A Radiomics-Based Model for Potentially More Accurate Identification of Subtypes of Breast Cancer Brain Metastases.

PURPOSE: Breast cancer brain metastases (BCBM) may involve subtypes that differ from the primary breast cancer lesion. This study aimed to develop a radiomics-based model that utilizes preoperative brain MRI for multiclass classification of BCBM subtypes and to investigate whether the model offers better prediction accuracy than the assumption that primary lesions and their BCBMs would be of the same subtype (non-conversion model) in an external validation set. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The training and external validation sets each comprised 51 cases (102 cases total). Four machine learning classifiers combined with three feature selection methods were trained on radiomic features and primary lesion subtypes for prediction of the following four subtypes: 1) hormone receptor (HR)+/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-, 2) HR+/HER2+, 3) HR-/HER2+, and 4) triple-negative. After training, the performance of the radiomics-based model was compared to that of the non-conversion model in an external validation set using accuracy and F1-macro scores. RESULTS: The rate of discrepant subtypes between primary lesions and their respective BCBMs were 25.5% (n=13 of 51) in the training set and 23.5% (n=12 of 51) in the external validation set. In the external validation set, the accuracy and F1-macro score of the radiomics-based model were significantly higher than those of the non-conversion model (0.902 vs. 0.765, p=0.004; 0.861 vs. 0.699, p=0.002). CONCLUSION: Our radiomics-based model represents an incremental advance in the classification of BCBM subtypes, thereby facilitating a more appropriate personalized therapy.

Correction to: Oceanisphaera aquimarina sp. nov., Isolated from Oil-Contaminated Sediment of Ocean Coastal Area from South Korea.

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in the provided KEMB accession number.

Oceanisphaera aquimarina sp. nov., Isolated from Oil-Contaminated Sediment of Ocean Coastal Area from South Korea.

Strain S33(T) was isolated from oil-contaminated sediment of Tae-an coastal region of South Korea. Cells are aerobic, motile, Gram staining-negative, and coccoid shaped. Strain S33(T) grew optimally at the temperature of 25 °C (range of 4-40 °C), pH 6.0 (range of pH 6.0-10.0), and in the presence of 1 % (w/v) NaCl (range of 0-10 %). Ubiquinone-8 was the predominant respiratory quinone. C16:0, summed feature 3 (comprising C16:1ω7c/C16:1ω6c) and C18:1ω7c were the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, and diphosphatidylglycerol. Strain S33(T) showed the ability to degrade benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene after 3 days incubation. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the strain S33(T) was most closely related to Oceanisphaera sediminis TW92(T) (97.3 %), Oceanisphaera profunda SM1222(T) (97.2 %), and Oceanisphaera ostreae T-w6(T) (97.1 %) and <97 % with other members of the genus Oceanisphaera. The genomic DNA G+C mol% content of strain S33(T) was 51.0 mol%. Based on distinct phenotypic, genotypic, and phylogenetic analysis, strain S33(T) was proposed to represent a novel species in the genus Oceanisphaera as Oceanisphaera aquimarina sp. nov. (= KEMB 1002-058(T) = JCM 30 794(T)).

Nasalance scores for normal Korean-speaking adults and children: Effects of age, vowel context, and stimulus length.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to collect nasalance scores for normal Korean-speaking children and adults and to determine whether age, vowel contexts, and stimulus length influence nasalance scores. METHODS: Fifty-seven children aged 4-6 years and 17 adults participated in the study. Mean nasalance scores were obtained for eight sentences devoid of nasal consonants divided into the vowel/a/and/i/contexts; the sentences consisted of 4, 8, 16, and 31 syllables. All subjects were asked to repeat the speech stimuli twice after the examiner. The headset of the nasometer was replaced between the first and second recordings. An average value of the nasalance scores from the two recordings for each stimulus was calculated and used in the statistical analysis as a representative measure for each subject. RESULTS: Mean and standard deviations of nasalance scores were obtained for each speech stimulus and each age group. The statistical analysis indicated significant effects of age and vowel context and a significant interaction between age and the vowel context on nasalance scores. However, the effect of stimulus length on nasalance scores was not significant. All speakers had higher nasalance scores for the vowel/i/contexts than for the vowel/a/contexts. Adults had higher nasalance scores compared to children in both vowel contexts. CONCLUSIONS: These normal nasalance values from Korean-speaking children aged 4-6 years will provide important reference information for resonance assessment of children with cleft palate who have been considered for secondary palatal surgery. The results of the study suggest that subjects' age and the vowel content of speech stimuli should be carefully considered when interpreting the nasalance scores.