• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.34 no.4 s.96
• /
• pp.267-276
• /
• 2001

The downstream reach of the Han River adjoining Seoul in Korea was the upper boundary of an estuary where tidal effect on the flow rate could be exerted. According to the comprehensive river regulation project, the river was channelize dand impounded by two overflow dams, which provided favorable condition for algal growth in this sewage polluted eutrophic reach. In this study primary productivity of phytoplankton was measured in the down reach and the autochthonous and allochthonous organic carbon loadings were estimated. Primary production of phytoplankton measured by C-14 uptake and P-I model method ranged from 140 to $4,890\;mgC\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$ (median value $1,865\;mgC\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$) showing the level of eutrophic lakes. Phytoplankton density that varied according to water flow rate was highest in spring. Allochthonous organic carbon loading was dominated by sewage input through tributaries in most of days except flood flow period. The average proportion of autochthonous carbon generation by phytoplankton was 40.9%, which is very high proportion for a lotic habitat.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.49 no.4
• /
• pp.273-279
• /
• 2016

Background: The use of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) in the setting of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has shown improved outcomes compared with conventional CPR. The aim of this study was to determine factors predictive of survival in extracorporeal CPR (E-CPR). Methods: Consecutive 85 adult patients (median age, 59 years; range, 18 to 85 years; 56 males) who underwent E-CPR from May 2005 to December 2012 were evaluated. Results: Causes of arrest were cardiogenic in 62 patients (72.9%), septic in 18 patients (21.2%), and hypovolemic in 3 patients (3.5%), while the etiology was not specified in 2 patients (2.4%). The survival rate in patients with septic etiology was significantly poorer compared with those with another etiology (0% vs. 24.6%, p=0.008). Septic etiology (hazard ratio [HR], 2.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.49 to 5.44; p=0.002) and the interval between arrest and ECLS initiation (HR, 1.05 by 10 minutes increment; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.09; p=0.005) were independent risk factors for mortality. When the predictive value of the E-CPR timing for in-hospital mortality was assessed using the receiver operating characteristic curve method, the greatest accuracy was obtained at a cutoff of 60.5 minutes (area under the curve, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.80; p=0.032) with 47.8% sensitivity and 88.9% specificity. The survival rate was significantly different according to the cutoff of 60.5 minutes (p=0.001). Conclusion: These results indicate that efforts should be made to minimize the time between arrest and ECLS application, optimally within 60 minutes. In addition, E-CPR in patients with septic etiology showed grave outcomes, suggesting it to be of questionable benefit in these patients.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.68 no.3
• /
• pp.162-167
• /
• 2010

Background: To date, there are few data on the risk factors for severe cases and deaths associated with the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza A. Here, we describe the clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of patients hospitalized for pneumonia and identify those factors associated with the development of major complications (MC). Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 41 cases of pneumonia admitted to a university-affiliated tertiary hospital between Aug 26 and Dec 10, 2009, and who had confirmed H1N1 influenza A based on real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction assay. There were 7,962 patients that fit these criteria. We compared the clinical features and demographic characteristics of patients who developed MC to with those who did not develop MC. Results: During the study period, 10 patients developed MC (required admission to the intensive care unit, n=10; required ventilator therapy, n=6; death, n=4). Patients with MC were significantly older than those without MC and more frequently had underlying medical conditions (90.0% vs 41.9%, p-value <0.01). In the patients with developed MC, the median $PaO_2/FiO_2$ ratio of 230.0 (145.0~347.3) at admission and pneumonia severity index (PSI) score of 141.5 (88.3~158.5) were higher than patients without MC. However, no differences were observed in laboratory findings or in viral shedding between the 2 groups. Conclusion: In hospitalized pneumonia patients of 2009 H1N1 influenza, old age, a history of malignancy, initial hypoxemia, $PaO_2/FiO_2$ ratio, and PSI score appear to be risk factor significantly related to developing MC. These findings might be the basis to influence strategies for admitting patients to an intensive or intermediate care unit and for pre-emptive antiviral therapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.77-81
• /
• 2015

Background: The aim of the study was to determine whether the expression of baseline phosphorus (P) and magnesium (Mg) levels were prognostic in terms of stage and overall survival (OS) in newly diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients. Materials and Methods: Retrospectively, 130 patients were selected at the time of diagnosis oflung cancer (100 with NSCLC and 30 with SCLC), before the initialization of any chemo-radiotherapy. The median age was 67 (range 29-92). IA, IB, IIA, IIB, IIIA, IIIB and IV stages were present in 3, 4, 19, 6, 25, 8, and 65 patients, respectively. After centrifugation, the levels of serum P and Mg were measured using the nephelometric method/ photometry and evaluated before any type of treatment. Results: Higher than normal levels of P were found in 127/130 patients, while only four patients had elevated Mg serum values. In terms of Spearman test, higher P serum values correlated with either stage (rho=- 0.334, p<0.001) or OS (rho=-0.212, p=0.016). Additionally, a significant negative correlation of Mg serum levels was found with stage of disease (rho=-0.135, P=0.042). On multivariate cox-regression survival analysis, only stage (p<0.01), performance status (p<0.01) and P serum (p=0.045) showed a significant prognostic value. Conclusions: Our study indicated that pre-treatment P serum levels in lung cancer patients are higher than the normal range. Moreover, P and Mg serum levels are predictive of stage of disease. Along with stage and performance status, the P serum levels had also a significant impact on survival. This information may be important for stratifying patients to specific treatment protocols or intensifying their therapies. However, larger series are now needed to confirm our results.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.8
• /
• pp.3525-3531
• /
• 2014

Objective: Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET) is a new technique for identifying different malignant tumors using different uptake values between tumor cells and normal tissues. Here we assessed the diagnostic accuracy of 18F-FDG-PET in patients with testicular cancer by pooling data of existing trials in a meta-analysis. Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Central Trials databases were searched and studies published in English relating to the diagnostic value of FDG-PET for testicular cancer were collected. The summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was used to examine the FDG-PET accuracy. Results: A total of 16 studies which included 957 examinations in 807 patients (median age, 31.1 years) were analyzed. A meta-analysis was performed to combine the sensitivity and specificity and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs), from diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), positive likelihood ratios (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR). SROC were derived to demonstrate the diagnostic accuracy of FDG-PET for testicular cancer. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.75 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.70-0.80) and 0.87 (95% CI, 0.84-0.89), respectively. The pooled DOR was 35.6 (95% CI, 12.9-98.3). The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.88. The pooled PLR and pooled NLR were 7.80 (95% CI, 3.73-16.3) and 0.31 (95% CI, 0.23-0.43), respectively. Conclusion: In patients with testicular cancer, 18F-FDG-PET demonstrated a high SROC area, and could be a potentially useful tool if combined with other imaging methods such as MRI and CT. Nevertheless, the literature focusing on the use of 18F-FDG-PET in this setting still remains limited.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.10
• /
• pp.6013-6017
• /
• 2013

Background: To evaluate the clinicopathologic and demographic characteristics of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients and to determine differences from non-triple-negative cases. Materials and Methods: A detailed review of the medical records of 882 breast cancer (BC) patients was conducted to obtain information regarding age, menopausal status, height and weight at the time of diagnosis, presence of diabetes or hypertension, and pathologic characteristics of the tumor (tumor size, lymph node status, histologic grade, ER status, PR status, HER2 status, p53 mutation). Body mass index (BMI) was calculated and a value of ${\geq}30$ was considered as indicative of obesity. Results: 14.9% (n=132) of the patients had TNBC. There was no difference among the patients in terms of median age, comorbid conditions and menopausal status. The proportion of medullary, tubular and mucinous carcinomas was significantly higher (15.9%) in the triple-negative (TN) group, while invasive lobular histology was more frequent (8.2%) among non-triple negative (NTN) cases (p<0.001). Grade 3 (G3) tumors were more frequent in the triple-negative group (p<0.001). The rate of p53 mutation was 44.3% in TN tumors versus 28.2% in the NTN group (p<0.001). The two groups were similar in terms of LN metastasis. In the NTN group, the rate of patients with BMI ${\geq}30$ was 53% among postmenopausal patients, while it was 36% among premenopausal women, and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). No significant difference was observed in terms of BMI between postmenopausal and premenopausal patients in the TN group (p=0.08). Conclusions: TNBC rates and clinicopathologic characteristics of the Turkish patient population were consistent with the data from Europe and America. However, no relationship between obesity and TNBC was observed in our study. The association between TNBC and obesity needs to be evaluated in a larger patient population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.999-1002
• /
• 2012

Epirus is a rural area of North-Western Greece. We reviewed data from 4 hospitals for 4.975 patients who underwent prostate biopsy in Epirus in the twelve year period from 1999 to 2010. Two six -year periods were compared (1999-2004 and 2004-2010). All cases of prostate cancer confirmed by biopsy were recorded and age-standardized incidence rates per 100,000 males were calculated. We also recorded the clinical stage for patients diagnosed in our hospital and correlated this with PSA and Gleason scores. Percentage of positive prostate biopsies was also calculated. There were a total of 1714 new cases during 1999-2010 and the mean annual age-adjusted incidence was 34/100.000. The mean incidences during 1999-2004 and 2005-2010 were 26/100,000 and 42/100,000, respectively. The mean age at diagnosis was 74. The most common Gleason score was 6 and the prevalent clinical stage was T2. Median PSA at diagnosis was 10.8 ng/ml. There was a significant difference between stage cT4 and all other stages regarding PSA value (p=0.000). A positive correlation was found between Gleason score and PSA (p=0.013). These results are in accordance with the incidence rise recorded in neighboring countries of South-East Europe. However we should keep in mind the risk of overdiagnosis and the detection of low-risk cancers that would not have caused morbidity or death during a man's lifetime anyway.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.7
• /
• pp.3123-3129
• /
• 2016

Background: Cancer is the fourth leading cause of death in Sabah Malaysia with a reported age-standardized incidence rate was 104.9 per 100,000 in 2007. The incidence rate depends on non-mandatory notification in the registry. Under-reporting will provide the false picture of cancer control program effectiveness. The present study was to evaluate the performance of the cancer registry system in terms of representativeness, data quality, simplicity, acceptability and timeliness and provision of recommendations for improvement. Materials and Methods: The evaluation was conducted among key informants in the National Cancer Registry (NCR) and reporting facilities from Feb-May 2012 and was based on US CDC guidelines. Representativeness was assessed by matching cancer case in the Health Information System (HIS) and state pathology records with those in NCR. Data quality was measured through case finding and re-abstracting of medical records by independent auditors. The re-abstracting portion comprised 15 data items. Self-administered questionnaires were used to assess simplicity and acceptability. Timeliness was measured from date of diagnosis to date of notification received and data dissemination. Results: Of 4613 cancer cases reported in HIS, 83.3% were matched with cancer registry. In the state pathology centre, 99.8% was notified to registry. Duplication of notification was 3%. Data completeness calculated for 104 samples was 63.4%. Registrars perceived simplicity in coding diagnosis as moderate. Notification process was moderately acceptable. Median duration of interval 1 was 5.7 months. Conclusions: The performances of registry's attributes are fairly positive in terms of simplicity, case reporting sensitivity, and predictive value positive. It is moderately acceptable, data completeness and inflexible. The usefulness of registry is the area of concern to achieve registry objectives. Timeliness of reporting is within international standard, whereas timeliness to data dissemination was longer up to 4 years. Integration between existing HIS and national registration department will improve data quality.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.13 no.11
• /
• pp.829-844
• /
• 2013

This study performed comprehensive tests on the four hypotheses on the capital structures for the firms listed in the KOSPI during the period from 2006 to 2011. It may be of concern to find any financial profiles on firms' leverage across the book- and market-value bases since there was relatively little attention drawn to any financial changing profile of the leverage surrounding the period of the pre-and the post-global financial crises. The findings of this study may also be compared with those of the previous related literature, by which it may be expected to enhance the robustness and consistency of the results across the different classifications on capital markets. It was found that three explanatory variables such as PFT, SIZE, and RISK, were found to be the statistically significant attributes on leverage during the tested period. Moreover, the outcome by the Fisher Exact test showed that a firm belonging to each corresponding industry may possess its reversion tendency towards the industry mean and median leverage ratios.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
• /
• 2003.10a
• /
• pp.170-170
• /
• 2003

An initial study has been conducted with Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral resources and National Institute of Environment Research to evaluate the distribution of radon levels and their risk levels of groundwater in Korea. Probability distribution of 616 samples was log-normal one with 1,867pCi/L as arithmetic value, 920pCi/L as median and 40,010pCi/L as maximum during iou. years(1999-2002). In addition, 10% of total samples are in excess of 4,000pCi/L, 20% in excess of 2,700pCi/L, and 30% in excess of 1,700pCi/L, and 15 samples exceeds 10,000pCi/L. Total samples are grouped into 10 areas and 5 rocks unit, and difference of concentrations among areas and rocks are statistically significant(respectively, p<0.0001). The highest area is Daejeon located in ogcheon metamorphic rocks and granitic rocks, and most of all sites with high concentration sites are located in granitic rocks. The lowest area is Jeju located in volcanic rocks. We have estimated excess cancer risks of radon based on these data. To estimate risks, first of all, use patterns of groundwater are categorized with 6 groups: for drinking, household, farming, washing cars, raising stock, and others. We considered risk only for drinking water and household water because radon is rapidly dispersed before it of other use reach human respiratory organs. We select 565 samples for risk analysis, and applied unit risk which is 6.6210-7 per pCi/L to be recommended by NAS committee. Unit risk was derived from considering radon ingestion and radon inhalation from water use. When estimating risk, we analyzed PDF of concentration and represented risk as 50 and 95 percentile values to consider uncertainty with Monte-Carlo simulation. It results in 10-4 level of their excess cancer risk and in 10-2 level in some areas with high concentration of radon. It must be monitor periodically and take adequate actions in these risky sites. We recommend that it needs to take more survey and finally set guideline for radon regulation in groundwater.