFI), 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxy guanosine (8-OHdG) and telomere length were estimated at day 0, and after 3 and 6 months of intervention. We also examined the compliance with yoga and meditation practice and smoking status at each follow-up. Results: The seminal mean ROS levels (p<0.05), sperm DFI (p<0.001), 8-OHdG (p<0.01) levels were significantly higher in fathers of children with RB, as compared to controls and the relative mean telomere length in the sperm was shorter. Levels of ROS were significantly reduced in tobacco users (p<0.05) as well as in alcoholics (p<0.05) after intervention. DFI reduced significantly (p<0.05) after 6 months of yoga and meditation practice in all groups. The levels of oxidative DNA damage marker 8-OHdG were reduced significantly after 3 months (p<0.05) and 6 months (p<0.05) of practice. Conclusions: Our results suggest that OS and ODD DNA may contribute to the development of childhood cancer. This may be due to accumulation of oxidized mutagenic base 8OHdG, and elevated MDA levels which results in MDA dimers which are also mutagenic, aberrant methylation pattern, altered gene expression which affect cell proliferation and survival through activation of transcription factors. Increased mt DNA mutations and aberrant repair of mt and nuclear DNA due to highly truncatred DNA repair mechanisms all contribute to sperm genome hypermutability and persistant oxidative DNA damage. Oxidative stress is also associated with genome wide hypomethylation, telomere shortening and mitochondrial dysfunction leading to genome hypermutability and instability. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report decline in OS and ODD and improvement in sperm DNA integrity following adoption of meditation and yoga based life style modification.This may reduce disease burden in next generation and reduce incidence of childhood cancers.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.167-180
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• 2010

The geochemical studies on the plutonic rocks of the Geochang, the central part of the Ryongnam massif, were carried out in order to constrain the petrogenesis and the paleotectonic environment. The objects of this study are dioritic rocks, biotite granite and hornblende granite. The modal compositions indicate that the dioritic rocks are quartz diorite, quartz monzodiorite, tonalite, biotite granites are granodiorite, granite and hornblende granites are granite, quartz monzonite, quartz syenite. These rocks belong to the calc-alkaline series. Especially, trace elements such as Sr, Nb, Sr, Ti are depleted, suggesting that these rocks are produced in the subduction zone related to calc-alkaline series. Also, the studied granitic rocks correspond to peraluminous and I-type. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns show that LREE are enriched much more than HREE, and have weak Eu(-) anomaly. It is similar to pattern of Jurassic granitoids in the South Korea. Total REE value of the biotite granite and hornblende granite ranges 76.21~137.05 ppm and 73.84~483.21 ppm, respectively, also $(La/Lu)_{CN}$ value ranges 9.61~36.47 and 7.17~21.85. It is suggest that studied rocks suppor their emplacement at active continental margin. Also, these rocks are derived from magma generated by partial melting of lower continental crust materials.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.389-396
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• 2001

Purpose : To detect differentially expressed genes in the patients with uterine cervical cancer during the radiation therapy. Materials and Methods : In patients with biopsy proven uterine cervical cancer, we took tumor tissue just before radiation therapy and at 40 minutes after external irradiation of 1.8 Gy. Total RNAs isolated from non-irradiated and irradiated tumor tissue samples were analyzed using the differential-display reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (DDRT-PCR). Complementary DNA (cDNA) fragments corresponding to differentially expressed messenger RNAs(mRNAs) were eluted, and cloned. The differential expression of the corresponding mRNAs was confirmed by reverse northern blot. Differentially expressed cDNA bands were sequenced. Nucleotide sequence data were analyzed in the Gene Bank and EMBL databases via the BLAST network sewer to identify homologies to known genes or cDNA fragments. Expression pattern of down-regulated clone was examined using RT-PCR in S patients undergoing radiotherapy. Results : We identified 18 differentially expressed bands by DDRT-PCR, which were eluted and cloned. There were 10 up-regulated clones and 1 down-regulated clone in reverse northern blot. One cDNA fragment had homology to chemokine receptor CXCR4, four were identified as Human ESTs in the EMBL database in EST clones. Down-regulated CxCa-11 was also down regulated in all patients. Conclusion : Using the DDRT-PCR, we have identified 10 up-regulated and 1 down-regulated clone(s) in the patients with uterine cervical cancer during the radiation therapy. The clinical relevance and the functions of these genes will be further investigated.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.231-242
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the bond strength of the core-veneer interface in all ceramic systems. Material and Methods: The all ceramic systems tested with their respective veneer were IPS Empress 2 with IPS Eris, IPS e.max Press with IPS e.max Ceram and IPS-e.max ZirCAD with IPS e.max Ceram. Cores (N=36, N=12/group, diameter: 10mm, thickness: 3mm) were fabricated according to the manufacturer's instruction and cleaned with ultrasonic cleaner. The veneer(diameter: 3mm, thickness: 2mm) were condensed in stainless steel mold and fired on to the core materials. After firing, they were again ultrasonically cleaned and embedded in acrylic resin. The specimens were stored in distilled water at $37^{\circ}C$ for 1 week. The specimens were placed in a mounting jig and subjected to shear force in a universal testing machine(Z020, Zwick, Germany). Load was applied at close to the core-veneer interface as possible with crosshead speed of 1.00mm/min until failure. Average shear bond strengths(MPa) were analyzed with a one-way analysis of variance and the Tukey test(${\alpha}=.05$). The failed specimens were examinated by scanning electron microscopy(JSM-6360, JEOL, Japan). The pattern of failure was classified as cohesive in core, cohesive in veneer, mixed or adhesive. Results: The mean shear bond strength($MPa{\pm}SD$) were IPS e.max Press $32.85{\pm}6.75MPa$, IPS Empress 2 $29.30{\pm}6.51MPa$, IPS e.max ZirCAD $28.10{\pm}4.28MPa$. IPS Empress 2, IPS e.max Press, IPS e.max ZirCAD were not significantly different from each others. Scanning electron microscopy examination revealed that adhesive failure did not occur in any all ceramic systems. IPS Empress 2 and IPS e.max Press exhibited cohesive failure in both the core and the veneer. IPS e.max ZirCAD exhibited cohesive failure in veneer and mixed failure.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2013

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to correlate the imaging findings and the clinical findings in patients with transient splenial lesions (TSL). Materials and Methods: Total of 7 patients (M: F = 4: 3; age range 11 - 38 years, mean age 25.5 years) were studied between November 2006 and April 2011. The MRI findings and clinical findings in all patients were retrospectively reviewed. The location, MR signal intensity, restricted diffusion, enhancement pattern and reversibility from the follow up images were reviewed. Clinical features were reviewed with respect to the presented symptoms, signs, treatment and outcome. Results: The lesions were located in the splenium of corpus callosum in all patients. All lesions showed high signal intensity on diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), and six patients showed restricted diffusion on the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map. ADC map was not available in one patient. All lesions (n = 7) showed high signal intensity on the T2 weighted image (T2WI). Five of the patients (71.4%) with follow up images (range 7 - 34 days) showed complete resolution of focal high signal intensity on DWI, with recovery of ADC values as well as T2WI. After contrast media administration, none of the lesions showed any enhancements. All lesions with various etiologies including TB medication were developed in younger age patients and showed reversibility after the acceptable period of minimum 7 days with conservative treatment. Conclusion: All TSL showed nonspecific imaging findings, including restricted diffusion on DWI and ADC map on the initial images. However, reversibility of the lesions and the young age preference can be a characteristic finding of TSL with acceptable period of minimum 7 days. In addition, to keep it in mind that various etiologies including TB medication may cause TSL, is important for radiologists as well as clinicians.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.533-540
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• 2000

Gonadal development, gametogenesis, reproductive cycle, gonad index, flesh weight rate, and first sexual maturity of the turban shell, Lunella coronata coreensis were investigated by histological observation. The materials used were collected monthly from the rocky intertidal zone of Daehang-ri, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do, on the west coast of Korea, from July 1998 to June 1999. Sex of L coronata coreensis was separate. The gonad was widely located in the spirals of the visceral mass buried in the digestive gland. The ovary and testis were composed of a number of oogenic follicles and speymatogenic follicles, respectively. Monthly variations in the gonad index increased from March ($23.86{\pm}3.73$) when the water temperature increased and reached the maximun in July ($49.76{\pm}6.47$). And then, the gonad index sharply decreased in September ($15.58{\pm}2.33$). The flesh weight rate ranged from $25.2{\%}$ to $32.3{\%}$, and its variation showed a similar pattern to the gonad index. Individuals $<5.9 mm$ in shell height could not take part in reproduction in both sexes. Percentages of first sexual maturity of female and male specimens ranging from $7.0{\~}7.9 mm$ in shell heights were $84.6{\%}\;and\;91.7{\%}$, respectively, and $100{\%}$ in those over 8.0 mm in shell height in both sexes took part in reproduction. By studying the monthly changes of the morphological features and sizes of germ cells during gametogenesis in the gonad, the reproductive cycle of this species could be devided into five successive stages: early active (December to April), late active (January to July), ripe (May to August), spawning (July to September), and recovery (September to March). The spawning period of this species was once a year between July and September, and the main spawning occurred in July when the seawater temperature reached above $24.8^{\circ}C$. The fully ripe eggs were $150{\~}160\;{\mu}m$ in diameter.