Mapping nationwide concentrations of sulfate and nitrate in ambient PM in South Korea using machine learning with ground observation data.

Particulate matter (PM) is a major air pollutant in Northeast Asia, with frequent high PM episodes. To investigate the nationwide spatial distribution maps of PM and secondary inorganic aerosols in South Korea, prediction models for mapping SO and NO concentrations in PM were developed using machine learning with ground-based observation data. Specifically, the random forest algorithm was used in this study to predict the SO and NO concentrations at 548 air quality monitoring stations located within the representative radii of eight intensive air quality monitoring stations.

Lymphoproliferative disorder involving body fluid: diagnostic approaches and roles of ancillary studies.

Lymphocyte-rich effusions represent benign reactive process or neoplastic condition. Involvement of lymphoproliferative disease in body cavity is not uncommon, and it often causes diagnostic challenge. In this review, we suggest a practical diagnostic approach toward lymphocyte-rich effusions, share representative cases, and discuss the utility of ancillary tests.

Targeted Sequencing Revealed Distinct Mutational Profiles of Ocular and Extraocular Sebaceous Carcinomas.

The biological behavior of sebaceous carcinoma (SeC) is relatively indolent; however, local invasion or distant metastasis is sometimes reported. Nevertheless, a lack of understanding of the genetic background of SeC makes it difficult to apply effective systemic therapy. This study was designed to investigate major genetic alterations in SeCs in Korean patients.

Expression of Class III Beta-Tubulin Is Associated with Invasive Potential and Poor Prognosis in Thyroid Carcinoma.

Although American Thyroid Association guidelines offer a risk stratification scheme for thyroid cancer patients, there is a continuous need for more sophisticated biomarkers that can predict disease progression. In this study, we aim to evaluate the prognostic value of class III beta-tubulin (TUBB3) and uncover the relationship between TUBB3 and invasive potential in thyroid carcinoma. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for TUBB3 and E-cadherin was performed on a total of 254 cases of thyroid cancer specimens.

Necrotizing sialometaplasia: a malignant masquerade but questionable precancerous lesion, report of four cases.

Background: Necrotizing sialometaplasia (NSM) is an extremely rare benign lesion with an uncertain pathogenesis. The differential diagnosis of this lesion is challenging due to little familiarity with this entity and histologic similarity with carcinomas, especially mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC). The purpose of this study is to raise awareness about NSM, which is often overlooked or misdiagnosed as malignancy in a small biopsy.

Sonographic and Clinical Characteristics of Uterine Sarcoma Initially Misdiagnosed as Uterine Fibroid in Women in the Late Reproductive Age.

Objectives: Uterine sarcoma is a rare malignant tumor, which is usually diagnosed in postmenopausal women. These sarcomas are occasionally misdiagnosed as uterine fibroids, thereby leading to delayed diagnosis in the advanced stages. We analyzed the sonographic and clinical characteristics of unexpected uterine sarcomas detected after surgery in women in the late reproductive age.

Characteristics of CD5-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma among Koreans: High incidence of BCL2 and MYC double-expressors.

Aberrant expression of CD5 has been reported in 5-10% of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs). CD5+ DLBCL had been recognized as an aggressive immunophenotypic subgroup of DLBCL in the 2008 WHO classification of haematolymphoid neoplasm; however, it was eliminated from the list of subgroups of DLBCLs in the revised 2016 classification. Nevertheless, there is much controversy regarding the clinical significance of CD5 expression, and many researchers still assert that this subgroup exhibits an extremely unfavorable prognosis with frequent treatment failure.

Tinnitus in the side with better hearing.

Objectives: We aimed to confirm the characteristics of patients with tinnitus in the better-hearing side.

Materials And Methods: Among the 778 patients who visited the tinnitus clinic complaining of unilateral tinnitus at a local university hospital between March 2014 and December 2017, we recruited 62 patients who showed tinnitus in the better-hearing side on pure-tone audiometry. The mean hearing threshold was calculated using the arithmetic mean of the pure tone thresholds at 1, 2, 3, and 4 kHz.

Paper patching for patulous eustachian tube.

Background: Paper patching, a method that places cigarette paper over the most mobile quadrants of the tympanic membrane, is one of the treatment options for patulous eustachian tube (PET).

Aims/objectives: The objective of this study was to compare the outcomes of two different treatment strategies for PET.

Material And Methods: Twenty-three patients underwent paper patching of the tympanic membrane and 16 patients were treated with nasal saline irrigation with or without ipratropium bromide nasal spray.

The Expression of Adipophilin Is Frequently Found in Solid Subtype Adenocarcinoma and Is Associated with Adverse Outcomes in Lung Adenocarcinoma.

Background: The up-regulation of the lipogenic pathway has been reported in many types of malignant tumors. However, its pathogenic role or clinical significance is not fully understood. The objective of this study was to examine the expression levels of adipophilin and related hypoxic signaling proteins and to determine their prognostic impacts and associations with the pathologic characteristics of lung adenocarcinoma.

Brainstem astroblastoma with MN1 translocation.

Astroblastoma is a rare glial neoplasm that occurs mostly in the cerebral hemisphere of children, adolescents and young adults. Although astroblastic perivascular pseudorosettes are unique histopathology of this neoplasm, diagnosis is usually challenging. Recently, it was discovered that the meningioma 1 gene (MN1)-altered pediatric central nervous system high-grade neuroepithelial tumors are actually astroblastomas.

Audiometric Profiles in Patients With Normal Hearing and Bilateral or Unilateral Tinnitus.

Hypothesis: Patients with subjective nonpulsatile tinnitus and a normal conventional audiogram have more objective audiologic evidence of hidden hearing loss and deafferentation-related pathology than patients without tinnitus.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiologic characteristics and audiologic profiles, including auditory brainstem response (ABR), distortion product otoacoustic emission, and threshold-equalizing noise test results, in patients with tinnitus and a normal audiogram.

Methods: The test results for 20 patients complaining of nonpulsatile chronic tinnitus were compared with those of 91 subjects with normal hearing and no tinnitus.

Clinical Characteristics of Dizziness Associated with Acute Peripheral Facial Palsy.

Background And Objectives: We aimed to assess the clinical significance of dizziness associated with acute peripheral facial palsy (APFP).

Subjects And Methods: Medical records of patients who visited an otorhinolaryngology clinic at a university hospital and were admitted for treatment of APFP between 2014 and 2016 were thoroughly reviewed.

Results: In total, 15.

Characteristics of patients with acute peripheral facial palsy showing Varicella zoster virus DNA in saliva.

Infection caused by Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is a common etiology of acute peripheral facial palsy (APFP). We aimed to assess the clinical significance of detecting VZV DNA from the saliva of patients with APFP. Saliva collected from 36 patients with unilateral APFP at initial visit was analyzed to detect VZV DNA by polymerase chain reaction.

Perivascular Epithelioid Cell Tumor in the Stomach.

Perivascular epithelioid cell tumors or PEComas can arise in any location in the body. However, a limited number of cases of gastric PEComa have been reported. We present two cases of gastric PEComas.

Lateral geniculate body evoked potentials elicited by visual and electrical stimulation.

Purpose: Blind individuals who have photoreceptor loss are known to perceive phosphenes with electrical stimulation of their remaining retinal ganglion cells. We proposed that implantable lateral geniculate body (LGB) stimulus electrode arrays could be used to generate phosphene vision. We attempted to refine the basic reference of the electrical evoked potentials (EEPs) elicited by microelectrical stimulations of the optic nerve, optic tract and LGB of a domestic pig, and then compared it to visual evoked potentials (VEPs) elicited by short-flash stimuli.