• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9955-9960
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• 2014

Background: Promoter hypermethylation is a common event in human cancer. O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is a gene involved in DNA repair, which is methylated in a variety of cancers. We aimed to explore the methylation status of MGMT gene among the North Eastern population where esophageal cancer incidence and exposure to carcinogens like nitrosamines is high. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 newly diagnosed esophageal cancer cases along with equal number of age, sex and ethnicity matched controls were included in this study. Methylation specific PCR was used to determine the MGMT methylation status in serum samples. Results: Aberrant promoter methylation of the MGMT gene was detected in 70% of esophageal cancer cases. Hypermethylation of MGMT gene was found to be influenced by environmental factors like betel quid and tobacco which contain potent carcinogens like nitrosamines. Tobacco chewing and tobacco smoking habit synergistically with MGMT methylation elevated the risk for esophageal cancer development [adjusted OR=5.02, 95% CI=1.35-18.74; p=0.010 for tobacco chewing and Adjusted OR=3.00, 95% CI=1.22-7.36; p=0.014 for tobacco smoking]. Conclusions: Results suggest that the DNA hypermethylation of MGMT is an important mechanism for MGMT gene silencing resulting in esophageal cancer development and is influenced by the environmental factors. Thus MGMT hypermethylation can be used as a biomarker for esophageal cancer in high incidence region of North East India.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.4149-4154
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• 2016

Background: Cervical carcinoma is one of the main causes of mortality in women worldwide as well as in India. It occurs as a result of various molecular events that develop from the combined influences of an individual's genetic predisposition and external agents such as smoking and menstrual hygiene, for example. However, infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is the established major risk factor. The aim of the current study was to investigate p16 CpG island methylation and establish any correlation with mRNA expression in north Indian population. Materials and Methods: We analyzed 196 woman volunteer out of which 98 were cases and 98 healthy controls. For the analysis of methylation pattern, DNA extracted from blood samples was modified with a bisulfate kit and used as template for methylation specific PCR (MSP). Quantitative real-time PCR (QRT-PCR) was performed to check mRNA expression. Results: Correlation between methylation status of p16 gene and poor menstrual hygiene was significant (p=0.006), high parity cases showed methylation of p16 gene (p=0.031) with increased risk up to 1.86 times for cervical cancer and smoking was a strong risk factor associated with cervical cancer. We analyzed methylation pattern and found 60.3% methylation in cases with low mRNA expression level (0.014) as compare to controls (1.24). It was also observed that promoter methylation of p16 gene was significantly greater in FIGO stage III. Conclusions: We conclude that p16 methylation plays an important role in cervical cancer in the north Indian population and its methylation decreases mRNA expression. It can be used as an important and consistent blood biomarker in cervical cancer patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.2035-2038
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• 2014

Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) is an important protein involved in the regulation of the immune system. The +49 G/A polymorphism is the only genetic variation in the CTLA-4 gene that causes an amino acid change in the resulting protein. It is therefore the most extensively studied polymorphism among all CTLA-4 genetic variants and contributions to increasing the likelihood of developing cancer are well known in various populations, especially Asians. However, there have hiterto been no data with respect to the effect of this polymorphism on breast cancer susceptibility in our North Indian population. We therefore assayed genomic DNA of 250 breast cancer subjects and an equal number of age-, sex- and ethnicity-matched healthy controls for the CTLA-4 +49 G/A polymorphism but no significant differences in either the gene or allele frequency were found. Thus the CTLA-4 +49 G/A polymorphism may be associated with breast cancer in other Asians, but it appears to have no such effect in North Indians. The study also highlights the importance of conducting genetic association studies in different ethnic populations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.861-865
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• 2014

Background: High risk HPV (HR-HPV) testing has been recommended as an effective tool along with cytology screening in identification of cervical intraepithelial lesions (CINs) and prevention of their progress towards invasive cervical cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the HR-HPV DNA status by Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) assay in healthy asymptomatic women of North-East India. Materials and Methods: This study examined cervical cell samples of forty three (n=43) healthy women by HC2 assay. A High Risk HPV DNA kit (Qiagen) was used which can detect 13 high risk HPV types: 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59 and 68. Results: The mean relative light units (RLU) for samples was in the range of 141-5, 94, 619. HR-HPV DNA was confirmed in 16% (7/43) of participant women samples. Among demographic and clinical parameters, menstrual irregularity (p=0.039) and infection history (p=0.028) has shown statistically significant differences between the HR-HPV-positive and negative groups. In the HR-HPV positive group, two women were confirmed for CINs after colposcopy and histopathologic examination. Conclusions: We suggest that there may be an association between irregular menstruation and infection history of the urogenital tract with HR-HPV DNA prevalence in North-East Indian asymptomatic women. HC2 assay can be a valuable tool for HR-HPV screening.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10735-10738
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• 2015

Background: Cancers of the breast, uterine cervix and ovary are common cancers amongst females of North East India. Not much is known about the descriptive epidemiology of these cancers in our population. The present retrospective analysis was therefore performed. Materials and Methods: The data set available at the hospital based cancer registry of a regional cancer center of North-East India, containing information on patients registered during the period of January 2010 to December 2012, was applied. A total of 2,925 cases of breast, uterine cervix and ovarian cancer were identified. Results: Of the total, 1,295 (44.3%) were breast cancers, 1,214 (41.5%) were uterine cervix and 416 (14.2%) ovarian cancer, median age (range) for breast, uterine cervix and ovary were 45 (17-85), 48 (20-91) and 45 years (7-80), respectively. Some 43.5% of cases with uterine cervix patients were illiterate, 5.4% and 5.7% stage I in breast and cervix respectively and 96.4% of ovarian cancers in advanced stage. Conclusions: Improvement of female education can contribute to increase the proportion of early stage diagnosis of breast and uterine cervix in our population. Any population-based intervention for the detection of cancers of breast, uterine cervix and ovarian cancer should be started early in our population.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.305-323
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• 2012

The ocean's response to the Pinatubo and 1259 volcanic eruptions was investigated using an ocean general circulation model equipped with an energy balance model. Volcanic eruptions release gases into the atmosphere which increases the aerosol optical depth and acts to reduce the incoming short-wave radiation. For example, there was a huge volcanic eruption (Pinatubo) in 1991 which reduced the global mean radiative forcing by about 3 W $m^{-2}$. Two numerical experiments were simulated. The first experiment features the Pinatubo eruption and the second experiment simulates the much larger volcanic eruption that occurred in 1259 when the radiative forcing was reduced by 7 times compared to the Pinatubo event. With the reduced radiative forcing due to the Pinatubo eruption at about 3 W $m^{-2}$ and 1259 eruption at about 21 W $m^{-2}$, the global mean sea surface temperature (SST) decreased to its lowest in the second year after each event by about $0.4^{\circ}C$ and $1.6^{\circ}C$, respectively. Sea surface salinity (SSS) increased substantially in the northern North Pacific, northern North Atlantic, and the Southern Ocean. The reduced SST together with SSS increased ocean convection, which yielded an increase in North Atlantic Deep Water, Antarctic Bottom Water, and North Pacific Intermediate Water production and their outflows. The increase in overturning circulation eventually increased the pole-ward ocean heat fluxes. In conclusion, huge volcanic eruptions perturb the ocean substantially and their hallmarks last for more than a decade, confirming the importance of volcanic eruptions in illustrating the decadal-climate variability recorded in the paleoclimate proxy data for the past million years.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.80-87
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• 2001

Global robust diagnostic models are established based on MOM of GFDL to study the circulation in the world ocean. The horizontal grid sizes 1/2 degree, and the vertical water column is divided into 21 levels. The hydrographic data are taken from Levitus et al.(1994) and the wind stress from Hellerman and Rosenstein (1983). Based on the model results the horizontal volume, heat and salt transports across some representative sections are calculated. The preliminary results show that Though the cross-equator volume transports in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans are all small, the heat transports across equator in the Atlantic are northward. This is clearly a result of the southward flow of the North Atlantic Deep Water and the northward compensating warm flow in the upper layer. The annual mean of the cross-equator heat transport in the Pacific Ocean from the present model is significantly lower than that calculated by Philander et at. (1987). This might indicate the importance of the Indonesian Throughflow in the heat transport in the Pacific Ocean. Our calculation shows that the heat transport through the Indonesian Archipelago is 0.5 PW, which is comparable with the poleward heat transport in the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The difference in heat transports across the sections 5 and 6 demonstrates the important role of the Agulhas Current in the heat balance of the world ocean.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.21-29
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• 2010

In this study, characteristics of natural disaster and damage in North Korea are examined by using CRED(Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters) data from 1980 to 2008. Result shows that most natural disasters are caused by summertime typhoon and floods with typical floods of 1995 and 2007. Also, synoptic weather condition associated with heavy rainfall in North Korea is analyzed by using satellite image and weather chart provided by JMA(Japan Meteorological Agency). The heavy rainfalls associated with flood in North Korea are mainly related to the effect of Changma front, abrupt development of southeastward moving low over Yellow Sea, convective instability at the edge of North Pacific high and passage of weakened tropical cyclone(typhoon).

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.118-124
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• 2009

A Korean trawl fishery was conducted on the Emperor Seamounts in the northwestern Pacific Ocean from 2005 to 2007. Total catches were 750 mt, 460 mt and 440 mt in 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively. Splendid alfonsino (Beryx splendens) and North Pacific armorhead (Pseudopentaceros wheeleri) were dominant in the commercial fisheries on the Emperor Seamounts during 2005-2007. Biomass of each species was estimated by the swept area method from March 2005 to August 2007. During three years, average biomass of Splendid alfonsino and North Pacific armorhead were 791 mt and 266 mt, respectively.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.1
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• pp.308-311
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• 2006

This study compared between tropospheric column ozone by applying the SAM method to TOMS and OMI data for northern summer. Tropospheric ozone from the SAM represents a peak over the tropical Atlantic, where it is related with biomass burning. This feature is also seen in the distribution of the model and CO. Additionally, enhancement of the SAM ozone over the Middle East, and South and North America agrees well with the model and CO distribution. However, the SAM results show more ozone than the model results over the northern hemisphere, especially the ocean (e.g. the North Pacific and the North Atlantic). The tropospheric ozone distribution from OMI data shows more ozone than that from TOMS data. This can be caused by different viewing angle, sampling frequency, and a-priori ozone profiles between OMI and TOMS. The correlation between the SAM tropospheric ozone and CO is better than that between the model and CO in the tropics. However, that correlation is reversed in the midlatitude.