• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.2093-2097
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• 2016

Background: HCV is a major global health problem. IL-27 is a member of the IL-6/IL-12 cytokine family with a broad range of anti-inflammatory properties. Recent studies highlighted the effect of a SNP in the IL-27 promoter region on modulating the progression of infectious diseases and individual responses to therapy. Aim of the work: The present study investigated the potential role of (-964 A/G) SNP in the promoter region of IL-27p28 gene (alleles rs153109) on the outcome of HCV infection among genotype 4a infected patients. Materials and Methods: HCV genotyping confirmed that all of the HCV-infected patients had genotype 4a infection. Genomic DNA was extracted from 111 patients with chronic HCV infection, 42 spontaneous resolvers (SR) and 16 healthy controls. IL- 27p28.rs153109 genotyping was assessed using PCR-RFLP then confirmed by DNA sequencing. Results: The frequency of IL-27-p28.rs153109AA, AG, and GG genotypes among chronically infected subjects were 74.8 %, 25.2%, and 0% while among the SR, they were 57.1%, 35.7%, and 7.14%, respectively. Our data show the unique presence of G/G genotype in the SR group (3 patients; 7.14%). Moreover, the "G" allele frequencies among chronic and resolved subjects were 12.6% and 25.0%, respectively (p=0.0136). Importantly, subjects with the GG genotype were more likely to clear their HCV infection than those with the AA genotype (p=0.0118). Conclusions: HCV genotype 4a subjects with the IL-27-p28.rs153109 A/G and G/G genotype were more likely to clear their HCV infection. Therefore, we propose IL- 27p28.rs153109SNPas a genetic biomarker for predicting HCV infection outcome.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.103-109
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• 2019

Background: Four-dimensional computed tomographic (4DCT) images are increasingly used in clinic with the growing need to account for the respiratory motion of the patient during radiation treatment. One of the reason s that makes the dose evaluation using 4DCT inaccurate is a change of the patient respiration during the treatment session, i.e., intrafractional uncertainty. Especially, when the amplitude of the patient respiration is greater than the respiration range during the 4DCT acquisition, such an organ motion from the larger respiration is difficult to be represented with the 4DCT. In this paper, the method to generate images expecting the organ motion from a respiration with extended amplitude was proposed and examined. Materials and Methods: We propose a method to generate extra-phase images from a given set of the 4DCT images using deformable image registration (DIR) and linear extrapolation. Deformation vector fields (DVF) are calculated from the given set of images, then extrapolated according to respiratory surrogate. The extra-phase images are generated by applying the extrapolated DVFs to the existing 4DCT images. The proposed method was tested with the 4DCT of a physical 4D phantom. Results and Discussion: The tumor position in the generated extra-phase image was in a good agreement with that in the gold-standard image which is separately acquired, using the same 4DCT machine, with a larger range of respiration. It was also found that we can generate the best quality extra-phase image by using the maximum inhalation phase (T0) and maximum exhalation phase (T50) images for extrapolation. Conclusion: In the present study, a method to construct extra-phase images that represent expanded respiratory motion of the patient has been proposed and tested. The movement of organs from a larger respiration amplitude can be predicted by the proposed method. We believe the method may be utilized for realistic simulation of radiation therapy.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.158-166
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• 2022

Background: The effects of radiation on the health of radiation workers who are constantly susceptible to occupational exposure must be assessed based on an accurate and reliable reconstruction of organ-absorbed doses that can be calculated using personal dosimeter readings measured as H_p(10) and dose conversion coefficients. However, the data used in the dose reconstruction contain significant biases arising from the lack of reality and could result in an inaccurate measure of organ-absorbed doses. Therefore, this study quantified the biases involved in organ dose reconstruction and calculated the bias-corrected H_p(10)-to-organ-absorbed dose coefficients for the use in epidemiological studies of Korean radiation workers. Materials and Methods: Two major biases were considered: (a) the bias in H_p(10) arising from the difference between the dosimeter calibration geometry and the actual exposure geometry, and (b) the bias in air kerma-to-H_p(10) conversion coefficients resulting from geometric differences between the human body and slab phantom. The biases were quantified by implementing personal dosimeters on the slab and human phantoms coupled with a Monte Carlo method and considered to calculate the bias-corrected H_p(10)-to-organ-absorbed dose conversion coefficients. Results and Discussion: The bias in H_p(10) was significant for large incident angles and low energies (e.g., 0.32 for right lateral at 218 keV), whereas the bias in dose coefficients was significant for the posteroanterior (PA) geometry only (e.g., 0.79 at 218 keV). The bias-corrected H_p(10)-to-organ-absorbed dose conversion coefficients derived in this study were up to 3.09- fold greater than those from the International Commission on Radiological Protection publications without considering the biases. Conclusion: The obtained results will aid future studies in assessing the health effects of occupational exposure of Korean radiation workers. The bias-corrected dose coefficients of this study can be used to calculate organ doses for Korean radiation workers based on personal dose records.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.14 no.6 s.67
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• pp.913-919
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• 2004

Mitochondrial DNA mutations have been reported in recent years in association with sensorineural hering loss. The purpose of this study is to identify the association between the noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss and the A to G mutation at nucleotide 3243, 1555, 7445 of mitochondrial DNA. Study subjects were established by history and chart review, and audiological and clinical data were obtained. Blood was sampled from 214 normal controls, 102 noise-induced hearing loss, and 28 sensorineural hearing loss. The DNA of these individuals were extracted, and mitochondrial DNA fragments were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction. Subsequently, the coding sequence of mitochondrial DNA 3243, 1555, 7445 were sequenced, and compared to the normal sequence, and all sequence variations were analyzed by restriction enzymes. Mitochondrial DNA mutations $(3243A{\rightarrow}G,\;1555A{\rightarrow}4G,\;7445A{\rightarrow}G)$ were not detected by polymerase chain reactions in any patients with noise-induced hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss, and normal controls. The DNA sequencing of PCR products did not revealed an A to G substitution at nucleotide 3243, 1555, 7445 of mitochondrial DNA. The noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss was not associated with mitochondrial DNA mutation $(3243A{\rightarrow}G,\;1555A{\rightarrow}4G,\;7445A{\rightarrow}G)$.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.117-126
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• 2020

Purpose: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is related to infectious mononucleosis or nasopharyngeal cancer, and its epidemiology may change according to the socioeconomic development of communities. This study aimed to evaluate the recent epidemiology of EBV seropositive rate in Korea. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed EBV serology test results obtained from a part of clinical care at Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea, from January 2000 to December 2017. Results: The EBV seropositive rate in 26,527 subjects during the study period was 81.0% (21,485/26,527): 44.4% (2,716/6,122) in subjects aged 0-9 years, 75.8% (2,077/2,739) in those aged 10-19 years, and 94.5% (16,692/17,666) in those aged ≥20 years. The EBV seropositive rate decreased from 89.4% (8,592/9,616) in 2000-2008 to 76.2% (12,893/16,911) in 2009-2017 (P<0.001). Especially, the EBV seropositive rate in subjects aged 0-19 years significantly decreased from 2000-2008 to 2009-2017 (0-9 years, 62.8% [1,172/1,866] in 2000-2008 and 36.3% [1,544/4,256] in 2009-2017; 10-19 years, 83.8% [745/858] in 2000-2008 and 70.8% (1,332/1,881) in 2009-2017) (P<0.001). Conclusions: The EBV seropositive rate in children has decreased in the last 20 years. As the age of patients with primary EBV infection increased, there is a need for interest in clinical manifestation, such as infectious mononucleosis, in adolescents and young adults.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.259-277
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to analyze how the changes of evaluation standards have affected Korean medical researchers' academic performance by comparing the publication status of medical articles both domestically and abroad. A total of 314,559 domestic articles in KMbase and 53,423 articles stored in MEDLINE published abroad by Korean researchers were analyzed. All of the data were compared per year according to the research field and indexed journals by numbers and proportions of articles published domestically and abroad. The analysis showed that the number of total articles and the proportion of articles published abroad increased continuously. In the early 2000s, articles published in Korea decreased, otherwise articles published abroad increased sharply. SCI articles showed a steady increase before 2000, and continued to increase over the next few years. KCI articles also showed a rapid increase in the early 2000s while other articles were decreasing. Publication trends shown in this study were similar despite quantitative and timely differences by research area. Performance evaluations focusing on SCI articles affected on quantitative decrease in the number of total articles published domestically. Quantitative growth itself is not an absolute indicator for academic achievement. Therefore, to complement any evaluation of academic achievement, qualitative analysis needs to be done as well.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.142-148
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• 2013

Background: To elucidate the relationship between seven occupational dermatoses (ODs) and 20 types of work in Greece. Methods: This was a prevalence epidemiologic study of certain ODs among 4,000 workers employed in 20 types of enterprise, in 104 companies, in 2006-2012, using data from company medical records, questionnaires, occupational medical, and special examinations. The ${\chi}^2$ test was applied to reveal statistically significant relationships between types of enterprises and occurrence of ODs. Results: A high percentage (39.9%) of employees included in the study population suffered from ODs. The highest prevalence rates were noted among hairdressers (of contact dermatitis: 30%), cooks (of contact dermatitis: 29.5%), bitumen workers (of acne: 23.5%), car industry workers (of mechanical injury: 15%), construction workers (of contact urticaria: 29.5%), industrial cleaning workers (of chemical burns: 13%), and farmers (of malignant tumors: 5.5%).We observed several statistical significant correlations between ODs (acute and chronic contact dermatitis, urticaria, mechanical injury, acne, burns, skin cancer) and certain types of enterprises. There was no statistically significant correlation between gender and prevalence of ODs, except for dermatoses caused by mechanical injuries afflicting mainly men [${\chi}^2(1)=13.40$, p < 0.001] and for chronic contact dermatitis [${\chi}^2(1)=5.53$, p=0.019] afflicting mainly women. Conclusion: Prevalence of ODs is high in Greece, contrary to all official reports by the Greek National Institute of Health. There is a need to introduce a nationwide voluntary surveillance system for reporting ODs and to enhance skin protection measures at work.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.1025-1029
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• 2014

Cervical carcinoma is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women around the world, and it is associated with the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection. HPV genotyping is important for vaccine policy, etiology, natural history, and epidemiology studies. The use of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues for HPV genotyping by reverse blot hybridization assays (REBA) has not been clearly confirmed in retrospective studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness and efficiency of FFPE tissues from cervical cancers for HPV genotyping. HPV genotypes were detected in 52 FFPE tissues from cervical carcinoma specimens by REBA. HPV was detected in 32 (61.5%) of 52 specimens from FFPE, among which 27 (84.4%) harbored single infections and 5(15.6%) contained multiple infections. The HPV single infections (27) were analyzed by high-risk type 18(8), 58(6), 16(5), 33(1), 35(1), 39(1), 56(1) and low risk type 11(2), 6(1), 70(1). The HPV multiple infections (5) included 16/18(2), 18/52(1), 16/56(1), 16/18/33(1). Please consider being more specific here. Do you mean the analysis? Please clarify what you mean by "included."Through this study, it has been determined that the FFPE specimen is feasible and can be used in HPV genotyping, as well as in retrospective studies.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1284-1292
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• 2023

Objective: We investigated the impacts of computed tomography (CT) added to ultrasound (US) for preoperative evaluation of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) on staging, surgical extent, and postsurgical survival. Materials and Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent surgery for PTC between January 2015 and December 2015 were retrospectively identified. Of them, 584 had undergone preoperative additional thyroid CT imaging (CT + US group), and 859 had not (US group). Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) and propensity score matching (PSM) were used to adjust for 14 variables and balance the two groups. Changes in nodal staging and surgical extent caused by CT were recorded. The recurrence-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival after surgery were compared between the two groups. Results: In the CT + US group, discordant nodal staging results between CT and US were observed in 94 of 584 patients (16.1%). Of them, CT accurately diagnosed nodal staging in 54 patients (57.4%), while the US provided incorrect nodal staging. Ten patients (1.7%) had a change in the extent of surgery based on CT findings. Postsurgical recurrence developed in 3.6% (31 of 859) of the CT + US group and 2.9% (17 of 584) of the US group during the median follow-up of 59 months. After adjustment using IPTW (580 vs. 861 patients), the CT + US group showed significantly higher recurrence-free survival rates than the US group (hazard ratio [HR], 0.52 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.29-0.96]; P = 0.037). PSM analysis (535 patients in each group) showed similar HR without statistical significance (HR, 0.60 [95% CI, 0.31-1.17]; P = 0.134). For distant metastasis-free survival, HRs after IPTW and PSM were 0.75 (95% CI, 0.17-3.36; P = 0.71) and 0.87 (95% CI, 0.20-3.80; P = 0.851), respectively. Conclusion: The addition of CT imaging for preoperative evaluation changed nodal staging and surgical extent and might improve recurrence-free survival in patients with PTC.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.1078-1088
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• 2022

Objective: To develop and validate a model using radiomics features from apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map to diagnose local tumor recurrence in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 285 patients (mean age ± standard deviation, 62 ± 12 years; 220 male, 77.2%), including 215 for training (n = 161) and internal validation (n = 54) and 70 others for external validation, with newly developed contrast-enhancing lesions at the primary cancer site on the surveillance MRI following definitive treatment of HNSCC between January 2014 and October 2019. Of the 215 and 70 patients, 127 and 34, respectively, had local tumor recurrence. Radiomics models using radiomics scores were created separately for T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging (CE-T1WI), and ADC maps using non-zero coefficients from the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator in the training set. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of each radiomics score and known clinical parameter (age, sex, and clinical stage) in the internal and external validation sets. Results: Five radiomics features from T2WI, six from CE-T1WI, and nine from ADC maps were selected and used to develop the respective radiomics models. The area under ROC curve (AUROC) of ADC radiomics score was 0.76 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62-0.89) and 0.77 (95% CI, 0.65-0.88) in the internal and external validation sets, respectively. These were significantly higher than the AUROC values of T2WI (0.53 [95% CI, 0.40-0.67], p = 0.006), CE-T1WI (0.53 [95% CI, 0.40-0.67], p = 0.012), and clinical parameters (0.53 [95% CI, 0.39-0.67], p = 0.021) in the external validation set. Conclusion: The radiomics model using ADC maps exhibited higher diagnostic performance than those of the radiomics models using T2WI or CE-T1WI and clinical parameters in the diagnosis of local tumor recurrence in HNSCC following definitive treatment.