• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.3911-3916
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• 2016

Background: Triple negative (TN) and triple positive (TP) breast cancers both are aggressive types but TN generally has a shorter survival. Objectives: To compare the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes for patients with TN versus TP breast cancer and to assess various prognostic factors affecting overall survival. Materials and Methods: A retrospective audit of 85 breast cancer patients was conducted in the Department of Radiation Oncology and Medical Oncology on patients from 2006 to 2013 for whom IHC for ER, PgR and Her-2 neu were available. The patients were stratified into: ER-, PR- and Her-2 neu- (Arm A, n=47) and ER+, PgR+ and Her-2 neu+ (Arm B, n=38). Results: TN subtype had higher numbers of premenopausal and advanced stage patients as compared to TP subtype. The locoregional recurrence (LRR) and distant metastatic rate was also higher in TN subtype but there was no definite pattern in both the arms. Among the prognostic factors, patients with premenopausal status and advanced stage in TN breast cancer had inferior survival (P=0.07) whereas for those with postmenopausal status and early stage there was no survival difference between the two arms. Conclusions: TN subtype tends to be more aggressive in terms of younger age and advanced stage at presentation, higher tumour grade, LRR and metastasis, suggesting need for future research efforts on providing aggressive treatment to these patients. We could attribute better outcome for TP subtype to receptor positivity enabling role of hormonal treatment and targeted therapy, although less number of patients received targeted therapy.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.80 no.3
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• pp.304-310
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• 2017

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is a chronic inflammatory disorder. We evaluated whether white blood cell (WBC) count, is associated with the severity of COPD, independent of other inflammatory conditions, such as metabolic syndrome. Methods: The WBC counts were compared between 1227 COPD patients and 8679 non-COPD adults older than 40. The relationships between the WBC count, lung function, and symptoms score in COPD patients, were determined, using general linear regression analyses. Results: The WBC count was negatively associated with forced vital capacity (FVC, L), FVC (% predicted), forced expiry volume in one second ($FEV_1$, L), and $FEV_1$ (% predicted) in COPD patients. Additionally, the WBC count was independently associated with the quality of life measure, by EQ5D-index score. However, this relationship between WBC count, and disease severity, was not significant in current smokers, because of the confounding effect of smoking, on the WBC count. Conclusion: The WBC count is associated with current smoking status and COPD severity, and a risk factor for poor lung function, and quality of life, especially in non-currently smoking COPD patients. The WBC count can be used, as an easily measurable COPD biomarker.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4627-4634
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• 2013

Chemoprotection refers to the use of specific natural or synthetic chemical agents to suppress or prevent the progression to cancer. The purpose of this study is to assess the protective effect of aspirin, vitamin C or zinc in a dimethyl hydrazine (DMH) colon carcinoma model in rats and to investigate the effect of these supplements on changes associated with colonic zinc status. Rats were randomly divided into three groups, group 1 (aspirin), group 2 (vitamin C) and group 3 (zinc), each being subdivided into two groups and given subcutaneous injection of DMH (30 mg/kg body wt) twice a week for 3 months and sacrificed at 4 months (A-precancer model) and 6 months (B-cancer model). Groups 1, 2, 3 were simultaneously given aspirin, vitamin C, or zinc supplement respectively from the beginning till the end of the study. It was observed that 87.5% of rats co-treated with aspirin or vitamin C showed normal colonic histology, along with a significant decrease in colonic tissue zinc at both time points. Rats co-treated with zinc showed 100% reduction in tumor incidence with no significant change in colonic tissue zinc. Plasma zinc, colonic CuZnSOD (copper-zinc superoxide dismutase) and alkaline phosphatase activity showed no significant changes in all 3 cotreated groups. These results suggest that aspirin, vitamin C or zinc given separately, exert a chemoprotective effect against chemically induced DMH colonic preneoplastic progression and colonic carcinogenesis in rats. The inhibitory effects are associated with maintaining the colonic tissue zinc levels and zinc enzymes at near normal without significant changes.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.20-30
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• 2016

Objectives: To validate a critical-size mandibular bone defect model in miniature pigs. Materials and Methods: Bilateral notch defects were produced in the mandible of dentally mature miniature pigs. The right mandibular defect remained untreated while the left defect received an autograft. Bone healing was evaluated by computed tomography (CT) at 4 and 16 weeks, and by micro-CT and non-decalcified histology at 16 weeks. Results: In both the untreated and autograft treated groups, mineralized tissue volume was reduced significantly at 4 weeks post-surgery, but was comparable to the pre-surgery levels after 16 weeks. After 16 weeks, CT analysis indicated that significantly greater bone was regenerated in the autograft treated defect than in the untreated defect (P=0.013). Regardless of the treatment, the cortical bone was superior to the defect remodeled over 16 weeks to compensate for the notch defect. Conclusion: The presence of considerable bone healing in both treated and untreated groups suggests that this model is inadequate as a critical-size defect. Despite healing and adaptation, the original bone geometry and quality of the pre-injured mandible was not obtained. On the other hand, this model is justified for evaluating accelerated healing and mitigating the bone remodeling response, which are both important considerations for dental implant restorations.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.93-96
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• 2011

We present a recordings of 37-year-old woman with simultaneous ictal scalp and subdural electrodes. The ictal rhythm on subdural electrocorticography (ECoG) started earlier (median 24.5 sec) and ended later (median 2.0 sec) compared to ictal rhythm on scalp EEG. Eight ictal ECoG recordings were well localized to left temporal area, whereas ictal scalp EEG recordings were not. Our case shows the obvious timing relations between two recordings, and different electrophysiologic information about localization of ictal onset zone.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.79-93
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• 2003

Childhood injuries are the primary cause of death and disability among children aged 5 to 14. Consistent practice of learned safety behaviors can reduce the occurrence of severe injuries among children. However, safety behavior concern is low among Korean-American children specifically and American children, in general. The objective of the study is to evaluate the impact of an unintentional injury prevention curriculum, Risk Watch among Korean-American children. A quasi-experimental design with a nonequivalent control group was used for the designed of the study. Two intervention and two control Korean schools in Atlanta participated in this study. The intervention consisted of weekly lessons in traffic, bicycle, pedestrian, and fire safety. One hundred and two students completed a pre-test and a post-test. The main outcomes were safety behaviors (seat belt use or helmet use), behavioral intentions, and safety knowledge. Analysis of covariance was used for the statistical analyses. Strong intervention effects were found for increasing knowledge of all safety topics in the intervention group. Additionally, statistically significant intervention effects were detected for increasing seat belt and helmet use, as well as behavioral intentions of wearing a seat belt and wearing a helmet, among pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students. For students in grades 1 and 2, intervention effects were found for increasing helmet use. Among students in grades 3 to 8, the intervention group showed statistically significant increases for seat belt use. Limitations of the study and recommendations for modifying and supporting unintentional injury prevention programs for school children are discussed.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.3-29
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• 2008

Ian Watt, author of The Rise of the Novel, maintained that the novel originated in modern England, came from prose discourses such as the news, political essays and journalistic writing which propagated the Enlightenment, and the novels represent formal realism. The main point of this paper is to examine Watt's theory of the rise of the novel on the basis of the criticism of antinomy of the Enlightenment and "the public sphere" in Habermas' terms. At first, I will criticize formal realism, which is not a new literary species, but a formally renovated realistic form that represented capitalism and protestantism. And, then, I will show that formal realism is a kind of antinomy because it turned away from the voices and reality of the low-class and women though the novel concentrated on common people, not the aristocrats. Secondly, I will inquire into the antinomy of the Enlightenment in the aspects of reason, freedom, individualism and women. In my view, as soon as the high-middle class acquired their political rights, these values were no more encouraged and the result revealed antinomy of the Enlightenment more explicitly. Thirdly, I'd argue that "the public sphere" had positive meanings to everyone when the bourgeosie were fighting against the Absolutism and the aristocracy. I'll also insist that the high-middle class and the intellectuals were in "the public sphere" in which Habermas argues that rationality and equality were thought to have been realized, while the low-middle class and most women were de-enlightened and disciplined by reading the novel privately. In conclusion, formal realism is not the rise of the novel, but the opening of the novel peculiar to bourgeosie parliamentarism from the middle-eighteenth century to the middle-twentieth century.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.293-299
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• 2022

Purpose: Data on eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in South America is scarce. Moreover, no studies are available in Ecuador. We evaluated the clinical, endoscopic, and histological characteristics of Ecuadorian children with EoE. Methods: Medical records of 2,711 children who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGE) between 2009 and 2020 at Hospital Metropolitano de Quito, Ecuador were reviewed. Esophageal mucosal biopsies were obtained from 72 patients and the features of 35 children with EoE were described. EoE was diagnosed when there were more than 15 eosinophils in the esophagus, per high power field. Results: EoE was diagnosed in 35 children (9.4±4.5 years) with a male predominance (74%). Abdominal pain (51.4%) and vomiting (31.4%) were dominant symptoms. A history of allergic diseases was noted in 47.1% of the children, which mainly included allergic rhinitis (37.1%) and atopic dermatitis (11.4%). The most common endoscopic findings were furrowing (82.9%) and edema (74.3%). All patients were initially treated with proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs). Those who did not respond to PPIs received steroids (5.7%) and diet therapy (5.7%), and five patients were referred to an allergist. Clinical and histological resolution was observed in 65% of the patients who underwent a second UGE after 6-8 weeks of PPI. Conclusion: Our study describes the clinical features of pediatric EoE in Ecuador. This is the first retrospective study in Ecuador that describes the clinical, endoscopic, and histological manifestations of EoE in a small pediatric population. Almost half of the children who underwent a biopsy had EoE.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2022.05a
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• pp.305-305
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• 2022

A better approach for assessing meteorological drought occurrences is increasingly important in mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change, as well as strategies for developing early warning systems. The present study defines meteorological droughts as a period with an abnormal precipitation deficit based on monthly precipitation data of 18 gauging stations for the Han River watershed in the past (1974-2015). This study utilizes a Bayesian parameter estimation approach to analyze the effects of climate change on future drought (2025-2065) in the Han River Basin using the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) with four bias-corrected general circulation models (GCMs) under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP)2-4.5 scenario. Given that drought is defined by several dependent variables, the evaluation of this phenomenon should be based on multivariate analysis. Two main characteristics of drought (severity and duration) were extracted from precipitation anomalies in the past and near-future periods using the copula function. Three parameters of the Archimedean family copulas, Frank, Clayton, and Gumbel copula, were selected to fit with drought severity and duration. The results reveal that the lower parts and middle of the Han River basin have faced severe drought conditions in the near future. Also, the bivariate analysis using copula showed that, according to both indicators, the study area would experience droughts with greater severity and duration in the future as compared with the historical period.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.1131-1149
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• 2011

Michael McKeon, in The Origins of the English Novel, 1600-1740, sets forth a theoretical study of a large canon of seventeenth- and eighteenthcentury works, based upon the dialectic of genre formations, which attempts to analyze certain "instabilities" in generic and social categories- "instabilities" that McKeon identifies as "Questions of Truth" and "Questions of Virtue." In this paper, I argue with McKeon's optimistic reading of Samuel Richardson's work, Clarissa, or The History of Young Lady (1740), which concludes that-unlike Pamela's "manifest material and social empowerment"-Clarissa acquires "manifest discursive and imaginative empowerment" and "wins" (to use McKeon's terms) the "battle" with her antagonist, Robert Lovelace. What is difficult to accept in this reading of Clarissa is McKeon's claim that the "success" of Clarissa's resistance to Lovelace, despite the tragic rape, is evident in her "new-found power" which is represented in the heroine's spiritual "conversion"- her decision to die to protect her "version of truth and virtue." McKeon's spiritual "conversion" not only forces Clarissa to surrender her legal right to prosecute her rapist but also forces her to seek the shelter of her "father's house" in the afterlife because she can no longer "make others accept [her] own version of events as authoritative." Thus, in contrast to McKeon, I claim that Clarissa represents the necessary conditions for its heroine's "empowerment" primarily in language that suggests her manifest social invalidation; language which in particular emphasizes that her rape and torture by Lovelace forces Clarissa's spiritual "conversion" to seek her reward in the afterlife-thereby concluding that Clarissa's discursive and imaginative empowerment does not and cannot exist in the secular, material world.