Imaging Diagnosis of Fetal Abdominal Solid Tumor

Objective : Ultrasonography is screening modality of choice and plays an important role in prenatal diagnosis of various diseases and neoplasm of fetus. Recently, Magnetic Resonance Imaging was used as a diagnosis tool to fetal disease. We would like to evaluate efficacy of ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging for the diagnosis of fetal abdominal solid tumor. Methods : Among 2,055 cases of abnormal ultrasonography findings detected by prenatal ultrasonography from January 1996 and June 2002, a comparison between the diagnosis made by prenatal ultrasonography, fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), postnatal radiological studies and histopathologic studies was made in four cases with fetal abdominal solid tumor. Results : The first case was diagnosed as adrenal tumor or hepatic tumor by US, hemangioedothelioma of liver by fetal MRI, and confirmed as hemangioedothelioma postnatally. The second case showed concordance with mesoblastic nephroma among the diagnosis made by US, fetal MRI, and postnatal histopathologic studies. The third case was diagnosed as extrathoracic pulmonary sequestration by US and MRI, and the same diagnosis was made by postnatal histopathologic studies. The fourth case was suspected as kidney tumor by US and was diagnosed as adrenal as adrenal neuroblastoma postoperatively. Conclusion : Fetal solid tumor is not a common disorder, but the location, size and orgin of tumor plays important role in the prognosis of neonatal period; additional workup by fetal MRI would improve the diagnosis of such tumors.ope

Steroid Hormone Metabolism in Patients with Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Objective : To identify 1) whether the endogenous steroid hormone metabolism in patients with pelvic organ prolapse was different from that of normal women, 2) the relationship between endogenous steroid hormone metabolites and the stage of the pelvic organ prolapse. Methods : Twenty postmenopausal women who were clinically diagnosed as having pelvic organ prolapse and 20 volunteer postmenopausal women not having pelvic organ prolapse were included in the study. We compared the urinary profiles of endogenous steroids between the two groups and investigated the relationship between urinary profiles of the endogenous steroids and the degree of pelvic organ prolapse. Urinary profiles of the endogenous steroids were assayed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results : The ages of the patients and control group were 64.6±6.5 and 63.5±3.9 years, and the Body Mass Index (BMI) was 23.96±3.14 and 24.11± kg/m^2 in patients and in normal subjects, respectively. The number of patients in each stage were 4 in stage Ⅰ, 4 in stage Ⅱ, 6 in stage Ⅲ and 6 in stage Ⅳ. 5-androstene-3β, 16β, 17β-triol (5-AT), 11β-hydroxy androstenedione (An) and 17β-estradiol were significantly increased in patients with pelvic organ prolapse over that of the control group (0.76±0.67 vs 0.06±0.03 μmole/g creatinine; p=0.002, 1.16±0.83 vs 0.65±0.23 μmole/g creatinine; p=0.04, 15.08±9.81 vs 8.53±6.19 μmole/g creatinine; p=0.04). However, tetrahydrocortisone (THE) was significantly increased in the control group over that in patients having pelvic organ prolapse (9.80±6.21 vs 5.22±4.89 μmole/g creatinine; p=0.04). The androgen metabolites, 5-AT and THE significantly correlated with the POP-Q stage (R=0.418; p=0.027, R=0.46; p=0.016). Among the estrogen metabolites, 17β-estradiol was correlated to the POP-Q stage but not mathematically significantly (R=0.38; p=0.05) and the 17β-estradiol/extrone ratio weakly correlated to pelvic organ prolapse stage (R=0.14l p=0.49,), by showing a low correlation coefficiency. Conclusion : The urinary concentrations of 17β-estradiol, 5-AT and 11β-hydroxy an increased in patients with pelvic organ prolapse over that of the control group and 5-AT, THE and 17β-estradiol showed a relationship to the progression of pelvic organ prolapse in Korean women. The metabolites of endogenous steroid hormones could be contributing factors in the pathogenesis of pelvic organ prolapse.ope

The effect of fish consumption on blood mercury Level in pregnant women

Objective: We studied relationship between average amount of fish consumption and blood mercury level in pregnant women, in addition we would like to know the blood mercury level in pregnant women in Korea and we compared the initial blood mercury level in pregnant women and followed up how much blood mercury level decreased after counseling and prenatal education. Methods: Pregnant women who received prenatal care at the Yonsei medical center from March 2004 to September 2004, were targeted. They were divided into two groups. One was the study group who was educated to restrict the intake of fish, the other was the control group who was not given any prenatal education. We measured their blood mercury level and followed up until 2nd and 3rd trimester, to find out the differences between two groups. Results: Out of the 63 pregnant women who participated in our study, we followed up 11 pregnant women in the study group and 13 pregnant women of control group. The initial mean blood mercury level of both groups was 2.94 (0.14-10.75) microgram/L. Blood mercury level in fish eating group of more than 4 times a month was higher than the others, which was statistically significant (p=0.02). Followed up blood mercury levels were increased in both groups, but there was not statistically significant between two groups. Conclusion: Pregnant women who consume a large amount of fish may have high blood mercury level. As fish intake seems to influence blood mercury level, to lower their blood mercury level, periconceptional education to decrease fish consumption might be necessary.ope

(The) effect of fish consumption on blood mercury level of pregnant women

의학과/석사[한글] 수은은 축적성 유해 물질로 비록 임산부에서 자신에게는 증세가 없을 수 있지만 혈중 수은이 태반과 뇌혈관 경계를 통과하여 태아에게 비 가역적인 신경 손상이 있을 수 있다고 알려져 있으며 생선은 수은 중독의 중요한 감염원으로 알려져 있다. 본 연구에서는 국내에서 보통의 임산부에서 평소 생선 섭취량과 혈중 수은 농도와의 상관 관계를 알아보고 기초자료로서 보통의 한국 임산부의 혈중 수은 농도가 얼마인지 측정하며 또한 상담 교육 실시 후 혈중 수은 농도의 감소 여부를 확인하여 산전 교육의 효과를 알아 보고자 하였다. 대상 산모는 2004년 3월 부터 동년 9월 까지 세브란스 병원 산부인과 외래를 방문한 산모를 대상으로 초기 임신 시 혈중 수은 농도를 측정하여 평소 생선의 섭취량과 수은 농도와의 관계에 대해 알아보고 그 후 생선을 섭취하지 않도록 교육시킨 실험군과 교육을 시키지 않은 대조군으로 나누어 임신 2분기 및 3 분기에 혈중 수은 농도를 측정하여 그 변화를 관찰하였다. 연구 대상 산모 총 63명 중 실험군 11명, 대조군 13명을 추적 관찰 한 결과 첫 방문시 평균 혈중 수은 농도는 2.94(0.14-10.75) ug/L 였고 월 4회 이상 생선을 먹는 산모에서 혈중 수은 농도가 높았으며 이 결과는 통계학적으로 의미있는 결과를 보였다(p=0.02). 추적 관찰 결과 실험군 대조군 모두 혈중 수은 농도가 증가 하였으나 통계학적 유의성은 없었다. 결론적으로 생선을 평소에 자주 섭취하는 임산부는 혈중 수은 농도가 높을 가능성이 있으며 초기 임신 시 생선 섭취가 임산부 혈중 수은 농도에 영향을 미칠 것으로 예상되어 임산부에 대한 산전 교육이 필요하다 사료된다. [영문]Background: Mercury is a cumulative neurotoxic agent that is related to adverse fetal outcome. During pregnancy, blood mercury crosses the placenta and blood-brain-barrier which has on irreversible toxic effect on fetal neurodevelopment. The most common form of human mercury exposure is by fish consumption. We studied relationship between average amount of fish consumption and blood mercury level of pregnant women, in addition we would like to know the blood mercury level of pregnant women in Korea and we compared the initial blood mercury level of pregnant women and followed up how much blood mercury level decrease after counseling and prenatal education. Materials and methods: Pregnant women who received prenatal care at the Yonsei university medical center from March 2004 to September 2004, were targeted. We studied relationship between blood mercury level of pregnant women and their usual fish consumption amount. They were divided into two groups. One was the study group who was educated to restrict the intake of fish, the other was the control group who was not given any prenatal education. We measured their blood mercury level follow up until 2nd and 3rd trimester, to find out the differences between two groups. Results: Out of the 63 pregnant women who participate in our study, we followed up 11 pregnant women in the study group and 13 pregnant women of control group. The initial mean blood mercury level of both groups was 2.94 (0.14~10.75) ug/L. Blood mercury level in fish eating group of more than 4 times a month was higher than the others, which was statistically significant (p=0.02). Follow up blood mercury levels were increased in both groups, but there was not statistically significant between two groups. Conclusion: Pregnant women who consume a large amount of fish may have high blood mercury level. As fish intake seems to influence blood mercury level, to lower their blood mercury level, periconceptional education to decrease fish consumption might be necessary.ope

Performance Analysis of Modern Hashing Techniques for Multi-core CPUs

해시테이블은 키 값으로 연관된 메모리를 매핑하는 방식으로 구현하는 기본적인 데이터 구조이다. O(1)의 매우 빠른 매핑작업으로 인해, 데이터베이스, 바이오인포매틱스, 그리고 분산 컴퓨팅등 다양한 분야에서 사용되고 있다. 한편, CPU의 마이크로 아키텍쳐 디자인의 패러다임이 빠른 하나의 코어를 사용하는 것에서 여러 개의 느린 다중코어를 사용하는 것으로 변하고 있다. 이러한 최신의 컴퓨터 구조의 성능을 최대한 이용하기 위해서 병렬처리방법은 그 어느 때보다 중요해졌다. 본 논문은 두 가지 잘 알려진 해싱 방법인 선형 해싱과 체인 해싱을 구현하였고 또한 최신 해싱 방법인 쿠쿠 해싱을 구현하여 세 가지 해싱 방법을 인텔 Nehalem 마이크로 아키텍쳐의 32개의 코어를 사용한 환경에서 성능을 분석하였다. 특히 compare-and-swap(CAS) 명령어의 락-프리(lock-free) 데이터 구조와 버킷-레벨(bucket-level) 락 데이터 구조 등의 가장 앞선 기술들을 사용하여 해시 방법들을 구현했다. 본 저자들이 아는 범위에서 본 논문은 위의 세 가지 해싱 방법들을 동일한 구현 프레임워크 하에서 최선의 성능을 발휘하도록 구현하고, 동일한 실험환경에서 성능분석을 한 최초의 논문이다. 223의 데이터(즉, 약 8백만) key-value 쌍을 사용한 실험 결과에서 락 프리 선형 해싱이 삽입 연산에서 가장 좋은 성능을 보였고, 락 프리 체인 해싱이 검색 연산에서 가장 좋은 성능을 보였다. 또한, 실험을 통해, 쿠쿠 해싱이 해당 논문 저자들의 주장만큼 효율적인 것은 아니라는 것을 보였다.2