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Background & Aims: Several models have recently been developed to predict risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Our aims were to develop and validate an artificial intelligence-assisted prediction model of HCC risk. Methods: Using a gradient-boosting machine (GBM) algorithm, a model was developed using 6,051 patients with CHB who received entecavir or tenofovir therapy from 4 hospitals in Korea. Two external validation cohorts were independently established: Korean (5,817 patients from 14 Korean centers) and Caucasian (1,640 from 11 Western centers) PAGE-B cohorts. The primary outcome was HCC development. Results: In the derivation cohort and the 2 validation cohorts, cirrhosis was present in 26.9%-50.2% of patients at baseline. A model using 10 parameters at baseline was derived and showed good predictive performance (c-index 0.79). This model showed significantly better discrimination than previous models (PAGEB, modified PAGE-B, REACH-B, and CU-HCC) in both the Korean (c-index 0.79 vs. 0.64-0.74; all p

Sonographic evaluation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract may be difficult because of overlying intraluminal bowel gas and gas-related artifacts. However, in the absence of these factors and with the development of high-resolution scanners and the technical experience of radiologists, sonography can become a powerful tool for GI tract assessment. This pictorial essay focuses on sonographic findings of GI tract lesions compared with endoscopic, computed tomographic, and magnetic resonance imaging findings. Neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases and postoperative complications are illustrated, and the distinctive sonographic characteristics of these entities are highlighted.

The glyoxylate shunt (GS) is a two-step metabolic pathway (isocitrate lyase, aceA; and malate synthase, glcB) that serves as an alternative to the tricarboxylic acid cycle. The GS bypasses the carbon dioxide-producing steps of the tricarboxylic acid cycle and is essential for acetate and fatty acid metabolism in bacteria. GS can be up-regulated under conditions of oxidative stress, antibiotic stress, and host infection, which implies that it plays important but poorly explored roles in stress defense and pathogenesis. In many bacterial species, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, aceA and glcB are not in an operon, unlike in Escherichia coli. In P. aeruginosa, we explored relationships between GS genes and growth, transcription profiles, and biofilm formation. Contrary to our expectations, deletion of aceA in P. aeruginosa improved cell growth under conditions of oxidative and antibiotic stress. Transcriptome data suggested that aceA mutants underwent a metabolic shift toward aerobic denitrification; this was supported by additional evidence, including up-regulation of denitrification-related genes, decreased oxygen consumption without lowering ATP yield, increased production of denitrification intermediates (NO and N2O), and increased cyanide resistance. The aceA mutants also produced a thicker exopolysaccharide layer; that is, a phenotype consistent with aerobic denitrification. A bioinformatic survey across known bacterial genomes showed that only microorganisms capable of aerobic metabolism possess the glyoxylate shunt. This trend is consistent with the hypothesis that the GS plays a previously unrecognized role in allowing bacteria to tolerate oxidative stress.

Sonography is usually regarded as a first-line imaging modality for masses and masslike lesions in the abdominal wall. A dynamic study focusing on a painful area or palpable mass and the possibility of ultrasound-guided aspiration or biopsy are the major advantages of sonography. On the other hand, cross-sectional imaging clearly shows anatomy of the abdominal wall; thereby, it is valuable for diagnosing and evaluating the extent of diseases. Cross-sectional imaging can help differentiate neoplastic lesions from non-neoplastic lesions. This pictorial essay focuses on sonographic findings of abdominal wall lesions compared with computed tomographic and magnetic resonance imaging findings.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate characteristic sonographic findings for mumps orchitis with epididymal involvement. METHODS This study included 18 patients (aged 12-18 years) with mumps orchitis. We assessed the volume, echogenicity, and vascularity of the testes and the transverse diameter, echogenicity, and vascularity of the epididymal head, body, and tail. We classified 4 types of epididymal involvement: 1A, focal swelling of the epididymal head with hypervascularity only on the swollen head; 1B, focal swelling of the epididymal head with hypervascularity on the entire epididymis; 1C, diffuse swelling of the entire epididymis with hypervascularity; and 2, no epididymal involvement. The Student t test was used to evaluate the significance of the size of each part of the epididymis and the epididymal head-to-tail diameter ratio. RESULTS Orchitis was unilateral in 13 patients and bilateral in 5. Of 23 affected hemiscrotums, 7 (30.4%) were type 1A, 4 (17.4%) type 1B, 2 (8.7%) type 1C, and 10 (43.5%) type 2. In 11 patients with unilateral epididymal involvement, the mean diameters ± SDs of the epididymal heads on the affected and contralateral sides were 1.11 ± 0.19 (range, 0.7-1.7) and 0.65 ± 0.14 (0.3-0.9) cm (significantly different, P

Gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is one of the most common mesenchymal tumors of the stomach, which may be asymptomatic or cause symptoms such as pain, gastrointestinal bleeding, and obstruction. Hemoperitoneum due to spontaneous rupture of the tumor is an extremely rare complication. We described a case of a 52-year-old man with a large pedunculated GIST causing loculated hematoma within the gastrocolic ligament. The patient visited our hospital due to a 3 week history of epigastric pain. A computed tomography scan revealed a 10.3 × 7.5 × 9.4 cm sized mass that was growing exophytically from the greater curvature of the stomach and was surrounded by loculated hematoma within the gastrocolic ligament. Laparotomy revealed a large stalked gastric mass surrounded by loculated hematoma within the gastrocolic ligament and blood fluid in the peritoneal cavity. Pathologic examination confirmed a GIST, of the high risk group.

The purpose of the study was to assess the value of initial sonography in the diagnosis of right-sided colonic diverticulitis in comparison with supplementary CT. A total of 183 consecutive adult patients with right lower quadrant pain (73 diverticulitis, and 110 non-diverticulitis) who underwent both initial sonography and subsequent CT within 24 h were enrolled in this study. Two reviewers retrospectively assessed imaging findings of diverticula, colonic wall thickening, inflammatory pericolic fat, and pericolic abscess for each sonography and CT and then classified each case as non-diverticulitis, simple diverticulitis or complicated diverticulitis. Sonography and CT were independently reviewed at 2-week intervals. The value of initial sonography was assessed through head-to-head comparison with CT results. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for diagnosing diverticulitis were not significantly different between the two modalities (p = 0.366, 0.605 and 0.259, respectively). In addition, the net sensitivity (97.26%) of both sonography and CT was not significantly different from the sensitivity (89.04%) of sonography alone (p = 0.101). Agreement between sonography and CT for the classification of diverticulitis and the four imaging findings was excellent (all κ > 0.8). Initial sonography can be as effective as CT for the diagnosis of right-sided colonic diverticulitis. Supplementary CT is only needed when sonography is inconclusive.

Rationale:Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) shows a variable clinical expression in patients. Articular disease is common manifestation, but patients may rarely present with extra-articular manifestation such as cranial neuropathy. Also, primary hepatic lymphoma (PHL) has rarely been reported in pat

In a computed tomography (CT) scan, fat deposition in the urinary bladder wall is seen as a linear hypoattenuating band surrounded by soft tissue density. It is uncommon, but is often seen in normal cases. However, there is no report of fat deposition in the urinary bladder wall in Korea. The authors encountered a 62-year-old male patient who showed an incidental hypoattenuating band in the urinary bladder wall on abdominal CT. The patient showed no clinical signs related to fat deposition in the urinary bladder wall. When the patient's previous abdominal CT was retrospectively reviewed, the same CT finding was seen. This linear hypoattenuating band within the urinary bladder wall should be considered as a normal CT finding, although it is uncommon.

Intravenous lobular capillary hemangiomas are extremely uncommon and mostly occur in the veins of the neck and upper extremities. Here, we report the clinical and sonographic features of an intravenous lobular capillary hemangioma localized in the right cephalic vein, and we discuss its pathologic findings and differential diagnoses.

Inflammatory fibroid polyp (IFP) is a rare benign lesion of the gastrointestinal tract. We report a case of computed tomography (CT) imaging finding of a gastric IFP with massive fibrosis. CT scans showed thickening of submucosal layer with overlying mucosal hyperenhancement in the gastric antrum. The submucosal layer showed increased enhancement on delayed phase imaging. An antrectomy with gastroduodenostomy was performed because gastric cancer was suspected, particularly signet ring cell carcinoma. The histopathological diagnosis was an IFP with massive fibrosis. The authors suggest that when the submucosal layer of the gastric wall is markedly thickened with delayed enhancement and preservation of the mucosal layer, an IFP with massive fibrosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis.

Purpose The aims of the study were to evaluate the usefulness of low-dose (LD) nonenhanced CT (NECT) with coronal reformation in diagnosing acute appendicitis and to compare LD NECT with standard-dose (SD) NECT and SD contrast-enhanced CT (CECT). Methods A total of 452 patients suspected of having acute appendicitis underwent CT using a scan 1 (SD NECT and SD CECT1, n = 182) or a scan 2 protocol (LD NECT and SD CECT2, n = 270). The diagnostic performance and interobserver agreement for diagnosing acute appendicitis were compared. Results Although the area under the curves of both reviewers of LD NECT were lower than those of SD CECT2, area under the curves of both reviewers for SD NECT were not significantly different for SD CECT1 and LD NECT (all P > 0.05). The interobserver agreements within each scan were excellent (all κ > 0.8). Conclusions Low-dose NECT with coronal reformation showed high diagnostic performance and can be used as the first-line imaging tool in the work-up of patients with suspected acute appendicitis.

A suprapubic cartilaginous cyst from the symphysis pubis is a rare lesion, which may be asymptomatic or cause symptoms such as urinary retention and pelvic pain. It is thought to be secondary to degenerative changes in the symphysis pubis and usually occurs in multiparous women. We report the case of a suprapubic cartilaginous cyst in a 76-year-old asymptomatic woman, which mimicked a bladder mass on ultrasonography.

We have demonstrated that the single crystalline silicon films on the glass substrates can be utilized in the conventional mass production lines. The single crystalline Si layers were transferred to the 370 mm × 470 mm glass substrates using Silicon-On-Glass (SiOG) technology. Using the thin film transistor backplanes made by conventional CMOS technology, 2.4″ qVGA AMOLED with integrated circuits were successfully fabricated. A completed 2.4″ qVGA AMOLED module shows wide viewing angle (> 170°) and 73% color gamut. The advantages of SiOG technology and its significances will be presented.

Objective To evaluate whether an early bone marrow edema pattern predicts vertebral deformity types and prognosis in osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF). Methods This retrospective study enrolled 64 patients with 75 acute OVCFs who underwent early MRI and followed up MRI. On early MRI, the low SI pattern of OVCF on T1WI were assessed and classified into 3 types (diffuse, globular or patchy, band-like). On followed up MRI, the vertebral deformity types (anterior wedge, biconcave, crush), degree of vertebral body height loss, incidence of vertebral osteonecrosis and spinal stenosis were assessed for each vertebral fracture types. Results According to the early bone marrow edema pattern on T1WI, 26 vertebrae were type 1, 14 vertebrae were type 2 and 35 vertebrae were type 3. On followed up MRI, the crush-type vertebral deformity was most frequent among the type 1 OVCFs, the biconcave-type vertebral deformity was most frequent among the type 2 OVCFs and the anterior wedge-type vertebral deformity was most frequent among the type 3 OVCFs (p

Theoretical compensation after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear could cause quadriceps weakness and hamstring activation, preventing anterior tibial subluxation and affecting the expected hamstring-to-quadriceps ratio. Although quadriceps weakness often occurs after ACL tears, it remains unclear whether hamstring strength and hamstring-to-quadriceps ratio increase in ACL deficient knees. This meta-analysis compared the isokinetic muscle strength of quadriceps and hamstring muscles, and the hamstring-to-quadriceps ratio, of the injured and injured limbs of patients with ACL tears. This meta-analysis included all studies comparing isokinetic thigh muscle strengths and hamstring-to-quadriceps ratio in the injured and uninjured legs of patients with ACL tear, without or before surgery. Thirteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. Quadriceps and hamstring strengths were 22.3 N∙m (95% CI: 15.2 to 29.3 N∙m; P

XML is emerging as a standard data format to exchange and to present data on the Web. There are increasing needs to efficiently store and to query XML data. In this paper. we propose a new schema transformation algorithm based on a common structure extracting technique from XML documents. The common structure is shared by all XML documents referenced by DTD and the uncommon structure is ununiformly appeared on all XML documents referenced by DTD. Based on the extracted common and uncommon structures, we transform XML DTD into relational database schema. We conduct a performance evaluation based on the number of the generated tables, the size of the record, query processing time and the number of joins on the query. The performance of our algorithm is compared with the existing algorithms, then in most cates, our algorithm is better than the existing ones with respect to the number of the generated tables and appearance of NULL values in the tables.

Diagnostic errors remain an inevitable occurrence during abdominopelvic CT (APCT) interpretation, despite advances in imaging technology. The main cause of error is failure to identify a lesion (i.e. perceptual error) and failure to recognize a finding's significance (i.e. interpretive or cognitive error). Awareness and understanding of the causes of errors can reduce their occurrence and may lead to a reduction in morbidity and mortality. This pictorial essay highlights various causes of error in interpreting APCT scans and briefly discusses possible solutions for minimizing these errors.

We have studied the fabrication of ultrathin single-crystalline-silicon thin-film transistors (TFTs) on glass. The single-crystalline Si layer was transferred to glass by hydrogen implantation and anodic bonding. The thickness of the silicon-on-glass (SiOG) was controlled down to 10 nm by dry etching. The p-channel SiOG TFTs with 10-nm-thick Si exhibited the field-effect mobility of 134.9 cm2/Vmiddots, threshold voltage of -1.5 V, and gate voltage swing of 0.13 V/dec. The TFTs were found to be stable against gate bias stress of +30 or -30 V.

A suprapubic cartilaginous cyst from the symphysis pubis is a rare lesion, which may be asymptomatic or cause symptoms such as urinary retention and pelvic pain. It is thought to be secondary to degenerative changes in the symphysis pubis and usually occurs in multiparous women. We report the case of a suprapubic cartilaginous cyst in a 76-year-old asymptomatic woman, which mimicked a bladder mass on ultrasonography.

Intravenous lobular capillary hemangiomas are extremely uncommon and mostly occur in the veins of the neck and upper extremities. Here, we report the clinical and sonographic features of an intravenous lobular capillary hemangioma localized in the right cephalic vein, and we discuss its pathologic findings and differential diagnoses.

To investigate the relationship between the increased signal intensity (SI) of proximal lateral collateral ligament (LCL) at femoral attachment site on fat-suppressed (FS) proton density-weighted (PDW) MR imaging and the corresponding histological features on cadaveric knees.MRI was obtained from 11 cadaveric knees. Two musculoskeletal radiologists evaluated SI of LCL at femoral attachment site and the remaining caudal portion on FS PDW imaging. The SI was classified into three types; I = low, II = intermediate to slightly high, III = high SI or intraligamentous discontinuity of fibre. In addition, 100 control subjects were reviewed for normal LCL SI.All proximal LCLs at femoral attachment site showed increased SI (nine cases of Type II and two cases of Type III). The remaining caudal portion presented Type I in all cases. Histological examination of proximal LCL at femoral attachment site revealed loose distribution of fine collagen fibres, intervened with fat and vessels, whereas the remaining caudal portion was composed of parallel distribution of compact collagen bundles. There were no signs of degeneration or tear of the LCL in all our cadaveric knee samples, even for the two cases that presented as Type III. Clinical study identified increased SI of proximal LCL at femoral attachment site in 94% (94/100) of control subjects.Increased SI of proximal LCL at femoral attachment site on FS PDW imaging is due to histological characteristics, not degeneration or tear.Increased SI of proximal LCL at femoral attachment site on FS PDW MR imaging is a common, normal finding that its clinical significance can be neglected.

In general, ischemic colitis has a very good prognosis. However, there are a lot of controversies in relation to the prognostic factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate risk factors of severe ischemic colitis.A retrospective study was undertaken of patients with ischemic colitis hospitalized at the Hanyang University Hospital during the interval 2004-2006. Patients were divided into two groups: those with mild course and those with severe course which led to operation, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, or death.A total of 41 cases (M/F=13/28, mean age=63.8 years) of biopsy proven ischemic colitis were included, of which 31 (75.6%) had a mild course and 10 (24.4%) a severe course. Coexisting medical diseases of patients were hypertension (n=24), diabetes (n=14), end-stage renal disease (n=11), cardiovascular disease (n=5), and malignancy (n=5). Male (p=0.049), alcoholics (p=0.025), end-stage renal disease (p=0.013), LDH (p=0.002), CRP (p=0.014), and peritoneal irritation sign (p=0.001) were the significant risk factors of severe ischemic colitis in univariate analysis. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, end-stage renal disease (p=0.026) was the only significant risk factor of severe ischemic colitis.Careful attention must be paid to end-stage renal disease patients having ischemic colitis.

Congenital intrahepatic inferior vena cava (IVC) interruption with azygos/hemiazygos continuation is a rare congenital anomaly (1, 2) and hemiazygos vein continuation draining into the right atrium via a persistent left superior vena cava (SVC) is even rarer (3). Furthermore, a single coronary artery (SCA) ostium, in the absence of other cardiac disease, is an extremely rare coronary artery anomaly (4). We presented a very rare case of incidentally found interrupted IVC with hemiazygos vein continuation combined with a left SCA diagnosed by multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT). The dilated hemiazygos vein drained directly into the persistent left SVC.

Granular cell tumors (GCTs) are extremely rare mesenchymal neoplasms of Schwann cell origin. Malignant GCTs (MGCTs) comprise 0.5–2% of all GCTs. In the present report, we describe a case of a 66-year-old man with MGCT of the abdominal wall. The patient visited our hospital due to a recently growing palpable soft tissue mass in the abdominal wall. Computed tomography scan revealed a 4.3 × 4.1 × 2.9 cm sized mass arising from the left abdominal wall, which was contemplated as a desmoid tumor before surgical excision. Histopathological examination confirmed MGCT.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) can accompany many musculoskeletal (MSK) diseases. It is difficult to distinguish the DM-related MSK diseases based on clinical symptoms alone. Sonography is frequently used as a first imaging study for these MSK symptoms and is helpful to differentiate the various DM-related MSK diseases. This pictorial essay focuses on sonographic findings of various MSK diseases that can occur in diabetic patients.

It is not clear whether the strength or endurance of thigh muscles (quadriceps and hamstring) is positively or negatively correlated with the adduction moment of osteoarthritic knees. This study therefore assessed the relationships between the strength and endurance of the quadriceps and hamstring muscles and adduction moment in osteoarthritic knees and evaluated predictors of the adduction moment. The study cohort comprised 35 patients with unilateral medial osteoarthritis and varus deformity who were candidates for open wedge osteotomy. The maximal torque (60°/sec) and total work (180°/sec) of the quadriceps and hamstring muscles and knee adduction moment were evaluated using an isokinetic testing device and gait analysis system. The total work of the quadriceps (r = 0.429, P = 0.037) and hamstring (r = 0.426, P = 0.045) muscles at 180°/sec each correlated with knee adduction moment. Preoperative varus deformity was positively correlated with adduction moment (r = 0.421, P = 0.041). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that quadriceps endurance at 180°/sec was the only factor independently associated with adduction moment (β = 0.790, P = 0.032). The adduction moment of osteoarthritic knees correlated with the endurance, but not the strength, of the quadriceps muscle. However, knee adduction moment did not correlate with the strength or endurance of the hamstring muscle.

Sung Eun Ahn, Wook Jin, So Young Park, Kang Il Kim, Ji Seon Park, Kyung Nam Ryu Department of Radiology, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Korea Department of Radiology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Korea Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Korea