• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.7
• /
• pp.3253-3258
• /
• 2012

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) plus chemotherapy versus WBRT alone for treating brain metastases (BM) from lung cancer by performing a meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: The PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, ASCO, ESMO, CBM, CNKI, and VIP databases were searched for relevant RCTs performed between January 2000 and March 2012. After quality assessment and data extraction, the meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan 5.1 software, with funnel plot evaluation of publication bias. Results: 19 RCTs involving 1,343 patients were included. The meta-analyses demonstrated that compared to WBRT alone, WBRT plus chemotherapy was more effective with regard to the objective response rate (OR = 2.30, 95% CI = 1.79 - 2.98; P < 0.001); however, the incidences of gastrointestinal reactions (RR = 3.82, 95% CI = 2.33 - 6.28, P <0.001), bone marrow suppression (RR = 5.49, 95% CI = 3.65 - 8.25, P < 0.001), thrombocytopenia (RR = 5.83, 95% CI = 0.39 - 86.59; P = 0.20), leukopenia (RR = 3.13, 95% CI = 1.77 - 5.51; P < 0.001), and neutropenia (RR = 2.75, 95% CI = 1.61 - 4.68; P < 0.001) in patients treated with WBRT plus chemotherapy were higher than with WBRT alone. There was no obvious publication bias detected. Conclusion: WBRT plus chemotherapy can obviously improve total efficacy rate, butalso increases the incidence of adverse reactions compared to WBRT alone. From the limitations of this study, more large-scale, high-quality RCTs are suggested for further verification.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.1923-1927
• /
• 2012

Background: Studies investigating the association between 2R/3R polymorphisms in the thymidylate synthase 5'-untranslated enhanced region (TYMS 5'-UTR) and gastric cancer risk have generated conflicting results. Thus, a meta-analysis was performed to summarize the data on any association. Methods: Pubmed, Embase, and CNKI databases were searched for all available studies. The strength of association between TYMS 5'-UTR 2R/3R polymorphism and gastric cancer risk was estimated by odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Six individual case-control studies with a total of 1, 472 cases and 1, 895 controls were included into this meta-analysis. Analyses of total six relevant studies showed that there was no obvious association between the TYMS 5'-UTR 2R/3R polymorphism and gastric cancer risk. Subgroup analyses based on ethnicity showed 2R of TYMS 5'-UTR 2R/3R contributes to gastric cancer risk in the Asian population ($OR_{Homozygote\;model}$ = 1.71, 95%CI 1.19-2.46, P = 0.004; $OR_{Recessive\;genetic\;model}$ = 1.70, 95%CI 1.18-2.43, P = 0.004). However, the association in Caucasian populations was uncertain due to the limited studies. Conclusions: Our meta-analysis suggests that 2R of TYMS 5'-UTR 2R/3R contributes to gastric cancer risk in the Asian population, while this association in Caucasians populations needs further study.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.645-649
• /
• 2013

Objective: The prognostic role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in bladder cancer remains controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to explore any association between overexpression and survival outcomes. Methods: We systematically searched for studies investigating the relationships between VEGF expression and outcome of bladder cancer patients. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. After careful review, survival data were extracted from eligible studies. A meta-analysis was performed to generate combined hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS). Results: A total of 1,285 patients from 11 studies were included in the analysis. Our results showed that tissue VEGF overexpression in patients with bladder cancer was associated with poor prognosis in terms of OS (HR, 1.843; 95% CI, 1.231-2.759; P = 0.003), DFS (HR, 1.498; 95% CI, 1.255-1.787; P = 0.000) and DSS (HR, 1.562; 95% CI, 0.996-1.00; P = 0.052), though the difference for DSS was not statistically significant. In addition, there was no evidence of publication bias as suggested by Begg's and Egger's tests except for DFS (Begg's test, P = 0.221; Egger's test, P = 0.018). Conclusion: The present meta-analysis indicated elevated VEGF expression to be associated with a poor prognosis in patients with bladder cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.9
• /
• pp.5483-5487
• /
• 2013

Background: Associations between Arg399Gln, Arg194Trp and Arg280His polymorphisms of the XRCC1 gene and risk of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) have been widely studied but the findings are contradictory. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis in the present study using STATA 11.0 software to clarify any associations. Electronic literature databases and reference lists of relevant articles revealed a total of 10, 6 and 6 published studies for the Arg399Gln, Arg194Trp and Arg280His polymorphisms, respectively. Results: No significant associations were observed between Arg399Gln and DTC risk in all genetic models within the overall and subgroup meta-analyses, while the Trp/Trp vs Arg/Arg and recessive model of the Arg194Trp polymorphism was associated with DTC susceptibility, and the dominant model of Arg280His polymorphism contributed to DTC susceptibility in Caucasians. Conclusions: Our meta-analysis suggests that XRCC1 Arg194Trp may be a risk factor for DTC development.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.848-854
• /
• 2014

A Meta-analysis refers to a statistical literature synthesis method from the quantitative results of many known empirical studies. We conducted a meta-analysis and review of external factors based on the technology acceptance model for Smartphone-related researches. This study surveyed 106 research papers that established causal relationships in the technology acceptance model published in Korean academic journals during 2008 and 2013. The result of the meta-analysis might be summarized that the playfulness has the highest effect size in the path from external factors to the perceived usefulness, with the effect size(0.536). Also the self efficacy showed the highest effect size(0.626) in the path from external factors to the perceived ease of use. Based on these findings, several theoretical and practical implications were suggested and discussed with the difference from previous researches.

• Journal of Information Management
• /
• v.42 no.3
• /
• pp.147-165
• /
• 2011

This paper presents a core meta-tag of OpenURL written in Key/Encoded-Value format in the field of observation research, to distribute the scientific data, produced in many experimentations and observations, on the OpenURL service architecture. So far, the OpenURL hasn't supplied a meta-tag represented scientific data because it has focused on circulation of scholarly and technological information extracted from thesis, proceedings, journals, literatures, etc. The DataCite consortium metadata were analyzed and compared with the Dublin Core metadata, OECD metadata, and Directory Interchange Format metadata to develop a core meta-tag in observation research.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.40 no.3
• /
• pp.269-277
• /
• 2016

Background: The findings of currently available studies are not consistent with regard to the association between the risk of cancer and ginseng consumption. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate this association by conducting a meta-analysis of different studies. Methods: To systematically evaluate the effect of ginseng consumption on cancer incidence, six databases were searched, including PubMed, Ovid Technologies, Embase, The Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Chinese VIP Information, from 1990 to 2014. Statistical analyses based on the protocol employed for a systematic review were conducted to calculate the summary relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: We identified nine studies, including five cohort studies, three case-control studies, and one randomized controlled trial, evaluating the association between ginseng consumption and cancer risk; these studies involved 7,436 cases and 334,544 participants. The data from the meta-analysis indicated a significant 16% lower risk of developing cancer in patients who consumed ginseng (RR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.76-0.92), with evidence of heterogeneity (p = 0.0007, $I^2$ = 70%). Stratified analyses suggested that the significant heterogeneity may result from the incidence data for gastric cancer that were included in this study. Publication bias also showed the same result as the stratified analyses. In addition, subgroup analyses for four specific types of cancer (colorectal cancer, lung cancer, gastric cancer, and liver cancer) were also performed. The summary RRs for ginseng intake versus no ginseng consumption were 0.77 for lung cancer, 0.83 for gastric cancer, 0.81 for liver cancer, and 0.77 for colorectal cancer. Conclusion: The findings of this meta-analysis indicated that ginseng consumption is associated with a significantly decreased risk of cancer and that the effect is not organ specific.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.49-57
• /
• 2001

The use of autopolymerizing-cured resin and light-cured resin for direct introral relining of complete and partial dentures has been popular. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the surface characteristics of autopolymerizing-cured reline resins(Tokuso rebase, Mild rebaron, Meta base) and light-cured reline resin(Mild rebaron LC). Acrylic resin slab specimens(1.0cm in diameter at the bottom, and 0.3cm high) were made against glass according to the instructions of the manufacturer following normal procedures for each of direct reline resins and examined the surface characteristics by use of surface profilometer and the other specimens which were made intraorally for each of direct reline resins were examined by use of scanning electron microscopy. The results were as follows : 1. Each surface roughness(Rz) of hard relin resins was $0.14{\pm}0.04{\mu}m$ in Tokuso rebase, $0.37{\pm}0.11{\mu}m$ in Mild Rebaron, $0.79{\pm}0.44{\mu}m$ in Mild Rebaron LC, $6.36{\pm}3.40{\mu}m$ in Meta base. There were significant differences between the surface roughness of Meta base and those of other reline resins(p<0.05) 2. The generation of porosity was the most in Tokuso Rebase and followed by Meta base, Mild Rebaron and Mild Rebaron LC in the order respectively. 3. Light-cured reline resin(Mild rebaron LC) was denser in surface than any other autopolymerizing-cured reline resins. Tokuso rebase and Mild rebaron was denser than Meta base. Conclusively, light-cured reline resin(Mild rebaron LC) had less porosity and better surface density than any other autopolymerizing-cured reline resins.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.225-237
• /
• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to systematically review and conduct meta-analysis on factors affecting career preparation behavior of Korean nursing students. Methods: Related articles published in Korean and English were collected based on search terms and converted into a numerical database. Data extraction, quality assessment and analysis including a systematic review and meta-analysis were completed. Results: The review included 27 studies. There were 25 factors influencing career preparation behavior of Korean nursing students. Factors were categorized into four sub-factors: personal, contextual, cognitive-emotional, and goal-related. In the meta-analysis of 27 articles the total effect size (ESr) was .34. The effect sizes of the four sub-factors were .37 for individual factors, .25 for situation factors, .34 for cognitive and emotional factors, and .41 for target factors. The main factors were .53 for career-related efficacy, .43 for self-leadership, and .43 for career decision level. Conclusion: Nursing students with high career-related efficacy and self-leadership are more likely to demonstrate career preparation behavior. Based on these results, educational institutions for nursing students must improve students' self-leadership and career effectiveness through education so that they can set career goals.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.97-101
• /
• 2020

This study intended to analyze effects of education of python through meta-analysis. The researcher selected five primary studies reporting statistical data after implementing education of python in elementary classroom settings. Three research questions were stated. What is the total effect size of education of python? What are effect sizes of publication type, dependent variable, and etc.? What are results of meta-regression analysis by grade level, period, and etc.? Findings are as follows. The overall effect size was .598, which is medium. For categorical variables, the effect size of peer-reviewed journal articles was larger than theses. The effect size of affective domain was larger than student achievement and cognitive domain. For meta-regression analysis, education of python was more effective as the period and duration of the program increased. Finally, discussions and recommendations including qualitative investigation on affective domain and program management considering characteristics were presented regarding research findings.