• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4623-4626
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• 2012

Background: The risk of treatment-related death (TRD) and febrile neutropaenia (FN) with adjuvant taxane-based chemotherapy for early breast cancer is unknown in Malaysia despite its widespread usage in recent years. This study aims to determine these rates in patients treated in University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Patients and Methods: Patients who were treated with adjuvant taxane-based chemotherapy for early breast cancer stages I, II or III from 2007-2011 in UMMC were identified from our UMMC Breast Cancer Registry. The TRD and FN rates were then determined retrospectively from medical records. TRD was defined as death occurring during or within 30 days of completing chemotherapy as a consequence of the chemotherapy treatment. FN was defined as an oral temperature > $38.5^{\circ}C$ or two consecutive readings of > $38.0^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours and an absolute neutrophil count < $0.5{\times}10^9/L$, or expected to fall below $0.5{\times}10^9/L$. Results: A total of 622 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy during this period. Of these patients 209 (33.6%) received taxane-based chemotherapy. 4 taxane-based regimens were used namely the FEC-D, TC, TAC and AC-PCX regimens. The commonest regimen employed was the FEC-D regimen accounting for 79.9% of the patients. The FN rate was 10% and there was no TRD. Conclusion: Adjuvant taxane-based chemotherapy in UMMC for early breast cancer has a FN rate of 10%. Primary prophylactic G-CSF should be considered for patients with any additional risk factor for FN.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.931-946
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• 2015

Many multiple life insurance products consider benefits that are contingent on the combined survival status of two lives. To value premiums of the insurance products accurately, we need to consider the impact of the survivorship of one life on another. To show a dependence relation between married couple, we calculate correlation coefficients by using married couples data from National Pension Service and the results show some positive dependence between them. Moreover, by analyzing the death after bereavement, we find a evidence that mortality rates increase after the death of a spouse and, in addition, that this phenomenon, the broken-heart syndrome, diminishes over time. The results of this study can support the method to calculate the premium of multiple life insurance reflecting more realistic joint mortality rates.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.410-417
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• 2017

Estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) is a key issue in the field of forensic pathology. With the availability of quantitative analysis of RNA levels in postmortem tissues, several studies have assessed the postmortem degradation of constitutively expressed RNA species to estimate PMI. However, conventional RNA quantification as well as biochemical and physiological changes employed thus far have limitations related to standardization or normalization. The present study focuses on an interesting feature of the subdomains of certain RNA species, in which they are site-specifically cleaved during apoptotic cell death. We found that the D8 divergent domain of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) bearing cell death-related cleavage sites was rapidly removed during postmortem RNA degradation. In contrast to the fragile domain, the 5' terminal region of 28S rRNA was remarkably stable during the postmortem period. Importantly, the differences in the degradation rates between the two domains in mammalian 28S rRNA were highly proportional to increasing PMI with a significant linear correlation observed in mice as well as human autopsy tissues. In conclusion, we demonstrate that comparison of the degradation rates between domains of a single RNA species provides quantitative information on postmortem degradation states, which can be applied for the estimation of PMI.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.42-46
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• 2013

Objective : Despite several limitations, the Trauma Injury Severity Score (TRISS) is normally used to evaluate trauma systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the preventable trauma death rate using the TRISS method in severe trauma patients with traumatic brain injury using our emergency department data. Methods : The use of the TRISS formula has been suggested to consider definitively preventable death (DP); the deaths occurred with a probability of survival (Ps) higher than 0.50 and possible preventable death (PP); the deaths occurred with a Ps between 0.50 and 0.25. Deaths in patients with a calculated Ps of less than 0.25 is considered as non-preventable death (NP). A retrospective case review of deaths attributed to mechanical trauma occurring between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011 was conducted. Results : A total of 565 consecutive severe trauma patients with ISS>15 or Revised Trauma Score<7 were admitted in our institute. We excluded a total of 24 patients from our analysis : 22 patients younger than 15 years, and 2 patients with burned injury. Of these, 221 patients with head injury were analyzed in the final study. One hundred eighty-two patients were in DP, 13 in PP and 24 in NP. The calculated predicted mortality rates were 11.13%, 59.04%, and 90.09%. The actual mortality rates were 12.64%, 61.547%, and 91.67%, respectively. Conclusion : Although it needs to make some improvements, the present study showed that TRISS performed well in predicting survival of traumatic brain injured patients. Also, TRISS is relatively exact and acceptable compared with actual data, as a simple and time-saving method.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.46-57
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• 2015

Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the effects of Trogopterorum Faeces on the apoptostic cell death in breast cancer cells. Methods: In the experiment, the effects of Trogopterorum Faeces on proliferation rates and type of cell death were investigated using MCF-7 cells in vitro. The effects on expression levels of caspase 3 and caspase 9 were also investigated. Results: The effects on expression levels of caspase 3 and caspase 9 were also investigated. In the present results, treatment with Trogopterorum Faeces decreased proliferation rates in a dose dependent manner. $ID_{50}$ (50 % inhibitory dosage) was $177.2{\mu}g/ml$. In addition, treatment with Trogopterorum Faeces increased percentage of apoptotic cells. Finally the expression level of caspase 3 and caspase 9 were elevated by treatment with Trogopterorum Faeces respectively. Conclusions: This study suggests that Trogopterorum Faeces can trigger caspase dependent apoptosis in MCF-7 cells.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.207-234
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• 2001

Even though the number of Korean Americans has dramatically increased over the last 20 years, there have been very few studies that have examined the health of this population. This paper investigates the contemporary health status of Korean Americans in comparison to Koreans, employing mortality related health measures: life expectance, age-specific death rates, and leading cause of death. Overall, we find that Korean American adults enjoy longer life expectancy and lower age-specific death rates than do their Korean counterparts, suggesting superior health status of the former as compared to the latter. Comparison of leading causes of death indicates that Korean American adults (age of 25-64) are more likely to die from neoplasms than are their Korean counterparts, while Koreans show a dramatically higher probability of death from liver-related diseases than Korean Americans. When these two cause of death are regressed on various demographic and socioeconomic factors, the difference in prevalence of neoplasms between the two populations disappeared, while that of liver-related diseases remains unaffected. Based on the outcomes from this research, we suggest that Korean Americans are a self-selected group in terms of health and socioeconomic status, and they adopt healthy behaviors after immigration. This has resulted in the relatively superior health of Korean Americans as compared to Koreans.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.120-127
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• 2024

Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to increased mortality rates. To assess this impact, this ecological study aimed to estimate the excess death counts in southern Iran. Methods: The study obtained weekly death counts by linking the National Death Registry and Medical Care Monitoring Center repositories. The P-score was initially estimated using a simple method that involved calculating the difference between the observed and expected death counts. The interrupted time series analysis was then used to calculate the mean relative risk (RR) of death during the first year of the pandemic. Results: Our study found that there were 5571 excess deaths from all causes (P-score=33.29%) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 48.03% of these deaths directly related to COVID-19. The pandemic was found to increase the risk of death from all causes (RR, 1.26; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19 to 1.33), as well as in specific age groups such as those aged 35-49 (RR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.32), 50-64 (RR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.28 to 1.49), and ≥65 (RR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.32) years old. Furthermore, there was an increased risk of death from cardiovascular diseases (RR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.22). Conclusions: There was a 26% increase in the death count in southern Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than half of these excess deaths were not directly related to COVID-19, but rather other causes, with cardiovascular diseases being a major contributor.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1968

This paper describes the incidence of transport accident for the period, 1955-1965. Transport accidents were classified into three categories, viz. railway(WHO Classification of Diseases, E-802), watercraft (E 550-E 858) and motor vehicle accidents(E810-E835, E840-E841, E844-E845). Crude data on the subject were collected from the various souces of Government Statistical Books including Statistical Year Books edited by the Central Office of Economic Planning Board, Annual Police Reports by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the national and local associations for road traffic safety. From the data incidence and mortality rates by year, month and local province were computed and other variables relevant to the epidemiology of accidents were observed. The following summary could be drawn: 1. Death rates due to transport accidents per 100,000 population were 12.3 for 1955 and 9.7 for 1965. The incidence of injury due to the same cause were 34.0 for 1955 and 35.9 for 1965. 2. Death rates by transportation vehicle showed 9.0 due to motor vehicle accidents, 1.7 due to water-crafts, and 1.6 due to railway trains for 1955. In 1965 death rates were 6.0 due to motor vehicles, 1.2 to water-crafts and 2.4 to railway. 3. Seasonal distribution of transport accidents revealed that car accidents occur more frequently in spring and fall fall seasons while ship accidents do in winter and train accidents more in summer. 4. Both car and ship accidents slightly decreased during the past decade, 1955-1965, whereas the accidents of railway trains showed a tendency of increase. 5. Although the survey on railway accidents excluded the injuries of passengers or railway employees corresponding to WHO classification of diseases, E 801, due to inaccuracy of data, it is roughly estimated that the same number of casualities as the incidence among pedestrians or any other than passengers or employees assumed to be at work(E 802).

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.402-406
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• 2004

This research team found in previous studies, that the ginseng saponin metabolite IH901 induces apoptosis in HepG2 cells via a mitochondrial-mediated pathway, which resulted in the activation of caspase-9 and subsequently of caspase-3 and -8. Based on these results, the involvement of the Fas/Fas ligand (FasL) death-receptor pathway, in IH901-induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells, was investigated. Levels of Fas and the Fas ligand (FasL) mRNA or protein were not increased by IH901, rather they were decreased significantly at 18 h post treatment. Soluble FasL (sFasL) was detectable by immunoprecipitation analysis En the medium of HepG2 cells treated with IH901. Increased levels of sFasL were inversely correlated with the levels of FasL. Preincubation of HepG2 cells with antagonistic anti-Fas antibody showed little protective effect, if any, on IH901-induced cell death. At a $30{\mu}M$ (24 and 48 h) and $40{\mu}M$ (24 h) concentration of IH901, the cytotoxic effect of IH901 was less then $50\%$, anti-Fas antibody prevented IH901-induced cell death. However, at a $60{\mu}M$ (24 and 48 h) and $40{\mu}M$ (48 h) concentration of IH901, cell death rates were about $80\%$ or more and most of the chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effects of IH901 were manifested. Blocking the Fas receptor did not influence IH901-induced cell death. These results indicate that the Fas/FasL system is engaged, but not required for IH901-induced cell death, at pharmacologically significant concentrations.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.198-204
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• 2009

Objectives : Schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorder are associated with an increased risk of premature death. For decades, there have been reports of shorter life expectancy among those with severe mental illness. The purpose of this study was to compare the risk of mortality among institutionalized population, treated for severe mental illness to control group who did not have severe mental illness. Methods : The medical records and the death certificates of 2,029 institutionalized population who had died from 1985 to 2003 in Kkottongnae were investigated. Results : The mean age of the death of severe mental illness(SMI) group(51.4${\pm}$15.3 years old) was lower than that of non-severe mental illness(non-SMI) group(65.0${\pm}$19.3 years old) and it was statistically significant(p<0.0001). The most causes of death among the SMI group were respiratory diseases(23.3%), infectious disease (13.0%) and digestive disease(12.3%). Also, we found that the death due to injuries of the SMI group(8.9%) were three times higher than that of non-SMI group(2.5%). The most causes of death among the non-SMI group were respiratory disease(26.3%), circulatory disease(26.2%) and neoplasm(10.8%). Conclusion : The SMI group demonstrated higher mortality rates compared with the rate in the non-SMI group. The finding suggests that careful intervention is needed not only for menal health but also physical health in long-term facilities.