• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.770-781
• /
• 2021

Objective: Chemical exchange-dependent saturation transfer (CEST) MRI is sensitive for detecting solid-like proteins and may detect changes in the levels of mobile proteins and peptides in tissues. The objective of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of chemical exchange proton pools using the CEST MRI technique in patients with dementia. Materials and Methods: Our institutional review board approved this cross-sectional prospective study and informed consent was obtained from all participants. This study included 41 subjects (19 with dementia and 22 without dementia). Complete CEST data of the brain were obtained using a three-dimensional gradient and spin-echo sequence to map CEST indices, such as amide, amine, hydroxyl, and magnetization transfer ratio asymmetry (MTR_asym) values, using six-pool Lorentzian fitting. Statistical analyses of CEST indices were performed to evaluate group comparisons, their correlations with gray matter volume (GMV) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: Amine signals (0.029 for non-dementia, 0.046 for dementia, p = 0.011 at hippocampus) and MTR_asym values at 3 ppm (0.748 for non-dementia, 1.138 for dementia, p = 0.022 at hippocampus), and 3.5 ppm (0.463 for non-dementia, 0.875 for dementia, p = 0.029 at hippocampus) were significantly higher in the dementia group than in the non-dementia group. Most CEST indices were not significantly correlated with GMV; however, except amide, most indices were significantly correlated with the MMSE scores. The classification power of most CEST indices was lower than that of GMV but adding one of the CEST indices in GMV improved the classification between the subject groups. The largest improvement was seen in the MTR_asym values at 2 ppm in the anterior cingulate (area under the ROC curve = 0.981), with a sensitivity of 100 and a specificity of 90.91. Conclusion: CEST MRI potentially allows noninvasive image alterations in the Alzheimer's disease brain without injecting isotopes for monitoring different disease states and may provide a new imaging biomarker in the future.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.106-117
• /
• 2021

Objective: To explore the value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based whole tumor texture analysis in differentiating borderline epithelial ovarian tumors (BEOTs) from FIGO stage I/II malignant epithelial ovarian tumors (MEOTs). Materials and Methods: A total of 88 patients with histopathologically confirmed ovarian epithelial tumors after surgical resection, including 30 BEOT and 58 MEOT patients, were divided into a training group (n = 62) and a test group (n = 26). The clinical and conventional MRI features were retrospectively reviewed. The texture features of tumors, based on T2-weighted imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging, and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging, were extracted using MaZda software and the three top weighted texture features were selected by using the Random Forest algorithm. A non-texture logistic regression model in the training group was built to include those clinical and conventional MRI variables with p value < 0.10. Subsequently, a combined model integrating non-texture information and texture features was built for the training group. The model, evaluated using patients in the training group, was then applied to patients in the test group. Finally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the diagnostic performance of the models. Results: The combined model showed superior performance in categorizing BEOTs and MEOTs (sensitivity, 92.5%; specificity, 86.4%; accuracy, 90.3%; area under the ROC curve [AUC], 0.962) than the non-texture model (sensitivity, 78.3%; specificity, 84.6%; accuracy, 82.3%; AUC, 0.818). The AUCs were statistically different (p value = 0.038). In the test group, the AUCs, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 0.840, 73.3%, 90.1%, and 80.8% when the non-texture model was used and 0.896, 75.0%, 94.0%, and 88.5% when the combined model was used. Conclusion: MRI-based texture features combined with clinical and conventional MRI features may assist in differentitating between BEOT and FIGO stage I/II MEOT patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.54-62
• /
• 2003

The free span of a subsea pipeline due to seabed scouring can result in structural failure by severe ocean environmental loads and vortex induced vibrations. This Paper examines the safety of subsea pipelines with free spans under axial compressive load. The variation of allowable lengths of static and dynamic free spans is examined for generalized boundary conditions. The free span is modelled as a beam with an elastic foundations and the boundary condition is replaced by linear and rotational springs at each end. The static and dynamic free span curves are obtained with a function of non-dimensional parameters. A case study is carried out to introduce the application method of the curve. The results of this study can be usefully applied for the design of subsea pipelines with a free span.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.599-608
• /
• 2019

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of computed tomography (CT) Hounsfield unit histogram analysis (HUHA) in postoperative pancreatic fistula (PF) prediction. Materials and Methods: Fifty-four patients (33 males and 21 females; mean age, 65.6 years; age range, 37-89 years) who had undergone preoperative CT and pancreaticoduodenectomy were included in this retrospective study. Two radiologists measured mean CT Hounsfield unit (CTHU) values by drawing regions of interest (ROIs) at the level of the pancreaticojejunostomy site on preoperative pre-contrast images. The HUHA values were arbitrarily divided into three categories, comprising HUHA-A ≤ 0 HU, 0 HU < HUHA-B < 30 HU, and HUHA-C ≥ 30 HU. Each HUHA value within the ROI was calculated as a percentage of the entire area using commercial 3-dimensional analysis software. Pancreas texture was evaluated as soft or hard by manual palpation. Results: Fifteen patients (27.8%) had clinically relevant PFs. The PF group had significantly higher HUHA-A (p < 0.01) and significantly lower mean CTHU (p < 0.01) values than those of the non-PF group. The HUHA-A value had a moderately strong correlation with PF occurrence (r = 0.60, p < 0.01), whereas the mean CTHU had a weak negative correlation with PF occurrence (r = -0.27, p < 0.01). The HUHA-A and mean CTHU areas under the curve (AUCs) for predicting PF occurrence were 0.86 and 0.65, respectively, with significant difference (p < 0.01). The HUHA-A and mean CTHU AUCs for predicting pancreatic softness were 0.86 and 0.64, respectively, with significant difference (p < 0.01). Conclusion: The HUHA-A values on preoperative pre-contrast CT images demonstrate a strong correlation with PF occurrence.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.40-51
• /
• 1991

A Propeller design method using the newly developed blade section(KH18), which behaves better cavitation characteristics, is presented. Experimental results for two-dimensional foil sections show that the lift-drag curve and the cavitation-free bucket diagram of the new blade section are wider comparing to those of the existion NACA sections. This characteristic of the new section is particularly important for marine propeller applications since angle of attack variation of the propeller blade operating behind a non-uniform ship's wake is relatively large. A lifting surface theory is used for the design of a propeller with the developed section for a 2700 TEU container ship. Since the most suitable chordwise loading shape is not known a priori, chordwise loading shape is chosen as a design parameter. Five propellers with different chordwise loading shapes and different foil sections are designed and tested in the towing tank and cavitation tunnel at KRISO. It is observed by a series of extensive model tsets that the propeller(KP197) having the chordwise loading shape, which has less leading edge loading at the inner radii and more leading edge loading at the outer radii of 0.7 radius, has higher propulsive efficiency and better cavitation characteristics. The KP197 propeller shows 1% higher efficiency, 30% cavitation volume reduction and 9% reduction of fluctuating pressure level comparing to the propeller with an NACA section. More appreciable efficiency gain for the new blade section propeller would be expected by reduction of expanded blade area considering the better cavitation characteristics of the new blade section.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.670-683
• /
• 2020

Objective: The presence of coagulative necrosis (CN) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) indicates a poor prognosis, while the absence of CN indicates a good prognosis. The purpose of this study was to build and validate a radiomics signature based on preoperative CT imaging data to estimate CN status in ccRCC. Materials and Methods: Altogether, 105 patients with pathologically confirmed ccRCC were retrospectively enrolled in this study and then divided into training (n = 72) and validation (n = 33) sets. Thereafter, 385 radiomics features were extracted from the three-dimensional volumes of interest of each tumor, and 10 traditional features were assessed by two experienced radiologists using triple-phase CT-enhanced images. A multivariate logistic regression algorithm was used to build the radiomics score and traditional predictors in the training set, and their performance was assessed and then tested in the validation set. The radiomics signature to distinguish CN status was then developed by incorporating the radiomics score and the selected traditional predictors. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to evaluate the predictive performance. Results: The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the radiomics score, which consisted of 7 radiomics features, was 0.855 in the training set and 0.885 in the validation set. The AUC of the traditional predictor, which consisted of 2 traditional features, was 0.843 in the training set and 0.858 in the validation set. The radiomics signature showed the best performance with an AUC of 0.942 in the training set, which was then confirmed with an AUC of 0.969 in the validation set. Conclusion: The CT-based radiomics signature that incorporated radiomics and traditional features has the potential to be used as a non-invasive tool for preoperative prediction of CN in ccRCC.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.464-475
• /
• 2021

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the tumor doubling time of invasive lung adenocarcinoma according to the International Association of the Study for Lung Cancer (IASLC)/American Thoracic Society (ATS)/European Respiratory Society (ERS) histologic classification. Materials and Methods: Among the 2905 patients with surgically resected lung adenocarcinoma, we retrospectively included 172 patients (mean age, 65.6 ± 9.0 years) who had paired thin-section non-contrast chest computed tomography (CT) scans at least 84 days apart with the same CT parameters, along with 10 patients with squamous cell carcinoma (mean age, 70.9 ± 7.4 years) for comparison. Three-dimensional semiautomatic segmentation of nodules was performed to calculate the volume doubling time (VDT), mass doubling time (MDT), and specific growth rate (SGR) of volume and mass. Multivariate linear regression, one-way analysis of variance, and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were performed. Results: The median VDT and MDT of lung cancers were as follows: acinar, 603.2 and 639.5 days; lepidic, 1140.6 and 970.1 days; solid/micropapillary, 232.7 and 221.8 days; papillary, 599.0 and 624.3 days; invasive mucinous, 440.7 and 438.2 days; and squamous cell carcinoma, 149.1 and 146.1 days, respectively. The adjusted SGR of volume and mass of the solid-/micropapillary-predominant subtypes were significantly shorter than those of the acinar-, lepidic-, and papillary-predominant subtypes. The histologic subtype was independently associated with tumor doubling time. A VDT of 465.2 days and an MDT of 437.5 days yielded areas under the curve of 0.791 and 0.795, respectively, for distinguishing solid-/micropapillary-predominant subtypes from other subtypes of lung adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: The tumor doubling time of invasive lung adenocarcinoma differed according to the IASCL/ATS/ERS histologic classification.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.863-874
• /
• 2015

The use of pile reinforcement is considered as one of the most promising techniques for improving load carrying capacity of piles in offshore area. In this study, to consider the horizontal and uplift bearing capacity of submerged breakwater bearing pile, exclusive analysis on load-transfer behaviour of pile was conducted. First of all, check the reinforcing effect from the three-dimensional finite element method, and estimate load transfer curve (ground reaction force). Based on these results, the reinforcing effect was quantified by estimating the coefficients of horizontal and uplift reinforcement of reinforced piles. Load transfer function with consideration of the reinforcing effect was proposed from estimated coefficients. A comparison of the analysis using the proposed load transfer function with three-dimensional finite element analysis has resulted that the proposed load transfer function is displaying good accuracy of predicting behavior of the load transfer between the pile and soil reinforcement. Interpretation of the submerged structure by applying a load transfer function considering the reinforcing effect, has shown that the reinforced pile's shear, bending moment and displacement are less than that of non-reinforced piles, while the subgrade reaction modulus arises greater. Thus, it is expected to be relatively cost effective in terms of design.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.99-109
• /
• 2018

The precision of the vibration-sensors, contact or non-contact types, is usually satisfactory for the practical measurement applications, but a sensor is confined to the measurement of a point or a direction. Although the precision and frequency span of the low-cost camera are inferior to these sensors, it has the merits in the cost and in the capability of simultaneous measurement of a large vibrating area. Furthermore, a camera can measure multi-degrees-of-freedom of a vibrating object simultaneously. In this study, the calibration method and the dynamic characteristics of the low-cost machine vision camera as a sensor are studied with a demonstrating example of the two-dimensional vibration of a cantilever beam. The planar image of the camera shot reveals two rectilinear and one rotational motion. The rectilinear vibration motion of a single point is first measured using a camera and the camera is experimentally calibrated by calculating error referencing the LDV (Laser Doppler Vibrometer) measurement. Then, by measuring the motion of multiple points at once, the rotational vibration motion and the whole vibration motion of the cantilever beam are measured. The whole vibration motion of the cantilever beam is analyzed both in time and frequency domain.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.959-969
• /
• 2021

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the role of preoperative two-dimensional (2D) shear wave elastography (SWE) in assessing the stages of liver fibrosis in patients with suspected biliary atresia (BA) and compared its diagnostic performance with those of serum fibrosis biomarkers. Materials and Methods: This study was approved by the ethical committee, and written informed parental consent was obtained. Two hundred and sixteen patients were prospectively enrolled between January 2012 and October 2018. The 2D SWE measurements of 69 patients have been previously reported. 2D SWE measurements, serum fibrosis biomarkers, including fibrotic markers and biochemical test results, and liver histology parameters were obtained. 2D SWE values, serum biomarkers including, aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRi), and other serum fibrotic markers were correlated with the stages of liver fibrosis by METAVIR. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the ROC (AUROC) curve analyses were used. Results: The correlation coefficient of 2D SWE value in correlation with the stages of liver fibrosis was 0.789 (p < 0.001). The cut-off values of 2D SWE were calculated as 9.1 kPa for F1, 11.6 kPa for F2, 13.0 kPa for F3, and 15.7 kPa for F4. The AUROCs of 2D SWE in the determination of the stages of liver fibrosis ranged from 0.869 to 0.941. The sensitivity and negative predictive value of 2D SWE in the diagnosis of ≥ F3 was 93.4% and 96.0%, respectively. The diagnostic performance of 2D SWE was superior to that of APRi and other serum fibrotic markers in predicting severe fibrosis and cirrhosis (all p < 0.005) and other serum biomarkers. Multivariate analysis showed that the 2D SWE value was the only statistically significant parameter for predicting liver fibrosis. Conclusion: 2D SWE is a more effective non-invasive tool for predicting the stage of liver fibrosis in patients with suspected BA, compared with serum fibrosis biomarkers.