• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.3139-3144
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• 2014

Background: Medical treatment for eliminating the side effects of cancer therapy may not always be efficacious. Acupuncture is one of the most widely accepted alternative and complementary therapies in use today. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of acupuncture in patients experiencing cancer treatment side effects, including nausea, vomiting, pain, poor sleep quality and anxiety. Materials and Methods: A total of 45 inpatients who underwent chemotherapy between February and April 2013 in the Oncology Department of Numune Hospital were included in our study. Acupuncture was administered to the patients one day prior to chemotherapy, on the day of chemotherapy and one day after chemotherapy. The patients were evaluated on nausea, vomiting, pain, sleep quality and anxiety before the chemotherapy and on the $4^{th}$ day of chemotherapy. Results: Of the 45 patients included in the study, 18 (40%) were female and 27 (60%) were male. A total of 25 (55.6%) had an elementary school education; 32 patients (71%) had stage 4 cancer and were treated with palliative chemotherapy (the patient characteristics are shown in Table 1). Statistically significant decreases (p<0.001) in pain, nausea, vomiting, insomnia and anxiety scores were observed after the acupuncture treatment compared to baseline. There were no differences in the age, gender, education level, stage or metastasis levels between the patient groups whose symptoms improved or were unchanged. Conclusions: Our study showed that acupuncture has positive effects in cancer treatment patients who experience nausea, vomiting, pain, poor sleep quality and anxiety as side effects of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy-related side effects in cancer patients could be decreased by the concurrent use of acupuncture.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.42-49
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• 2014

The purposes of this study were to identify and analyze students' attitudes and satisfaction to the portfolio process and assessment for the Introduction to Clinical Medicine course at Ewha Womans University School of Medicine in Seoul, Korea. The subjects consisted of 64 medical school students. Questionnaires consisting of 20 5-point Likert-type items were developed, including three question domains: 1) orientation, 2) portfolios in general, 3) individualized feedback. The mean and median were found and frequency analysis was performed to identify the common characteristics of the participants. A major finding was that 54.7% of the respondents felt that the self-reflection involved in building the portfolio was a valuable learning experience. Plus, the majority of respondents perceived that the individualized feedback had a positive tone and its contents were specific, practical, and constructive. The students perceived that building and writing portfolios heightened their understanding of exit learning outcomes and enhanced their reflective thinking and self-directed learning skills. Meanwhile, some students perceived that there was too much paperwork in the portfolio process and that the process was time consuming. Furthermore, 32.8% of the respondents said that they had difficulty establishing their learning strategies by themselves and self-directing their learning during the portfolio process. In conclusion, it is expected that building a portfolio can help students not only to enhance their ability to accumulate and use their personal learning resources but also to develop the professional qualities required by doctors, such as self-directed learning, self-reflection, lifelong learning, team work, organizational skills, time management and prioritization, and professional thinking and behavior.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.317-326
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to identify correlation of stress, coping patterns and physical symptoms in cancer patient's caregiver. The stress was measured by VAS(Visual Analogue Scale). The coping methods were measured using the modified Ways of Coping Questionnaire by Yang (1998) and the actual physical symptoms were investigated. The phases of patient illness consisted of 1st (initial) stage, and 2nd (recurred) stage and 3rd (terminal) stage based on literature (Lewandowski & Jones, 1988). The data were collected by a survey conducted from March to July, 2000 and which included 196 cancer patients' caregivers from two hospitals in Seoul. The data were analyzed using paired t-test, unpaired t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe test and Pearson correlation coefficient. The results were as follows: 1. The average of caregivers' stress scores was 62.5. Problem-focused coping methods were significantly used more than emotion-focused coping methods by the cancer patients' caregiver. The mean number of caregivers' physical symptom was 1.03. 2. There were significantly high level of stress in women, those who were more than 60 years old, those who had a low education level, those who had no job, those who are patients' wives' and those who are terminal patients' caregiver. There were significantly low levels of coping in women, those who were more than 60 years old, those who had low education levels, those who had no job and those who are patients' wives. There were significantly higher number of physical symptoms in women, and those who have no job. 3. Caregivers' stress was significantly correlated to problem-focused coping methods (r=-.21, p=.006), and physical symptom (r=-.28, p=.0001). In conclusion, attempts to develop nursing interventions for cancer patients' caregiver in women, those who are more than 60 years old, with a low education level, have no job, and are cancer patients' wives could have an improvement on positive coping methods and provide relaxation from stress in the patients' experience.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1559-1563
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• 2015

Background: Male breast cancer accounts for less than 1% of all cancers found in men. It usually presents at a later age and stage as compared to female breast cancer. Treatment strategies are extrapolated from the management of female breast cancer. Our study here looked at 18 patients diagnosed with and treated for male breast cancer at The Aga Khan University Hospital in Pakistan. We compared our findings with the existing data from Asian and Western countries. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted looking at patients with male breast cancer between January 1986 and December 2009. Patient and disease characteristics were analyzed and 5 year overall survival was calculated using Microsoft Excel and SPSS. Results: The average age at diagnosis was 52 years (38-67 years). Twelve (66.7%) patients had axillary lymphadenopathy. Stage II disease was the most common stage at presentation (9 patients, 50%). Infiltrating ductal carcinoma was seen in 16 patients (88.8%). Seven lesions were positive for both estrogen and progesterone receptors. Sixteen patients had surgery in the form of either modified radical mastectomy or radical mastectomy. Radiation was used in 7 patients in an adjuvant setting. The five year overall survival for stage I, II, III and IV disease was 100% vs 78% vs 50% vs 0%( p<0.05). Five year overall survival was 61%. None of the other prognostic factors were statistically significant. Median follow up was 15 months (3-202 months). Conclusions: Male breast cancer may be on a slow rise but is still an uncommon disease. Tumor stage and lymph node status are important prognostic markers. Public awareness and screening may help in detecting the disease at an earlier stage. Prospective trials are needed to improve the management of this disease.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1289-1293
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• 2015

Background: Anal intraepithelial lesions (AIL) are likely to represent a precursor for anal cancer. Women infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may be at higher risk of anal cancer but a screening program for AIL still is not routinely recommended. We here studied the relationship of dysplastic cells from cervical and anal cytology in HIV-infected women. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was conducted in Prapokklao Hospital, Thailand during 2013-2014. Five hundred and ninety nine HIV-infected women were recruited. Participants who had cytological reports of equally or over "abnormal squamous/glandular cells of undetermined significance" (ASC-US) were classified as abnormal cervical or anal cytology. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used to evaluate correlations between groups. Results: HIV-infected women with abnormal cervical cytology had 3.8 times more risk (adjusted odd ratio 3.846, 95% confidence interval 1.247-11.862, p-value. 019) for abnormal anal cytology. The major problem of the anal Pap test in this study was the inadequacy of the collected specimens for evaluation (34.4%, 206/599). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of cervical and anal Pap tests were 93.9/12.0, 87.3/96.9, 39.7/21.4, 99.4/94.1 and 88.1/91.4 percent, respectively. Conclusions: Abnormal cervical cytology in HIV-infected women indicates elevated risk for abnormal anal cytology. The sensitivity of the anal Pap test for detection of AIL 2/3 in HIV-infected women was quite low while specificity was excellent. Inadequacy of specimen collection for evaluation was a major limitation. Improvement of sample collection is recommended for future investigations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2179-2184
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• 2012

Introduction and aim: To compare reproductive factor influence on patients with pathological diagnosed malignant and benign tumor in the Breast Department, The First Peoples' Hospital of Kunming in Yunnan province, China. Methods: A hospital-based case-control study was conducted on 263 breast cancer (BC) cases and 457 non-breast cancer controls from 2009 to 2011. The cases and controls information on demographics, medical history, and reproductive characteristics variables were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and routine medical records. Histology of breast cancer tissue and benign breast lesion were documented by pathology reports. Since some variables in data analysis had zero count in at least one category, binomial-response GLM using the bias-reduction method was applied to estimate OR's and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). To adjust for age and menopause status, a compound variable comprising age and menopausal status was retained in the statistical models. Results: multivariate model analysis revealed significant independent positive associations of BC with short menstrual cycle, old age at first live birth, never breastfeeding, history of oral contraception experience, increased number of abortion, postmenopausal status, and nulliparity. Categorised by age and menopausal status, perimenopausal women had about 3-fold and postmenopausal women had more than 5-fold increased risk of BC compared to premenopausal women. Discussion and Conclusion: This study has confirmed the significant association of BC and estrogen related risk factors of breast cancer including longer menstrual cycle, older age of first live birth, never breastfeeding, nulliparity, and number of abortions more than one. The findings suggest that female hormonal factors, especially the trend of menopause status play a significant role in the development of BC in Yunnan women.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2241-2247
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• 2012

Objective: This qualitative study retrospectively examined the experience and psychological impact of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) among Southern Chinese females with unilateral breast cancer history who underwent BRCA1/2 genetic testing. Limited knowledge is available on this topic especially among Asians; therefore, the aim of this study was to acquire insight from Chinese females' subjective perspectives. Methods: A total of 12 semi-structured in-depth interviews, with 11 female BRCA1/BRCA 2 mutated gene carriers and 1 non-carrier with a history of one-sided breast cancer and genetic testing performed by the Hong Kong Hereditary Breast Cancer Family Registry, who subsequently underwent CPM, were assessed using thematic analysis and a Stage Conceptual Model. Breast cancer history, procedures conducted, cosmetic satisfaction, pain, body image and sexuality issues, and cancer risk perception were discussed. Retrieval of medical records using a prospective database was also performed. Results: All participants opted for prophylaxis due to their reservations concerning the efficacy of surveillance and worries of recurrent breast cancer risk. Most participants were satisfied with the overall results and their decision. One-fourth expressed different extents of regrets. Psychological relief and decreased breast cancer risk were stated as major benefits. Spouses' reactions and support were crucial for post-surgery sexual satisfaction and long-term adjustment. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that thorough education on cancer risk and realistic expectations of surgery outcomes are crucial for positive adjustment after CPM. Appropriate genetic counseling and pre-and post-surgery psychological counseling were necessary. This study adds valuable contextual insights into the experiences of living with breast cancer fear and the importance of involving spouses when counseling these patients.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.2 s.32
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• pp.17-33
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• 1996

Chinese medical science with long history has experience and theory of cure and prevention as well as the perfect different system with western medicine. Western medical science also was introduced in recent times and has been used in fast development in China extensively. Therefore only China that coexist oriental and western medicine is used the term, the integration of oriental and western medicine. Its object is to make better treatment and prevention value with utilizing their strong point and weak point. That is, its great principle is to develop through interchange together without interference in the other science. For mutual growth of both medical science, national concern and support, medical staffs, administrative system and a lot of fruits, etc should be arranged simultaneously. This paper was obtained the as follows. 1. The system of public health administration is composed a sanitary department for a western medicine and a managing agency for a chinese one in the center. There are each local organization under the control both agency in the locality 2. The importance of the integration of chinese and western medicine is to get the merit of special chinese system through the interchange of both medicine and union with modem science and chinese pharmacy. 3. It is the long term and great project. So its important study field is illness treatment and cure, oriental medical remedy and theory, acupuncture and moxibution etc. 4. It makes steady progress in all the healthy medical field. It has studied its foundation, the education of medical staffs, scientific study and strengthening of skill management considerably. 5. The products are the development of new chinese medicines and many researches about traditional chinese medical science. In brief, the integration of chinese and western medical science is the historical stream. Besides it will contribute toward the cure and prevention of human illness for future 21 century.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.227-243
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• 2017

This study aims to explore older adults' experiences on cognitive and physical barriers and emotional changes of interactions from their health information seeking. Total of 10 older adults aged 65 or more were individually interviewed. The results show that the older adults may experience more difficulty from the perspectives on cognitive and physical barriers. The cognitive barriers are to: 1) know information resource and information search skills, 2) to choose relevant information, and 3) to know information search tools. The physical barriers for them to consider are eyes, hands, legs, and the whole body when accessing health information. In terms of emotion, the older adults express curiosity and negative emotion and at the beginning of the search and then they have more emotional expressions in the middle, and then they express positive emotion at the end of the search. The results suggest that information professionals should consider library as a connection to help them reduce these barriers and stabilize emotional changes.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.629-636
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• 2013

Nowadays, many interface devices or training systems have been developed with recent developments in IT technology but only a few training systems for developmentally disabled people have been introduced. In this paper, we present a real-time, interactional and situational training system based on augmented reality in order to improve cognitive capability and adaptive ability in the daily life of developmentally disabled people. Our system is specifically based on serving food in restaurants. This augmented reality based system provides them to experience various different situations safely and take the training session as much as they want under any circumstances. When they use our system, they are able to look around with Head Mounted Display(HMD) and take training sessions easily based on various situational scenarios. After experimenting on our system for 3 months, we found they had no aversion about wearing HMD and learned quicker as they practiced over and over and improved their cognitive capability and adaptive ability. We also got a positive feedback that it had an excellent educational value from teachers in special-education-school.