• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.74-87
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• 2017

Purpose: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been shown to improve survival in locally advanced gastric cancer, but it is associated with significant toxicity. Sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity have been studied in several types of cancers and have been reported to be associated with higher chemotherapy toxicity and morbi-mortality. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of sarcopenia/sarcopenic obesity in patients with gastric cancer, as well as its association with chemotherapy toxicity and long-term outcomes. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed using an academic cancer center patient cohort diagnosed with locally advanced gastric cancer between January 2012 and December 2014 and treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. We analyzed body composition (skeletal muscle and visceral fat index) in axial computed tomography images. Results: A total of 48 patients met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was $68{\pm}10years$, and 33 patients (69%) were men. Dose-limiting toxicity was observed in 22 patients (46%), and treatment was terminated early owing to toxicity in 17 patients (35%). Median follow-up was 17 months. Sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity were found at diagnosis in 23% and 10% of patients, respectively. We observed an association between termination of chemotherapy and both sarcopenia (P=0.069) and sarcopenic obesity (P=0.004). On multivariate analysis, the odds of treatment termination were higher in patients with sarcopenia (odds ratio=4.23; P=0.050). Patients with sarcopenic obesity showed lower overall survival (median survival of 6 months [95% confidence interval {CI}=3.9-8.5] vs. 25 months [95% CI=20.2-38.2]; log-rank test P=0.000). Conclusions: Sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity were associated with early termination of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer; additionally, sarcopenic obesity was associated with poor survival.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.497-504
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• 2008

A cross-sectional study was undertaken to report prevalence and to identify risk factors of subclinical mastitis of dairy cattle in Sylhet district of Bangladesh. Among 325 dairy farms of the district 12 farms(3.7%) were selected conveniently for this study. All the dairy cows of the 12 farms were selected for sample collection. Fresh milk samples from each of the selected dairy cows were collected aseptically in separate sterilized test tube as RF, RH, LF and LH quarter of the udder. Rapid modified White Side Test(WST) was used to detect subclinical mastitis(SCM). Results of WST and data derived from filled in questionnaire were entered in Microsoft Excel 2003 and transferred to $STATA^{(R)}$, version 8.0/Intercooled(Stata Corporation, Texas, USA, 2003). The overall prevalence of SCM and its distribution in different categories of variables in cow and their exact binomial 95% confidence intervals were calculated in $STATA^{(R)}$. Simple bivariable associations among independent variables were investigated by $x^2$ test in $STATA^{(R)}$. Multiple logistic regression analysis with backward elimination method was used to identify risk factors of SCM. To identify significant variation in quarter SCM, linear regression analysis was performed after arcsine transformation of the data. The overall prevalence of SCM found in this study is 54%. Dairy cows with teat lesions had significantly increased SCM(OR=12342, P value=0.000, 95% CI=762, 199798) than others without teat lesions. The Holstein Friesian X Jersey X Sahiwal breed has significantly decreased(OR=0.18, p=0.03, 95% CI 0.04, 0.85) SCM than other breeds. The prevalence of SCM found in this study is in agreement with others. The injury in the teat increases the probability of getting infected with microbes and thereby mastitis. If the prevalence of teat lesion can be decreased the probability of subclinical mastitis will also be decreased. The negatively associated Holstein Friesian X Jersey X Sahiwall breed may help in planning mastitis control program if this finding can be validated by a more powerful case-control or cohort study design.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 1992

Annual biomasses of small yellow croaker, Pseudosciaena polyactis, were estimated by biomass-based cohort analysis (Zhang, 1987) , using data on annual catch in weight at age for 1970-88 in Korean waters. Annual biomass of croaker was highest in 1974 with about 100,000 mt, declining to a level of 20,000-30,000 mt after 1981. Adult biomass also showed a peak in 1974 with about 50,000 mt. Afterwards, however, it continuously dropped. According to the estimates of biomass at age obtained from this analysis, the age composition of small yellow croaker in the 1980's differed greatly from that in the 1970's. The proportions of older croakers (>5 years) were very low in the 1980's and even the biomasses of young croakers (1-4 years) were at a very low level in the 1980's. Year classes of 1968, 1972 and 1978 appeared to be relatively dominant. The mean value of instantaneous fishing mortality (F) in the 1980's was twice that of the 1970's. Recruitment of croaker exhibited an unusally linear relationship with adult stock biomass.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.1-20
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• 1999

This study reviews the literature of influencing factor on hospital-employed physician's income, and it describes general distribution of hospital-employed physician's income, and analyzes influencing factor of hospital-employed physician's income. A total of 1.795 persons responded to the mail survey. through stratified sampling by 23 branches of medical society in Korean RBRVS study. The design of the study is cross sectional study. and the unit of analysis is a physician. To examine the change of average income per month. multiple regression was used to test the change according to physician's characteristics. demographic characteristics. scale of hospital. average intensity of ordinary work. and specialty. The major findings of this study are as follows; 1. As for physicians working in first referral hospital. the average income of neurosurgeon per month was the largest. being 1.34 times larger than that of the family physician, and that of the emergency physician was the smallest, being 0.78 times smaller than that of the family physician, but that of the ophthalmic and Orthopaedic physician was significantly larger than that of the family physician under the control of control variables. And average income per month was significantly larger for physicians who worked in Seoul metropolitan area than physicians who worked in rural area. 2. The year of physician's career, number of average out-patients per month significantly positively associated, but the number of hospital beds and average intensity of therapy significantly negatively associated with average income per month. 3. As for physicians working in second referral hospital. the average income of the psychiatric physician per month was the largest, being 1.33 times larger than that of the family physician, and that of the emergency physician was smallest, being 0.74 times smaller than that of the family physician., but no significant difference was seen under the control of control variables, and average income per month was significantly larger for physicians who worked in Seoul metropolitan area than physicians who worked in large municipal area. 4. The year of physician's career and number of hospital beds significantly positively associated, but average working hours per month significantly negatively associated with average income per month. In conclusion, the year of hospital-employed physician's career is the largest influencing factor on hospital-employed physicians. But the difference of average income per month according to working regions and to number of hospital beds existed in employed physicians under the control of control variables. So this study has implementation that we must consider the influence of working regions and the number of hospital beds on the income of hospital-employed physicians in making policy for hospital. Being a cross-sectional study, this study can not suggest causal explanations. In the future, experiment or cohort study is needed for causal explanations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10505-10508
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• 2015

Background: Breast cancer is an important cause of death among women. One way of classifying different forms of breast cancer is by molecular features, usually in terms of the four subtypes: luminal A, luminal B, HER2-enriched, and triple negative. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the association between molecular subtypes and survival among breast cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted. The subjects were 272 breast cancer patients who had received treatment in the radiotherapy unit at Srinagarind Hospital, Thailand, between 1 January, 1999, and 31 May, 2009. The end of the study was 1 June, 2014. Overall survival was defined as the time elapsing between initial registration at the radiotherapy unit and death or the end of the study. Survival curves were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and a multivariate analysis was performed using Cox's proportional hazard regression model. Results: The patient mean age was $47.5{\pm}10.4$ at the time of diagnosis. Of the 272 patients, 146 (53.7%) were classified as luminal A, 12 (4.4%) as luminal B, 30 (11.0%) as HER2-enriched, and 84 (30.9%) as triple negative. The overall survival rates at 1, 3 and 5 years were 87.1%, 68.4% and 59.2%, respectively. According to molecular subtypes, HER2-enriched patients had the lowest 5-year survival rate (30.0 %, 95%CI: 15.02-46.55). The median follow-up time was 8.37 years. In the Cox model analysis a higher risk of death was found for patients with HER2-enriched ($HR_{adj}=3.34$, 95%CI:1.96-5.67), triple negative ($HR_{adj}=2.17$, 95%CI: 1.44-3.27), and stage IIlB ($HR_{adj}=2.20$, 95%CI: 1.16-4.17) cancers. Conclusions: The worst survival rates were among patients classified as HER2-enriched, triple negative and at stage IIIB. Early detection and an advanced treatment modality are needed to help these patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.4335-4340
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• 2016

Background: Bone metastasis is a single condition but presents with various patterns and severities. Skeletal-related events (SREs) deteriorate overall performance status and reduce quality of life. However, guidelines for early detection and management are limited. This study includes a survey of the prevalence of bone metastasis in cases with common cancers in Thailand as well as a focus on survival patterns and SREs. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted using a database of the Chiang Mai Cancer Registry and the Musculoskeletal Tumor Registry of the OLARN Center, Chiang Mai University. The prevalence of bone metastasis from each type of primary cancer was noted and time-to-event analysis was performed to estimate cancer survival rates after bone metastasis. Results: There were 29,447 cases of the ten most common cancers in Thailand, accounting for 82.2% of the entire cancer registry entries during the study period. Among those cases, there were 2,263 with bone metastases, accounting for 7.68% of entries. Bone metastasis from lung, liver, breast, cervix and prostate are common in the Thai population, accounting for 83.4% of all positive cases. The median survival time of all was 6 months. Of the bone metastases, 48.9% required therapeutic intervention, including treatment of spinal cord and nerve root compression, pathological fractures, and bone pain. Conclusions: The frequency of the top five types of bone metastasis in Thailand were different from the frequencies in other countries, but corresponded to the relative prevalence of the cancers in Thailand and osteophilic properties of each cancer. The results of this study support the establishment of country specific guidelines for primary cancer identification with skeletal lesions of unknown origin. In addition, further clinical studies of the top five bone metastases should be performed to develop guidelines for optimal patient management during palliative care.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.375-381
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• 2017

The study aimed to investigate the effects of differences between personal income and social deprivation on the association between cardio-cerebrovascular disease (hypertension, stroke) and periodontal disease. This study used 12 years of cohort data from the Korea National Health Insurance Service covering the years 2002 to 2013. Among the patients aged more than 40 years who had received treatment for periodontal disease 224,067 and 284,730 who had not received treatment for hypertension and stroke, respectively, were included in the analysis. The Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed differences in the rate of treatment for cardio-cerebrovascular disease (hypertension, stroke) according to regional differences, the rate of treatment increased as the composite deprivation index value increased. The difference in treatment rates for cardio-cerebrovascular disease (hypertension, stroke) according to income was found to be higher in the treatment group with low income. This study empirically proved that the association between systemic disease and periodontal disease varies depending on personal income and the regional socioeconomic deprivation level. This shows that the clinical influence of periodontal illness on systemic disease differs according to the personal socio-demographic characteristic and residential area and that an individual's characteristic (income and the regional) needs to be considered along with the patient's clinical intervention in the disease treatment process.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.366-376
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• 2020

Purpose: To assess the association between birth weight and the development of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) in the first year of life. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort multicenter study including neonates, consecutively enrolled at birth, and followed up for one year. At birth all infants were classified by birth weight as extremely low (ELBW), very low, or low when <1,000, <1,500, and <2,500 g, respectively, and by birth weight for gestational age as appropriate (AGA, weight in the 10-90th percentile), small (SGA, weight <10th percentile), and large (LGA, weight >90th percentile) for gestational age. FGIDs were classified according to the Rome III criteria and assessed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months of life. Results: Among 1,152 newborns enrolled, 934 (81.1%) completed the study: 302 (32.3%) were preterm, 35 (3.7%) were ELBW, 104 (11.1%) were SGA, 782 (83.7%) were AGA, and 48 (5.1%) were LGA infants. Overall, throughout the first year of life, 718 (76.9%) reported at least one FGID. The proportion of infants presenting with at least one FGID was significantly higher in ELBW (97%) compared to LBW (74%) (p=0.01) and in LGA (85.4%) and SGA (85.6%) compared to AGA (75.2%) (p=0.0001). On multivariate analysis, SGA was significantly associated with infantile colic. Conclusion: We observed an increased risk of FGIDs in ELBW, SGA, and LGA neonates. Our results suggest that prenatal factors determining birth weight may influence the development of FGIDs in infants. Understanding the role of all potential risk factors may provide new insights and targeted approaches for FGIDs.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.352-360
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• 2007

Several nutrients are known to affect bone mineral density (BMD). However, these nutrients are combined with food intake and dietary patterns and little is known about the association of dietary patterns and BMD. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of dietary patterns with BMD in Korea Genome Epidemiology Study subjects. Among 2,884 women (40-69 yr) recruited at baseline study (2001), 861 subjects with BMD measurements at baseline and a 4-year follow up study (2005) completed the semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. BMD was measured by the Quantitative Ultrasound method. One hundred three food items were combined into 17 food groups and 4 dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis. Cluster analysis using factor score classified each subject into one of three dietary pattern groups named 'Rice and kimchi eating' (n = 617), 'Contented eating' (n = 124), and 'Healthy and light eating' (n = 120). The 'Healthy and light eating' group, characterized by higher intake of fruit, vegetables, fish, milk and dairy products, and younger age, more exercise, higher education, and higher income than other groups. The tibia BMD of the 'Healthy and light eating' group was higher than the other groups after adjusting for the age. After the adjustment for the age BMI and exercise, the 'Healthy and light eating' group showed significantly lower odds of tibia osteopenia/osteoporosis risk compared to the 'Rice and kimchi eating' group both at the baseline [OR(95% CI) : 0.50(0.30-0.84)] and follow-up [OR(95% CI) : 0.59(0.36-0.97)] examinations. The dietary pattern with low calorie and high intakes of fruit, vegetables, fish, milk and dairy products may have beneficial effects on BMD in middle-aged women.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.306-316
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• 2017

Purpose: To investigate the predictive role of maximum standardized uptake value ($SUV_{max}$) of 2-[$^{18}F$]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose($^{18}F-FDG$) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in nasopharyngeal cancer patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Materials and Methods: Between October 2006 and April 2016, 53 patients were treated with IMRT in two institutions and their PET/CT at the time of diagnosis was reviewed. The $SUV_{max}$ of their nasopharyngeal lesions and metastatic lymph nodes (LN) was recorded. IMRT was delivered using helical tomotherapy. All patients except for one were treated with concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CCRT). Correlations between $SUV_{max}$ and patients' survival and recurrence were analyzed. Results: At a median follow-up time of 31.5 months (range, 3.4 to 98.7 months), the 3-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 83.2% and 77.5%, respectively. In univariate analysis, patients with a higher nodal pre-treatment $SUV_{max}$ (${\geq}13.4$) demonstrated significantly lower 3-year OS (93.1% vs. 55.5%; p = 0.003), DFS (92.7% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.001), locoregional recurrence-free survival (100% vs. 50.5%; p < 0.001), and distant metastasis-free survival (100% vs. 69.2%; p = 0.004), respectively. In multivariate analysis, high pre-treatment nodal $SUV_{max}$ (${\geq}13.4$) was a negative prognostic factor for OS (hazard ratio [HR], 7.799; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.506-40.397; p = 0.014) and DFS (HR, 9.392; 95% CI, 1.989-44.339; p = 0.005). Conclusions: High pre-treatment nodal $SUV_{max}$ was an independent prognosticator of survival and disease progression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients treated with IMRT in our cohort. Therefore, nodal $SUV_{max}$ may provide important information for identifying patients who require more aggressive treatment.