• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.315-328
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• 2019

Purpose: To investigate the clinical value of serum miR-221-3p and miR-122-5p expression levels in the diagnosis and prognosis of gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: Serum samples from 141 gastric cancer cases (gastric cancer group), 110 gastric polyps (gastric polyp group), and 75 healthy people (healthy control) were used to detect miR-221-3p and miR-122-5p expression using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: Serum miR-221-3p expression was significantly higher in the gastric cancer group than in the gastric polyp group, and it was significantly lower than that before operation. The miR-221-3p expression was significantly higher in the death group than in the survival group. The proliferation and migration ability significantly increased and the apoptosis rate significantly decreased by miR-221-3p transfection in gastric cancer cells. In contrast, the function of miR-122-5p in gastric cancer cells was opposite of miR-221-3p. Serum miR-221-3p expression was negatively correlated with that of miR-122-5p in gastric cancer. Serum miR-221-3p and miR-122-5p expressions were significantly correlated with the degree of differentiation, tumor, node, metastasis stage, lymph node metastasis, and invasion depth. miR-221-3p and miR-122-5p expression levels were independent prognostic factors for postoperative gastric cancer. In the diagnosis and predicting prognosis of gastric cancer, receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that the area under curve of combined detection of serum miR-221-3p and miR-122-5p expression had a greater diagnostic effect than either single maker. Conclusions: The miR-221-3p and miR-122-5p are involved in the development of gastric cancer, and they have important clinical values in gastric cancer diagnosis and prognosis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.4143-4147
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• 2016

Purpose: We evaluated all PET/CTs acquired for patients without a primary diagnosis of colorectal cancer, and compared results for those who had subsequent colonoscopy within 6 months, to assess the accuracy of FDG PET/CT for detection of incidental pre-malignant polyps and malignant colon cancers. Materials and Methods: Medical records of 9,545 patients who underwent F-18 FDG PET/CT studies over 3.5 years were retrospectively reviewed. Due to pre-existing diagnosis of colorectal cancer, 818 patients were excluded. Of the remainder, 157 patients had colonoscopy within 6 months (79 males; mean age 61). We divided the colon into 4 regions and compared PET/CT results for each region with colonoscopy and histopathologic findings. True positive lesions included colorectal cancer, villous adenoma, tubulovillous adenoma, tubular adenoma and serrated hyperplastic polyp/hyperplastic polyposis. Results: Of 157 patients, 44 had incidental colonic uptake on PET/CT (28%). Of those, 25 had true positive (TP) uptake, yielding a 48% positive predictive value (PPV); 9% (4/44) were adenocarcinoma. There were 23 false positive (FP) lesions of which 4 were hyperplastic polyp, one was juvenile polyp and 7 were explained by diverticulitis. Fifty eight patients had false negative PET scans but colonoscopy revealed true pre-malignant and malignant pathology, yielding 23% sensitivity. The specificity, negiative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy were 96%, 90% and 87%, respectively. The average SUVmax values of TP, FP and FN lesions were 7.25, 6.11 and 2.76, respectively. There were no significant difference between SUVmax of TP lesions and FP lesions (p>0.95) but significantly higher than in FN lesions (p<0.001). The average size (by histopathology and colonoscopy) of TP lesions was 18.1 mm, statistically different from that of FN lesions which was 5.9 mm (p<0.001). Fifty-one percent of FN lesions were smaller than 5 mm (29/57) and 88% smaller than 10 mm (50/57). Conclusions: The high positive predictive value of incidental focal colonic FDG uptake of 48% for colonic neoplasia suggests that colonoscopy follow-up is warranted with this finding. We observed a low sensitivity of standardly acquired FDG-PET/CT for detecting small polyps, especially those less than 5 mm. Clinician and radiologists should be aware of the high PPV of focal colonic uptake reflecting pre-malignant and malignant lesions, and the need for appropriate follow up.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.753-756
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• 2015

Background: Red cell distribution width (RDW) is one of the standard parameters with blood cell counts. Much previous research has indicated that it increases in cases of systemic inflammation or cardiametabolic incident. However, information on the relation of RDW with solid tumors causing systemic inflammation is limited. In the present research, we examined the relation of RDW with malignant and benign lesions of the colon. Materials and Methods: 115 patients with colon polyps (group 1), and 30 with colon cancer (group 2) who were diagnosed histopathologically in our clinic between January 2010-January 2013 were scanned retrospectively. Patients with anemia, hematologic diseases and active inflammation were excluded. RDW, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), hemoglobin (Hgb) and platelet (Plt) measurements were recorded and their relations with the malignant and benign lesions of the colon were examined. Results: Both groups were similar in age and gender distribution. RDW values of patients with colon cancer were significantly higher than the patients with colon polyp (p=0,01). No significant differences were detected between the two groups in terms of MCV and Plt values (p>0,05). Conclusions: RDW can be used as an early warning biomarker for solid colon tumors. Further prospective research is required on the relations of cheap and easily measured RDW parameters with colon malignancies.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9773-9779
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• 2014

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the prime causes of mortality around the globe, with a significantly rising incidence in the Middle East region in recent decades. Since detection of CRC in the early stages is an important issue, and also since to date there are no comprehensive epidemiologic studies depicting the Middle East region with special attention to the average risk group, further investigation is of significant necessity in this regard. Aim: Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions of the colon in an average risk population. Materials and Methods: A total of 1,208 eligible asymptomatic, average- risk adults older than 40 years of age, referred to Firuzgar Hospotal in the years 2008-2012, were enrolled. They underwent colonoscopy screening and all polypoid lesions were removed and examined by an expert gastrointestinal pathologist. The lesions were classified by size, location, numbers and pathologic findings. Size of lesions was measured objectively by endoscopists. Results: The mean age of participants was $56.5{\pm}9.59$ and 51.6% were male. The overall polyp detection rate was 199/1208 (16.5 %), 26 subjects having non-neoplastic polyps, including hyperplastic lesions, and 173/1208 (14.3%) having neoplastic polyps, of which 26 (2.15%) were advanced neoplasms. The prevalence of colorectal neoplasia was more common among the 50-59 age group. Advanced adenoma was more frequent among the 60-69 age group. The majority of adenomas were detected in the distal colon, but a quarter of advanced adenomas were found in the proximal colon; advance age and male gender was associated with the presence of adenoma. Conclusions: It seems that CRC screening among average-risk population might be recommended in countries such as Iran. However, sigmioidoscopy alone would miss many colorectal adenomas. Furthermore, the 50-59 age group could be considered as an appropriate target population for this purpose in Iran.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.493-500
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• 2008

This paper proposes an electronic colon cleansing method using a patient CT profile for a virtual colonoscopy. The proposed method extracts the colon using cubic seeded region growing, and removes tagged materials adjacent to the colon. Residuals produced by a partial volume effect at the boundary of air-tagged material are deleted, and the removed soft tissue pixels due to a partial volume effect at the boundary of tagged material-soft tissue are recovered using a patient CT profile. The proposed method was applied to 16 virtual colonoscopy patient data sets, and produced promising results by a subjective evaluation of a radiologist and by a quantitative evaluation of a computer-aided diagnosis system.

• Proceedings of the Korea Information Processing Society Conference
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• 2018.10a
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• pp.669-672
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• 2018

캡술내시경은 식도부터 항문까지 소화기관 전체를 한번에 촬영할 수 있는 의료기기로, 한번의 검사에 평균 8~12 시간 정도의 길이와 5만장 이상의 프레임으로 구성된 영상을 생성한다. 그러나 생성된 영상에 대한 분석은 수작업으로 진행되고 있어, 캡술내시경 영상 분석 자동화에 대한 기술적인 수요가 높아지고 있는 추세이다. 이를 위해, 캡슐내시경 영상 분석에 대한 많은 연구가 진행되고 있는데, 본 연구에서는 그 중에서도 폴립 영상에 대한 검출 자동화 연구에 주목하였다. 폴립이란 위장관 내에서 발견될 수 있는 융기성 병변으로, 많은 연구에서 기계학습 혹은 딥러닝 방식을 적용하여 이를 검출하기 위한 연구를 수행하였다. 그러나 캡슐내시경 영상의 특성상, 병번이 있는 영상이 굉장히 적기 때문에 일반적인 딥러닝 방식의 적용으로 좋은 성능을 내기 어렵다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 폴립 검출 컨볼루션 신경망 설계를 위한 멀티 스케일에 대한 원형 검출기법을 결합하여 폴립이 의심되는 영역을 추출해주는 특징 추출 기법으로, 수집한 데이터 150장에 대한 실험한 결과 약 82%의 성능을 보였다.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9801-9804
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• 2014

Background: Colorectal cancer is currently the third most common cancer in Indonesia, yet colonoscopy - the most accepted mode of screening to date - is not done routinely and national data are still lacking. Objective: To determine the detection rate of colorectal cancers and adenomas in unselected patients undergoing colonoscopy for various large bowel symptoms at the Digestive Disease and GI Oncology Centre, Medistra Hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia. Materials and Methods: Colonoscopy data from January 2009 to December 2012 were reviewed. New patients referred for colonoscopy were included. Data collected were patient demographic and significant colonoscopy findings such as the presence of hemorrhoids, colonic polyps, colonic diverticula, inflammation, and tumor mass. Histopathological data were obtained for specimens taken by biopsy. Associations between categorical variables were analyzed using chi-square test, while mean differences were tested using the t-test. Results: A total of, 1659 cases were included in this study, 889 (53.6%) of them being men. Polyps or masses were found in 495 (29.8%) patients while malignancy was confirmed in 74 (4.5%). Patients with a polyp or mass were significantly older (60.2 vs 50.8 years; p<0.001; t-test) and their presence was significantly associated with male gender (35.0% vs 23.9%; prevalent ratio [PR] 1.71; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.38-2.12; p<0.001) and age >50 years (39.6% vs 16.6%; PR 3.29; 95% CI 2.59-4.12; p<0.001). Neoplastic lesions was found in 257 (16.1%), comprising 180 (11.3%) adenomas, 10 (0.6%) in situ carcinomas, and 67 (4.2%) carcinomas. Conclusions: Polyps or masses were found in 30% of colonoscopy patients and malignancies in 16.1%. These figures do not represent the nation-wide demographic status of colorectal cancer, but may reflect a potentially increasing major health problem with colorectal cancer in Indonesia.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.299-307
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• 2020

Purpose: The diagnosis of chronic rhinosinusitis requires a comprehensive knowledge of the signs and symptoms of the disease and an accurate radiographic assessment. Computed tomography (CT) is the superior imaging modality for diagnosis of chronic rhinosinusitis. However, considering the lower dose and higher resolution of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) compared to CT, this study aimed to assess the agreement between the findings of CBCT and functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). Materials and Methods: This descriptive prospective study evaluated 49 patients with treatment-resistant chronic rhinosinusitis who were candidates for FESS. Preoperative CBCT scans were obtained before patients underwent FESS. The agreement between the CBCT findings and those of FESS was determined using the kappa correlation coefficient. The frequency of anatomical variations of the paranasal sinuses was also evaluated on CBCT scans. Results: Significant agreement existed between pathological findings on CBCT scans and those of FESS, such that the kappa correlation coefficient was 1 for mucosal thickening, 0.644 for nasal deviation, 0.750 for concha bullosa, 0.918 for nasal polyp, 0.935 for ostiomeatal complex (OMC) obstruction, and 0.552 for infundibulum thickening. Furthermore, 95.9% of patients had 1 or more and 79.6% had 2 or more anatomical variations, of which nasal deviation was the most common (67.3%). Conclusion: Considering the significant agreement between the findings of CBCT and FESS for the detection of pathological changes in the paranasal sinuses, CBCT can be used prior to FESS to detect chronic rhinosinusitis and to assess anatomical variations of the OMC.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.250-258
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• 2023

Freshwater jellyfish, a type of jellyfish exclusively found in freshwater, has a limited number of species but is found globally. However, their ecology and causes of occurrence are largely unknown. Therefore, understanding the distribution of polyps, which produce the larvae of freshwater jellyfish, can provide important data for comprehending their ecology. This study aims to explore the COI gene of freshwater jellyfish using environmental DNA from the microbial film in the Miho River system. Among the 12 survey points in the Miho River watershed, genetic material of freshwater jellyfish was detected in 8 points, mainly located upstream near reservoirs. These genetic materials were identified as genes of the well-known freshwater jellyfish species, Craspedacusta sowerbii. Notably, the C. sowerbii genes found in the Miho River watershed survey points were closely related to a species previously discovered in Italy. Consequently, utilizing environmental DNA to explore the genetic traces of freshwater jellyfish enables rapid screening of areas with a high likelihood of freshwater jellyfish occurrence. This approach is deemed to provide crucial information for understanding the distribution and ecology of freshwater jellyfish in Korea.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.191-199
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• 2019

Purpose: To compare the diagnostic ability of undergraduate dental students to detect maxillary sinus abnormalities in panoramic radiographs(PR) and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study based on the evaluation of PR and CBCT images. A pilot study was conducted to determine the number of students eligible to participate in the study. The images were evaluated by 2 students, and 280 maxillary sinuses were assessed using the following categories: normal, mucosal thickening, sinus polyp, antral pseudocyst, nonspecific opacification, periostitis, antrolith, and antrolith associated with mucosal thickening. The reference standard was established by the consensus of 2 oral radiologists based on the CBCT images. The kappa test, receiver operating characteristic curves, and 1-way analysis of variance with the Tukey-Kramer post-hoc test were employed. Results: Intraobserver and interobserver reliability showed agreement ranging from substantial (0.809) to almost perfect (0.922). The agreement between the students' evaluations and the reference standard was reasonable (0.258) for PR and substantial(0.692) for CBCT. Comparisons of values of sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy showed that CBCT was significantly better(P<0.05). Conclusion: CBCT was better than PR for the detection of maxillary sinus abnormalities by dental students. However, CBCT should only be requested after a careful analysis of PR by students and more experienced professionals.