• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.136-142
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• 2009

Purpose: This clinical study was conducted to evaluate the predictive value of tumor markers for recurrence and the clinical significance of false positive findings after curative gastrectomy in patients with gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: Two hundred ninety patients with gastric cancer who underwent gastrectomy with curative intent were evaluated retrospectively. We analyzed the correlations between changes in tumor markers (CEA, CA 19-9, AFP, and CA-125) and clinicopathologic data, and basis for changes in tumor markers without recurrence during the follow-up period. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of tumor markers for recurrence were 75.0%, 64.6%, 23.1%, 94.8%, and 65.9% respectively. Among 36 patients with recurrences, 10 patients (27.8%) had elevated tumor markers prior to positive findings on imaging studies, while 13 patients (36.1%) had concomitant elevation in tumor markers. At least 1 of the 4 tumor markers increased in 90 of 290 patients during the follow-up period; however, there was no evidence of tumor recurrence. Twenty patients had persistently elevated tumor markers, while the tumor marker levels in 70 patients returned to normal level within $9.08\pm7.2$ months. The patients with pulmonary disease, hepatobiliary disease, diabetes, hypertension, or herbal medication users had elevated tumor markers more frequently than patients without disease (P<0.001). Conclusion: Although detecting recurrence of gastric cancer with tumor markers may be useful, false positive findings of tumor markers are common, so surgeons should consider other chronic benign diseases and medical conditions when tumor markers increase without evidence of recurrence.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.280-289
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• 1998

Background: It is sometimes difficult to differentiate tuberculous pleural effusion from malignant pleural effusion by clinical symptoms, signs, by routine tests of pleural fluid, and by pathologic studies. And recently, it was discovered that cytokines such as IL-2, IFN-$\gamma$, TNF-$\alpha$ are elevated in tuberculous pleural fluid, and there have been several attempts to diagnose tuberculous pleural effusion by using these immunological mediators. There are several studies regarding the diagnostic value of IFN-$\gamma$, and there are two studies in Korea. But the diagnostic values of IFN-$\gamma$ in these studies were slightly lower than those in other countries. To compare the diagnostic value of IFN-$\gamma$ with those of CEA and ADA, and to determine the sensitivity and specificity of IFN-$\gamma$ in Korean, we mesured IFN-$\gamma$, CEA level and ADA activity in pleural effusions. Methods: ADA activity, IFN-$\gamma$ level and CEA level as well as cell count, differential count, and biochemical assays such as protein content and lactate dehydrogenase were measured in 40 cases of tuberculous pleuritis and 42 cases of malignant pleural effusion. Results: Tuberculous pleural fluid showed higher levels of IFN-$\gamma$ and ADA ($832.6{\pm}357.2$ pg/ml and $82.5{\pm}25.9$ U/L, respectively) than those of malignant pleural effusion ($2.6{\pm}8.0$ pg/ml and $19.2{\pm}10.9$ U/L, respectively) (p<0.01). Malignant pleural effusions showed higher median value (102.2 ng/ml) than tubercalous pleural effusions (1.8 ng/ml) (p<0.01). The sensitivities of IFN-$\gamma$, ADA, CEA were 0.97, 0.87, 0.67 and the specificities of IFN-$\gamma$, ADA, CEA were 1.0, 0.97, 1.0, respectively. There was no significant correlation between ADA activity and IFN-$\gamma$ level. Conclusion: This study showed that IFN-$\gamma$ test would be a very useful clinical test for differential diagnosis of tuberculous pleuritis and malignant pleural effusion because it is very sensitive and specific, although it is an expensive test.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.737-743
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• 2018

Patient exposure dose exposure test, which is one of the items of accuracy control of Computed Tomography, conducts measurements every year based on the installation and operation of special medical equipment under Article 38 of the Medical Law, And keep records. The CT-Dose phantom used for dosimetry can accurately measure doses, but has the disadvantage of high price. Therefore, through this research, the existing CT - Dose phantom was similarly manufactured with a 3D printer and compared with the existing phantom to examine the usefulness. In order to produce the same phantom as the conventional CT-Dose phantom, a 3D printer of the FFF method is used by using a PLA filament, and in order to calculate the CTDIw value, Ion chambers were inserted into the central part and the central part, and measurements were made ten times each. Measurement results The CT-Dose phantom was measured at $30.44{\pm}0.31mGy$ in the periphery, $29.55{\pm}0.34mGy$ CTDIw value was measured at $30.14{\pm}0.30mGy$ in the center, and the phantom fabricated using the 3D printer was measured at the periphery $30.59{\pm}0.18mGy$, the central part was $29.01{\pm}0.04mGy$, and the CTDIw value was measured at $30.06{\pm}0.13mGy$. Analysis using the Mann - Whiteney U-test of the SPSS statistical program showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the result values in the central part, but statistically significant differences were observed between the peripheral part and CTDIw results I did not show. In conclusion, even in the CT-Dose phantom made with a 3D printer, we showed dose measurement performance like existing CT-Dose phantom and confirmed the possibility of low-cost phantom production using 3D printer through this research did it.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.82 no.2
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• pp.406-416
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• 2021

Purpose To evaluate the association between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based texture parameters and Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) mutation in patients with non-mucinous rectal cancer. Materials and Methods Seventy-nine patients who had pathologically confirmed rectal non-mucinous adenocarcinoma with or without KRAS-mutation and had undergone rectal MRI were divided into a training (n = 46) and validation dataset (n = 33). A texture analysis was performed on the axial T2-weighted images. The association was statistically analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. To extract an optimal cut-off value for the prediction of KRAS mutation, a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed. The cut-off value was verified using the validation dataset. Results In the training dataset, skewness in the mutant group (n = 22) was significantly higher than in the wild-type group (n = 24) (0.221 ± 0.283; -0.006 ± 0.178, respectively, p = 0.003). The area under the curve of the skewness was 0.757 (95% confidence interval, 0.606 to 0.872) with a maximum accuracy of 71%, a sensitivity of 64%, and a specificity of 78%. None of the other texture parameters were associated with KRAS mutation (p > 0.05). When a cut-off value of 0.078 was applied to the validation dataset, this had an accuracy of 76%, a sensitivity of 86%, and a specificity of 68%. Conclusion Skewness was associated with KRAS mutation in patients with non-mucinous rectal cancer.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.316-323
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• 1991

We calculated a difference between the YBa$_2Cu _3O_{7-x}$ superconductor (123 system) of critical temperature, 95 K and the YBa$_2Cu_4 O_8$ superconductors (124 system) of critical temperature, 80 K in Y-system superconductors using Extended Huckel Theory (EHT). The valence electron population (VEP), reduced overlap population (ROP) and net charge for the charged cluster models relating to the layer and the chain in 123 and 124 systems were compared. The VEPs of Cu atom in the layer of 123 and 124 systems populated d$_{z^2}$ orbital more than d$_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital, and in the chain of 123 and 124 systems populated d$_{y^2-z^2}$ orbital more than d$_{z^2}$ orbital. The ROP of the Cu(1)-O(1) in the layer of 123 system was larger than the value of the Cu(1)-O(2), but the ROP of the Cu(1)-O(2) in the layer of 124 system was larger than the value of the Cu(1)-O(1). The ROP of Cu(2)-O(4) in the chain of 123 and 124 systems were larger than the value of the Cu(2)-O(3). In 123 system the net charge values of the Cu in the layer was larger than the value of the Cu in the chain. However, in 124 system the net charge value of the Cu in the chain was larger than the value in the layer.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.128-137
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• 2002

This study was conducted to develop the heat exchanger by utilizing the heat energy of underground water(15℃), which might be used for cooling and heating system of the agricultural facilities. We developed the heat exchanger by using the parallel type plat fin tube made of Aluminum(Al 6063), which was named Aloo-Heat(No. 0247164, offered by Korean Intellectual property Office). The trial manufactures were made from Aloo-heat which was 600mm, 700mm length respectively, and It were welded to the end "U" type in order to direct flow of the underground water. The performance test was carried out under the condition of open space and room temperature with the change of flow rate of the underground water and air. The results are as follows. 1. The trial manufactures had convection heat value from 33 to 156 W/m²℃, and It was coincided with design assumption. 2. The amount of energy transfer was increased with the increment of the area of heat transfer, the air flow, the gap of temperature inlet & outlet the underground water and the air. 3. The heat value was 6,825W when the air flow was 6,000m³/h and the gap of temperature between inlet and outlet of the underground water was 6℃, and It dropped from 25.8℃ to 23.2℃(-2.6℃ difference). The convection heat value was 88.5W/m²℃. 4. The heat value was 2.625W when the air flow was 4,000m³/h and the gap of temperature between inlet and outlet the underground water was 2℃, and It dropped from 27℃ to 22.5℃(-4.5℃ difference). The convection heat value was 33.6W/m²℃. 5. Correlation values(R²) of the testing heat values of the trial manufacture type I, II, and III were 0.9141, 0.8935, and 0.9323 respectively, and correlation values(R²) of the amount of the air flow 6,000m³/h, 5,000m³/h, 4,000m³/h were 0.9513, 0.9414, and 0.9003 respectively.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2014

In case of all patients who receive radiation therapy, a treatment plan is established and all steps of treatment are planned in the same geometrical condition. In case of head and neck cancer patients who undergo simulated treatment through computed tomography (CT), patients are fixed onto a table for planning, but laid on the top of the treatment table in the radiation therapy room. This study excogitated and fabricated an adjustable holder for head and neck cancer patients to fix patient's position and geometrical discrepancies when performing radiation therapy on head and neck cancer patients, and compared the error before and after adjusting the position of patients due to difference in weight to evaluate the correlation between patients' weight and range of error. Computed tomography system(High Advantage, GE, USA) is used for phantom to maintain the supine position to acquire the images of the therapy site for IMRT. IMRT 4MV X-rays was used by applying the LINAC(21EX, Varian, U.S.A). Treatment planning system (Pinnacle, ver. 9.1h, Philips, Madison, USA) was used. The setup accuracy was compared with each measurement was repeated five times for each weight (0, 15, and 30Kg) and CBCT was performed 30 times to find the mean and standard deviation of errors before and after the adjustment of each weight. SPSS ver.19.0(SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL,USA) statistics program was used to perform the Wilcoxon Rank test for significance evaluation and the Spearman analysis was used as the tool to analyze the significance evaluation of the correlation of weight. As a result of measuring the error values from CBCT before and after adjusting the position due to the weight difference, X,Y,Z axis was $0.4{\pm}0.8mm$, $0.8{\pm}0.4mm$, 0 for 0Kg before the adjustment. In 15Kg CBCT before and after adjusting the position due to the weight difference, X,Y,Z axis was $0.2{\pm}0.8mm$, $1.2{\pm}0.4mm$, $2.0{\pm}0.4mm$. After adjusting position was X,Y,Z axis was $0.2{\pm}0.4mm$, $0.4{\pm}0.5mm$, $0.4{\pm}0.5mm$. In 30Kg CBCT before and after adjusting the position due to the weight difference, X,Y,Z axis was $0.8{\pm}0.4mm$, $2.4{\pm}0.5mm$, $4.4{\pm}0.8mm$. After adjusting position was X,Y,Z axis was $0.6{\pm}0.5mm$, $1.0{\pm}0mm$, $0.6{\pm}0.5mm$. When the holder for the head and neck cancer was used to adjust the ab.0ove error value, the error values from CBCT were $0.2{\pm}0.8mm$ for the X axis, $0.40{\pm}0.54mm$ for Y axis, and 0 for Z axis. As a result of statistically analyzing each value before and after the adjustment the value was significant with p<0.034 at the Z axis with 15Kg of weight and with p<0.038 and p<0.041 at the Y and Z axes respectively with 30Kg of weight. There was a significant difference with p<0.008 when the analysis was performed through Kruscal-Wallis in terms of the difference in the adjusted values of the three weight groups. As it could reduce the errors, patients' reproduction could be improved for more precise and accurate radiation therapy. Development of an adjustable device for head and neck cancer patients is significant because it improves the reproduction of existing equipment by reducing the errors in patients' position.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.65-70
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• 2005

Many case histories of re-liquefaction phenomena seem to support the idea that sand deposits, if they once have been liquefied, could be reliquefied again by a subsequent earthquake even though the earthquake is smaller than the previous one. The magnitude of the strains induced in the initial liquefaction has a significant influence on the resistance of the sample to re-liquefaction. The deposits undergoing liquefaction experience large shear strain during liquefaction. And this previous strain changes the microstructure into highly anisotropic structure such as columnlike structure and connected voids. This type of anisotropy is so unstable that it can reduce re-liquefaction resistance. It is blown that the extent of anisotropic structural change depends on the gradation characteristics of ground. The purpose of this study is to estimate the correlation between the gradation characteristics of the sand and the ratio of re-liquefaction resistance to liquefaction resistance. In this study, 1-g shaking table tests were carried out on five different kinds of sands. During the tests the values of excess pore pressure at various depths and surface settlements were measured. Re-liquefaction resistances were not affected by the initial void ratio and the effective confining pressures, and the deposits of all test sands which had once been liquefied were reliquefied in the cyclic loading number below 1 to 1.5. The ratio of re-liquefaction resistance to liquefaction resistance linearly decreased as $D_{10}/C_u$ increased, and was constant as about 0.2 above the value of $D_{10}/C_u$, 0.15 mm.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.366-374
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• 2010

Introduction: This study evaluated the capability of silk fibroin (SF) and recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 loaded SF (SF-BMP) as a bone defect replacement matrix when grafted in a calvarial bone defect of rats in vivo. Materials and Methods: A total 70 calvarial critical size defects (5.0 mm in diameter) made on 35 adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. The defects were transplanted with (1) rhBMP-2 loaded silk fibroin graft (SF-BMP: 0.8+$10\;{\mu}g$), (2) Silk fibroin (SF: $10\;{\mu}g$), and (3) no graft material (Raw). The samples were evaluated with soft x-rays, alkaline phosphatase activity, calcium/phosphate quantification, histological and histomorphometric analysis at postoperative 4 and 8 weeks. Results: The SF-BMP group ($48.86{\pm}14.92%$) had a significantly higher mean percentage bone area than the SF group ($24.96{\pm}11.01%$) at postoperative 4 weeks.(P<0.05) In addition, the SF-BMP group ($40.01{\pm}12.43%$) had a higher % bone area at postoperative 8 weeks than the SF group ($33.26{\pm}5.15%$). The mean ratio of gray scale levels to the host bone showed that the SF-BMP group ($0.67{\pm}0.08$) had a higher mean ratio level than the SF group ($0.61{\pm}0.09$) at postoperative 8 weeks. These differences were not statistically significant.(P=0.168 and P=0.243, respectively) The ratio of the calcium and phosphate contents of the SF-BMP ($0.93{\pm}0.22$) group was lower than that of the SF ($1.90{\pm}1.42$) group at postoperative 4 weeks. However, the SF-BMP group ($0.75{\pm}0.31$) had a higher Ca/$PO_4$ ratio than the SF ($0.68{\pm}0.04$) at postoperative 8 weeks. These differences were not statistically significant.(P=0.126 and P=0.627, respectively) For the bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, which is recognized as a reliable indicator of the osteoblast function, the SF-BMP ($23.71{\pm}8.60\;U/L$) groups had a significantly higher value than the SF group ($12.65{\pm}6.47\;U/L$) at postoperative 4 weeks.(P<0.05) At postoperative 8 weeks, the SF-BMP ($21.65{\pm}10.02\;U/L$) group had a lower bone-specific ALP activity than the SF group ($16.72{\pm}7.35\;U/L$). This difference was not statistically significant.(P=0.263) For the histological evaluation, the SF-BMP group revealed less inflammation, lower foreign body reactions and higher bone healing than the SF group at postoperative 4 and 8 weeks. The SF group revealed more foreign body reactions at postoperative 4 weeks. However, this immunogenic reaction decreased and the remnant of grafted material was observed at postoperative 8 weeks. For histomorphometric analysis, the SF-BMP group had a significantly longer bone length to total length ratio than those of the SF group at postoperative 4 and 8 weeks.(P<0.05) Conclusion: The rhBMP-2 loaded silk fibroin graft revealed fewer immunoreactions and inflammation as well as more new bone formation than the pure silk fibroin graft. Therefore, silk fibroin may be a candidate scaffold for tissue engineered bone regeneration.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1320-1329
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• 2016

The present study examined the cytotoxic effects of 1, 2, 3, 4, 6-penta-O-galloyl-${\beta}$-D-glucose (PGG), known as the pentahydroxy gallic acid ester of glucose, in the various human cancer cell lines (A-549, MDA-MB-231, U87-MG, MCF-7 and PANC-1), normal MRC-5 fetal fibroblasts, and dental papilla tissue- derived mesenchymal stem cells (DPSCs). Significantly (p<0.05) lower half maximal inhibitory concentration ($IC_{50}$) values were observed in the A-549 and MDA-MB-231 cells showing a high proliferation capacity, compared with other cancer and normal cell lines with a relatively low proliferation capacity. The population doubling time (PDT) was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the $10{\mu}M$ PGG-treated cell lines than those of untreated control cell lines. The present study demonstrated that the $IC_{50}$ value increases proportionally to the extending PDT. A high cell number with senescence-associated ${\beta}-galactosidase$ activity was also observed in the $10{\mu}M$ PGG-treated cells compared with those of untreated control cells. Moreover, the level of telomerase activity was significantly (p<0.05) decreased with $10{\mu}M$ PGG treatment, especially in A-549 and MDA-MB-231 cells showing a high proliferation capacity. Based on these observations, PGG could serve as a potent agent for cancer chemotherapy, as its treatment was more effective in cells with a high proliferation capacity.