Association of Cardiovascular Mortality and Deep Learning-Funduscopic Atherosclerosis Score derived from Retinal Fundus Images.

Purpose: The prediction of atherosclerosis using retinal fundus images and deep learning has not been shown possible. The purpose of this study was to develop a deep learning model which predicted atherosclerosis by using retinal fundus images and to verify its clinical implications by conducting a retrospective cohort analysis.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Association of hyperuricemia and pulmonary hypertension: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

To investigate the association of hyperuricemia with pulmonary hypertension (PH) in term of subsequent development, severity, and prognosis of PH. The authors systematically reviewed articles from databases and conducted meta-analyses as follows: (1) association of serum uric acid (UA) levels with the presence of PH; (2) association between serum UA levels and subsequent development of PH, in terms of odds ratio of the development of PH; and (3) association of serum UA levels with severity and prognosis of PH, in terms of pulmonary arterial pressure and hazard ratio of death. Twenty-six studies published between 1999 and 2017 were included.

Sentinel node navigation surgery using near-infrared indocyanine green fluorescence in early gastric cancer.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescent method for sentinel lymph node detection in early gastric cancer.

Methods: Between December 2012 and December 2014, 28 cases of pilot examination were performed at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. Advanced version of multispectral fluorescence organoscope was used to identify sentinel node by quantitative estimation of ICG fluorescent signal intensity.

Distinct gating mechanism of SOC channel involving STIM-Orai coupling and an intramolecular interaction of Orai in .

Store-operated calcium entry (SOCE), an important mechanism of Ca signaling in a wide range of cell types, is mediated by stromal interaction molecule (STIM), which senses the depletion of endoplasmic reticulum Ca stores and binds and activates Orai channels in the plasma membrane. This inside-out mechanism of Ca signaling raises an interesting question about the evolution of SOCE: How did these two proteins existing in different cellular compartments evolve to interact with each other? We investigated the gating mechanism of Orai channels. Our analysis revealed a mechanism of Orai gating by STIM binding to the intracellular 2-3 loop of Orai in that is radically different from Orai gating by STIM binding to the N and C termini of Orai in mammals.

The association between skin auto-fluorescence of palmoplantar sites and microvascular complications in Asian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Skin auto-fluorescence (SAF) has generated broad interest about the prospects for non-invasive advanced glycation end product assessment and its direct interplay with the development of microvascular complications, but clinical application of the existing SAF measuring of non-palmoplantar sites in non-Caucasian subjects with dark skin type is still controversial. Here, we tested the diabetic complication screening performance of a novel SAF measuring system in Asian type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) subjects. A total of 166 Korean patients with T2DM were enrolled in this study and palmoplantar SAF was measured by a newly developed transmission-geometry noninvasive optical system.

Dual-Channel Endoscopic Indocyanine Green Fluorescence Angiography for Clipping of Cerebral Aneurysms.

Objective: Neuroendoscopy is useful for assessing status of perforators, parent arteries, and aneurysms beyond the straight line of microscopic view during aneurysm clipping. We aimed to evaluate the clinical usefulness of our endoscopic indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) system, which can simultaneously display visible light and indocyanine green fluorescent images.

Methods: Surgical clipping of 16 unruptured aneurysms in 10 patients was performed via the keyhole approach.

Multispectral autofluorescence imaging for detection of cervical lesions: A preclinical study.

Aim: The aim of this study was to develop a novel optical imaging system for detecting protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) autofluorescence, to prove that PpIX autofluorescence is as useful as 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA)-induced fluorescence for detecting and localizing cervical cancer, and to monitor the change in PpIX autofluorescence or induced PpIX fluorescence before, during, and after photodynamic therapy (PDT).

Methods: TC-1 cells - highly tumorigenic cells immortalized using human papillomavirus type 16 proteins E6 and E7 - were subcutaneously grafted into the thighs of nude mice. The suspected tumor tissues were visualized using autofluorescence imaging and induced fluorescence imaging under 5-ALA administration.

A novel imaging platform for non-invasive screening of abnormal glucose tolerance.

Optical measurement of skin auto-fluorescence (SAF), most likely emanating from accumulated advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), has been proposed for the noninvasive diagnosis of glucose intolerance in clinical settings. Here, we developed a novel imaging system with transmission geometry for SAF measurement and compared its diagnostic performance in a Korean population.

Endoscopic Fluorescence Angiography with Indocyanine Green : A Preclinical Study in the Swine.

Objective: Microscopic indocyanine green (ICG) angiography is useful for identifying the completeness of aneurysm clipping and the preservation of parent arteries and small perforators. Neuroendoscopy is helpful for visualizing structures beyond the straight line of the microscopic view. We evaluated our prototype of endoscopic ICG fluorescence angiography in swine, which we developed in order to combine the merits of microscopic ICG angiography and endoscopy.

Study of operation dynamics for crystal temperature measurement in a diode end-pumped monolithic Yb:YAG laser.

A temperature measurement scheme was proposed in a diode end-pumped thin monolithic Yb:YAG laser by analyzing the red-shifting behaviors of each lasing peak. The amount of peak shift was measured on the basis of the threshold lasing spectrum by using a chopped pump beam. In order to determine the effective scale factor, the ratio between the peak shift and the temperature rise, the dynamics of the spectral shift, the output beam profile, and the output power were investigated.

Lag synchronization in coupled Nd:YAG lasers pumped by laser diodes.

We experimentally investigate lag synchronization in mutually coupled Nd:YAG lasers. Two laser diode pumped Nd:YAG lasers, when they are electronically coupled, exhibit lag synchronization for a strong coupling strength region. We investigate the synchronous behaviors of the lasers by analyzing error dynamics, phase portraits, and similarity function.

Influence of reducing-oxidizing conditions on the optical properties of Co(2+)-doped magnesium aluminosilicate glass ceramics and their use as an effective saturable absorber Q switch.

Nonlinear optical properties of Co(2+)-doped magnesium aluminosilicate glass ceramics prepared under normal and reducing conditions are studied in the range of the 4A2 --> 4T1(4F) transition of tetrahedral Co2+ ions. The results of passive Q switching of a 1.54-microm Er3+:glass laser with saturable absorbers made of Co(2+)-doped glass ceramics prepared at different conditions are presented.

Magnesium- and zinc-aluminosilicate cobalt-doped glass ceramics as saturable absorbers for diode-pumped 1.3-microm laser.

Q switching of a diode-pumped Nd3+:KGd(WO4)2 laser at 1.35 microm by use of cobalt-doped magnesium- and zinc-aluminosilicate glass ceramics as saturable absorbers is demonstrated. Q-switching efficiency up to 40% has been obtained.

MKP-1 induced in rat brain after electroconvulsive shock is independent of regulation of 42- and 44-kDa MAPK activity.

Electroconvulsive shock (ECS) activates MAPKs in rat brain and also induces immediate early genes. We investigated whether ECS induces MKP-1, a specific MAPK phosphatase and an immediate early gene, for feedback regulation of MAPK activity. ECS induced MKP-1 in the cortex, but MAPK activity returned to its basal level before MKP-1 protein increased, within 10 min of ECS.