With recent explosive growth of bulky biological data available, there are great needs of developing rapid autonomous algorithms in bioinformatics. In result, there has be en a great deal of attempts to apply various data mining techniques and learning algorithms to various fields of bioinformatics and a good example of this trend is the promoter and motif search area to which NN (Neural Network), HMM (Hidden Markov Model), and clustering algorithms have been applied and several good public software programs are available. Learning algorithms explore a part of big learning space effectively by their own biases. Thus, in many occasions, different learning algorithms have radically different results especially when the target concept is uncertain or stochastically defined and/or the background knowledge of the problem is limited. In this case, it is useful to apply a hybrid learning approach which two or more mutually compensative algorithms (e.g. a low false positive algorithm and a low false negative algorithm) are effectively combined. In this paper, we report a series of experiments with a hybrid learning approach in promoter prediction problem. Three available public software systems are tested and two of them (McPromoter and PROMOTER SCAN) are hierarchically combined and tested. The result shows that the hybrid learning model in this problem is quite plausible (better than any of the two base systems in accuracy and low false alarms) and many other learning algorithms could be more useful in this approach than being applied independently.
Machine Learning* ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; Computational Biology ; Data Mining ; Learning

No abstract available.
Chronic Disease ; Hepatitis B ; Hepatitis B, Chronic* ; Hepatitis, Chronic* ; Interferon-alpha*

PURPOSE: We analyzed whether any problems existed in terms of the homogeneity of the Korean International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) questionnaire used in real practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between July 2012 and August 2012, 48 Korean IPSS questionnaires used in real practice were collected. All the items on the questionnaire, including the quality of life (QoL) questions, were compared and we then determined the homogeneity of each question in comparison with the originally validated Korean version of the IPSS from 1996. RESULTS: Only 5 of 48 sources (10.4%) of the Korean IPSS totally corresponded with the original Korean version of the IPSS questionnaire. The consistency rate with the originally validated version was generally low for the answer choice items for each question, ranging from 16.6% for "less than half the time" to 35.4% for "almost always," with the exception of the item "not at all" (100.0%). The consistency rate was 60.4% for question 3 (intermittency) and 18.8% for question 6 (straining). No homogeneity was found in any of the QoL-related questions. The average consistency rate with the originally validated version was 42.2% and ranged from 22.9% for "unhappy" to the highest rate of 95.8% for "mostly satisfied." CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the originally validated Korean version of the IPSS, various Korean IPSS questionnaires used in real practice had significant problems in terms of homogeneity for both the questions and the answer choice items. Efforts are needed to ensure the uniform use of the validated Korean version of the IPSS questionnaire.
Dietary Sucrose ; Prostate ; Quality of Life ; Reproducibility of Results

We Performed 1,662 anesthesia for emergency surgery at Maryknoll Hospital from January 1985 to December 1989, these surgeries were analyzed clinically and statistically according to age, sex, preoperative status, insurance and noninsurance, frequency of emergency operation, presence of full stomach, department, operation site, anesthetic techniques and agents, time & duration of anesthesia, amount of transfusion. The results were as follows: 1) More than half of the total cases were patients in the third and fourth decade of age. 2) The ratio of male to female numbered 0.83: 1. 3) According to the A.S.A.classification of physical status, patients in emergency class 1 were 38.5%. 4) The ratio of insurance patients (1,113 cases, 67%) versus noninsurance parients (549 cases, 33%) was approximately 2:1. 5) Emergency surgery was 6.1% of total surgical cases. 6) 6.7% patients of emergency surgery had full stomach. 7) The most frequent emergency operations were done by general surgery (43.5%), and obstetrics & gynecology (28.6%). 8) Most common diseases in order, were appendicitis (457 cases), Cesarean section (335 cases), intracranial hematoma (202 cases), repair of tendon, nerve, vessels (71 cases). 9) The most common anesthetic technique for emergency surgery was general anesthesia (94.6%) followed by spinal anesthesia (3.5%). 10) 47.5 percent of emergency operations were performed during the 6 hours from midday to 6 p. m. 11) The duration of anesthesia was up to 2 hours in 1165 cases (70.1%). 12) The cases requiring transfusion during operation were 21.4% (355 cases) of the total cases (1, 662 cases).
Anesthesia* ; Anesthesia, General ; Anesthesia, Spinal ; Appendicitis ; Cesarean Section ; Emergencies* ; Female ; Gynecology ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Insurance ; Insurance Coverage ; Male ; Obstetrics ; Pregnancy ; Stomach ; Tendons

Myasthenia Gravis is a chronic disorder of neuromuscular transmission characterized by weakness, fatigue of voluntary muscles, especially exacerbations and remissions, a rare disease in Korea. Special considerations are required in the anesthetic management of the myasthenic patients undergoing surgery under general anesthesia and in the postoperative respiratory management by anesthesi olgists. Authors report 8 cases of anesthesia, using N20-02-Enflurane without using nondepolarizing and depolarizing muscle relaxants for thymectomy, experienced during the year 1986~1990.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Fatigue ; Humans ; Korea ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Myasthenia Gravis ; Neuromuscular Depolarizing Agents ; Rare Diseases ; Thymectomy*

BACKGROUND: During follow up period after transarterial embolization(TAE), cases of pulmonary metastasis were more prevalent in TAE-treated patients than in TAE-untreated patients. Therefore, a study was conducted to evaluate whether TAE increases the incidence of pulmonary metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma and to clarify the risk factors for pulmonary metastasis. METHODS: From march 1991 to march 1995, 156 patients who had been diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma by serology, and radiographic and histologic method at Yeungnam university hospital were involved in this study. We excluded 12 patients with lung metastasis on initial diagnosis and the others. The remaining 144 patients had been followed up for at least 5 months, and divided into four groups according to lung metastasis and trans-arterial embolization treatment, and evaluated the age, sex, child-pugh score, liver cirrhosis, and the level of AFP. RESULTS: Pulmonary metastasis was found in 18.0% (26/144), of witch 92.3%(24/26) and 7.7%(2/26) of the patients with and without transarterial chemoembolization, respectively. Of thepatients, 23.5% (24/102) with TAE had lung metastais during follow-up periods and 4.7% (2/42) without TAE had lung metastasis. there was more likelihood for lung metastasis after TAE, but there was no difference between two groups in age, sex, child-pugh class, the presence of liver cirrhosis, and AFP. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of pulmonary metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma after TAE was higher. child-pugh class was the only related clinical precipitating factors for pulmonary metastasis in TAE in our study. Our results suggest that regular chest X-ray check-up may be more frequently needed by patients who had TAE treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Lung* ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Precipitating Factors ; Risk Factors ; Thorax

Inverted papilloma of the urinary tract is a rare finding, and it is almost benign in its histologic morphology and clinical behavior. Despite several published reports, the prognostic significance and potential clinical behavior of this malady remains unclear. The most commonly associated clinical symptoms are hematuria and obstruction of the urinary tract. Most inverted papillomas of urinary tract occur in the bladder and only rarely in the ureter, renal pelvis and urethra. We report here on one case of inverted papilloma in the prostatic urethra. This was diagnosed by transrectal ultrasonography and confirmed by its histology.
Hematuria ; Kidney Pelvis ; Papilloma, Inverted* ; Ultrasonography ; Ureter ; Urethra* ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Tract

We present a case of acute prostatitis with abscess. The patient had undergone intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) immunotherapy for bladder cancer. A prostate biopsy demonstrated tuberculous prostatitis with abscess. This case illustrates that when bladder cancer is treated with BCG, a tuberculous prostate abscess can develop.
Abscess ; Bacillus ; Biopsy ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; Mycobacterium bovis ; Prostate ; Prostatitis ; Tuberculosis ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms

PURPOSE: Nocturia is a bothersome symptom that impacts sleep quality in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS)/benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). This study was performed to evaluate the impact of nocturia on sleep quality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 58 male patients with LUTS/BPH were enrolled. LUTS/BPH patients without nocturia were included in the control group. The inclusion criteria were eight or more points on the International Prostate System Score (IPSS) including more than one episode of nocturia and a prostate volume larger than 20 ml. IPSS, prostate volume, uroflowmetry, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) from each patient were recorded. RESULTS: Patients with nocturia showed a higher mean global PSQI (8.5+/-0.4) than patients without nocturia (4.82+/-0.4) (p<0.01). Patients with nocturia showed a higher percentage of severe sleep disorders (74.1%) than patients without nocturia (35.3%) (p<0.01). The regression coefficient between the number of episodes of nocturia and mean global PSQI was 0.42 (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with nocturia showed poor sleep quality, and this was related to the number of episodes of nocturia. This suggests that nocturia has a strong impact on sleep quality in patients with LUTS/BPH.
Humans ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms ; Male ; Nocturia ; Prostate ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; Sleep Wake Disorders

PURPOSE: This study was performed to examine the treatment of erectile dysfunction by use of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles-labeled human mesenchymal stem cells (SPION-MSCs) transplanted into the cavernous nerve injured cavernosa of rats as monitored by molecular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups of 10 rats each: group 1, sham operation; group 2, cavernous nerve injury; group 3, SPION-MSC treatment after cavernous nerve injury. Immediately after the cavernous nerve injury in group 3, SPION-MSCs were injected into the cavernous nerve injured cavernosa. Serial T2-weighted MRI was done immediately after injection and at 2 and 4 weeks. Erectile response was assessed by cavernous nerve stimulation at 2 and 4 weeks. RESULTS: Prussian blue staining of SPION-MSCs revealed abundant uptake of SPION in the cytoplasm. After injection of 1x10(6) SPION-MSCs into the cavernosa of rats, T2-weighted MRI showed a clear hypointense signal induced by the injection. The presence of SPION in the corpora cavernosa was confirmed with Prussian blue staining. At 2 and 4 weeks, rats with cavernous nerve injury had significantly lower erectile function than did rats without cavernous nerve injury (p<0.05). The group transplanted with SPION-MSCs showed higher erectile function than did the group without SPION-MSCs (p<0.05). The presence of SPION-MSCs for up to 4 weeks was confirmed by MRI imaging and Prussian blue staining in the corpus cavernosa. CONCLUSIONS: Transplanted SPION-MSCs existed for up to 4 weeks in the cavernous nerve injured cavernosa of rats. Erectile dysfunction recovered and could be monitored by MRI.
Animals ; Contrast Media/pharmacology ; Dextrans/*pharmacology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drug Delivery Systems/methods ; *Erectile Dysfunction/diagnosis/etiology/therapy ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods ; *Magnetite Nanoparticles ; Male ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation/*methods ; Monitoring, Physiologic/methods ; Penis/*innervation ; *Peripheral Nerve Injuries/complications/diagnosis/physiopathology/therapy ; Rats ; Suspensions ; Treatment Outcome