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With the establishment of international guidelines and changes in insurance policies in Korea, the role of targeted ultrasonography has increased. This study aimed to identify the rates and clinical course of anomalies detected using prenatal targeted ultrasonography.This study was a retrospective analysis of all pregnancies with targeted ultrasonography performed in a single secondary medical center over 5 years.Fetal anomalies were detected by targeted ultrasonography in 137 of the 8,147 cases (1.7%). The rates of anomalies were significantly higher in female fetuses (2.0% vs. 1.3%). In cases of female fetuses, the rate of anomalies was significantly higher in the advanced maternal age group (2.4% vs. 1.2%). In cases of male fetuses, the rate of anomalies was significantly higher in nulliparous (2.4% vs. 1.5%) and twin (5.7% vs. 1.9%) pregnancies. Pulmonary anomalies were significantly more common in the multiparity group (17.6% vs. 5.8%). Among the 137 cases, 17.5% terminated the pregnancy, 16.8% were diagnosed as normal after birth, and 42.3% were diagnosed with anomalies after birth or required follow-up.Through the first study on the rates and clinical course of anomalies detected by targeted ultrasonography at a single secondary center in Korea, we found that artificial abortions were performed at a high rate, even for relatively mild anomalies or anomalies with good prognosis. We suggest the necessity of a nationwide study to establish clinical guidelines based on actual incidences or prognoses.

Ovarian pregnancies comprise approximately 3% of ectopic pregnancies. Moreover, ovarian pregnancies in the second trimester are extremely rare. We herein present a case of ruptured ovarian pregnancy in the second trimester. A 26-year-old Asian woman presented to our hospital complaining of an abrupt mental change. She was pregnant; however, she had not been receiving antenatal care. Her initial vital signs were unstable, and pelvic ultrasound revealed pelvic fluid collection. We analyzed the hemoperitoneum and performed exploratory laparotomy. When her abdomen was opened, we observed that her right ovary was ruptured. Placental cord insertion originated from the ovary, and a fetus was found in the pelvic cavity. The ovarian pregnancy was detected in a delayed state. Pregnant women require appropriate antenatal care, and pelvic ultrasound should be performed in the second trimester to ensure that the fetus is in the intrauterine cavity.

The complete removal of obturation material can be a challenge in nonsurgical root canal retreatment. The insufficient removal of obturation material is a reason for root canal retreatment failure. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of different final root canal irrigation activation methods in removing debris and smear layers in the apical and middle portions of root canals during retreatment. Sixty-six distal roots of freshly extracted molars were randomly divided into six groups: (1) primary root canal treatment with no obturation (negative control), (2) retreatment with only conventional instrumentation and irrigation (positive control), (3) retreatment with additional ultrasonic irrigation using the Piezon Master 700, (4) ultrasonic irrigation with the ENDOSONIC Blue, (5) sonic irrigation with the EDDY, and (6) multisonic irrigation with the GentleWave system. Roots were split and prepared for scanning electron microscopic (SEM) evaluation. Acquired images were assessed to quantify the amount of debris and smear remaining. Among the treatment groups, Group 6 had a significantly lower debris score than Group 2 (positive control) in both the middle and apical regions (p = 0.004, p = 0.012). All treatment groups showed significantly lower smear scores than Group 2 in the middle and apical regions (p &lt, 0.05). The GentleWave multisonic System showed a more optimal cleaning efficacy of the root canal debris but did not differ significantly with the tested passive ultrasonic or sonic irrigation method.

Signet-ring stromal cell tumour (SRSCT) of the ovary was first reported by Ramzy in 1976 and remains a very rare neoplasm with only a few cases reported so far. This type of tumour is characterised...

Background Although many studies have compared the properties of ultrasonic scaling instruments, it remains controversial as to which is most suitable for implant scaling. This study evaluated the safety and efficiency of novel metallic ultrasonic scaler tips made by the powder injection molding (PIM) technique on titanium surfaces. Methods Mechanical instrumentation was carried out using four types of metal scaler tips consisting of copper (CU), bronze (BR), 316 L stainless steel (316 L), and conventional stainless steel (SS) tips. The instrumented surface alteration image of samples was viewed with scanning electron microscope (SEM) and surface profile of the each sample was investigated with confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Arithmetic mean roughness (Ra) and maximum height roughness (Rmax) of titanium samples were measured and dissipated power of the scaler tip was estimated for scaling efficiency. Results The average Ra values caused by the 316 L and SS tip were about two times higher than those of the CU and BR tips (p

The purpose of this study was to compare disinfection and the biofilm removal efficacy of the GentleWave System (Sonendo, Inc., Laguna Hills, CA, USA) with passive ultrasonic activation method. Forty-seven freshly extracted human molars were inoculated with Enterococcus faecalis and cultured for five weeks to establish biofilm. Eight molars were tested for confirmation of infection. Four of the eight teeth were not inoculated in order to provide a negative control. The remaining 39 inoculated molars were randomly separated into three treatment groups (n = 13 per group): Group 1&mdash, no treatment, Group 2&mdash, conventional rotary instrumentation and passive ultrasonic activation, and Group 3&mdash, minimal instrumentation and the GentleWave System treatment. Roots were subsequently prepared per standard histological tissue processing procedures. Modified Brown and Brenn stained sections and Hematoxylin and Eosin stained sections were visualized at 4&times, and 13.5&times, magnification using a stereomicroscope. The sections were scored and blindly analyzed by two independent evaluators, including a histopathologist, to evaluate the presence of biofilm on canal wall. A significant difference was found between Group 2 and Group 3 in both apical and middle regions (p = 0.001) of the mesial roots of mandibular molars and mesiobuccal roots of maxillary molars. Group 3 revealed significantly less biofilm than the controls (p = 0.003). The GentleWave System demonstrated significantly greater reduction in biofilm within the mesial roots of mandibular molars and mesiobuccal roots of maxillary molars than those treated with conventional rotary instrumentation and passive ultrasonic activation protocol.

Cigarettes per day (CPD) is one of most commonly used phenotypes in nicotine dependence (ND) study. For example, a genetic association study of ND focuses on identifying single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that correlate with CPD. However, analysis of CPD data is always challenging, since the estimation of CPD distribution is difficult due to spikes at some specific values, say 10, 20 and so forth. Thus, standard maximum likelihood estimation is not appropriate. In this study, we focus on genetic association tests for identifying SNPs that correlate with CPD. We first reviewed previously proposed approaches applicable to CPD data, in which the CPD data is a dependent variable and the SNP is an ordinal independent variable. We then considered a calibration model in which the SNP is the ordinal dependent variable and the CPD is the independent variable. Unlike a standard modeling approach, this calibration modeling approach becomes sufficiently robust to accommodate distributional assumptions of CPD data. We applied our robust calibration modeling approach to CPD data from the Korean Association Resource project data of 4,183 male samples.

In smoking behaviour studies, Cigarette Counts Per Day CPD are aggregated such as 0, one pack, two packs, etc. Analysis of such count data is a challenge, owing to its reporting bias and difficulty in estimating its appropriate distribution. In this study, we set forth to identify genetic variants, such as Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms SNPs, that correlate with aggregated count data, such as CPD. We first reviewed the existing approaches, in which the aggregated count data is a dependent variable and the SNP is an ordinal independent variable. We then considered a calibration model in which the SNP is the ordinal dependent variable and the aggregated count data is the independent variable. This calibration modelling approach becomes robust to accommodate distributional assumptions of count data. We applied our robust calibration modelling approach to CPD data from the Korean Association Resource project data of 4183 male samples. Through simulation studies, we investigated the performance of the proposed method for comparison to other competing approaches.

The energy consumption problem in wireless sensor networks is investigated. The problem is to expend as little energy as possible receiving and transmitting data, because of constrained battery. In this paper, in order to extend the lifetime of the network, we proposed a location-based clustering algorithm for wireless sensor network with skewed- topology. The proposed algorithm is to deploy multiple child nodes at the sink to avoid bottleneck near the sink and to save energy. Proposed algorithm can reduce control traffic overhead by creating a dynamic cluster. We have evaluated the performance of our clustering algorithm through an analysis and a simulation. We compare our algorithm's performance to the best known centralized algorithm, and demonstrate that it achieves a good performance in terms of the life time.