• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.1801-1810
• /
• 2016

Recent discovery showing the presence of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the circulation sparked interest in their use as potential biomarkers. Our previous studies showed the diagnostic potential of miR-451 as a serological marker for inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), miR-337-5p and miR-30b for non-inflammatory breast cancer (non-IBC). The aim of this study is to investigate the prognostic values of circulating miRNAs by comparing the amounts of 12 circulating miRNAs in the serum of IBC and non-IBC from Tunisian breast cancer patients, and by determinating whether correlated pairs of miRNAs could provide useful information in the diagnosis of IBC and non-IBC patients. TaqMan qPCR was performed to detect circulating expression of miRNAs in serum of 20 IBC, 20 non-IBC and 20 healthy controls. Nonparametric rank Spearman rho correlation coefficient was used to examine the prognostic value of miRNAs and to assess the correlation profile between miRNAs expression. Further, a large number of miRNAs were highly correlated (rho>0.5) in both patients groups and controls. Also, the correlations profiles were different between IBC, non-IBC and healthy controls indicating important changes in molecular pathways in cancer cells. Our results showed that miR-335 was significantly overexpressed in premenopausal non-IBC patients; miR-24 was significantly overexpressed in non-IBC postmenopausal patients. Patients with previous parity had higher serum of miR-342-5p levels than those without. Furthermore, patients with HER2+ IBC present lower serum levels of miR-15a than patients with HER2-disease. Together, these results underline the potential of miRNAs to function as diagnostic and prognostic markers for IBC and non-IBC, with links to the menopausal state, Her2 status and parity.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.41-47
• /
• 2012

Background: This study was designed to investigate the correlation between electromyography (EMG) activities in the vastus medialis oblique (VMO) vs vastus lateralis (VL) activity ratio and the valgus collapse knee position while stepping down. Methods: Twenty healthy women volunteered to participate in this study. We measured the frontal-plane projections of the knee valgus angle, knee valgus distance, and hip adduction angle by using a digital camcorder. After 3 repetitions of the step down (dominant side) exercise, the findings of the static and dynamic phases were analyzed. EMG activities data of the VMO:VL activity ratio were recorded during the step down exercise and were normalized to the maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) of the quadriceps. A paired t-test was used to compare the findings of the static and dynamic phases. We analyzed the Spearman's rank order correlation coefficient between the and VMO:VL ratio. Results: Hip adduction angle, knee valgus angle, VMO activity, VL activity, VMO:VL activity ratio were statistically higher in the dynamic phase than in the static phase (p<.05). Frontal-plane projections of knee valgus angle were significantly correlated with hip adduction angle (r=.459, p<.05) and knee valgus distance (r=.505, p<.05). However, the EMG activity ratio of the VMO and the VL did not show a significant change during step down exercise with respect to hip adduction angle (p=.875), knee valgus angle (p=.618), and knee valgus distance (p=.701). Conclusion: The results from this study indicate that frontal-plane projections of knee valgus angle were associated with hip adduction angle and knee valgus distance. On the basis of these results, the knee valgus distance may be used to determine the valgus collapse knee position while stepping down.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
• /
• v.46 no.2
• /
• pp.72-83
• /
• 2016

Purpose: The goal of this study was to evaluate the long-term success of horizontal alveolar crest augmentation of the retromolar region of the mandible with particulated bone, as well as factors affecting subsequent peri-implant bone loss. Methods: A total of 109 patients (68 female, 41 male) suffering from alveolar ridge deficiencies of the maxilla and mandible were included in this study. All patients were treated with particulated retromolar bone grafts from the mandible prior to the insertion of endosseous dental implants. Mesial and distal peri-implant crestal bone changes were assessed at six time points. Several parameters, including implant survival and the influence of age, gender, localisation of the implant, diameter, covering procedures, and time points of implant placement, were analysed to identify associations with bone level changes using the Mann-Whitney U-test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman's rank-order correlation coefficient. Results: A total of 164 dental implants were placed in the maxilla (n=97) and in the mandible (n=67). The mean observation period was $105.26{\pm}21.58$ months after implantation. The overall survival rate was 97.6% after 10 years. Overall, peri-implant bone loss was highest during the first year, but decreased over time. The mean amount of bone loss after 10 years was 2.47 mm mesially and 2.50 mm distally. Bone loss was significantly influenced by implant type and primary stability. Conclusions: The use of particulated autologous retromolar bone grafts is a reliable technique for the horizontal reconstruction of local alveolar ridge deficiencies. Our results demonstrate that implants placed in augmented bone demonstrated similar bone level changes compared to implants inserted in non-augmented regions.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.76-90
• /
• 1999

This study was performed 1) to compare the nature of the synchronized behaviors in mother-child plays between autistic and normal groups quantitatively and qualitatively and 2) to identify the behavioral data to improve synchrony. The subjects were consisted of 20 mother-child pairs, 10 for each autistic group(AG) and normal group(NG). The developmental age of two groups was under 24 months old and equally matched. Data were collected by video-taped mother-child free play and analyzed with Wilcoxon Rank Sign(Sum) Test, Spearman Correlation Coefficient, Scheffe's Test, and Content Analysis. The score on synchronized behaviors of AG was significantly lower than that of NG(p<.05). As time progressed, the difference was much higher between the 2 groups. And the structure of motherchild plays in AG was poor and most of the interactions were discontinued as 1 or 2 episodes. On the other hand, mother-child plays in NG were enriched and became somewhat like game or play. The score of mother's growth-fostering nurturing behaviors showed positive relation to synchrony and much highly related to the group of 16 months-old or above. Mother's laughing and patting responses and pausing to get the child's initiative were especially related highly to synchronized behaviors. In conclusion, these mother's growth-fostering nurturing behaviors should be stressed at the mother-child interactions and also well structured therapeutic play with considering in children's developmental level should be given.

• Information Systems Review
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.139-154
• /
• 2006

Recommender systems help users find their interesting items more easily or provide users with meaningful items based on their preferences. Collaborative filtering(CF) recommender systems, the most successful recommender system, use opinions of users to recommend for an active user who needs recommendation. That is, ratings which users have voted on items to indicate preference on them are the source for making recommendation. Although CF systems are designed only to use users' preferences as the source of recommendation, use of some available information is believed to increase both the performance and the accuracy of CF systems. In this paper, we propose a CF recommender system which utilizes both degree of match and demographic information(e.g., occupation, gender, age) to increase the performance and the accuracy. Since more and more information is accumulated in CF systems, it is important to reduce the data volume while maintaining the same or the higher level of accuracy. We used both degree of match and demographic information as criteria for reducing the data volume, thereby naturally enhancing the performance. It is shown that using degree of match improves the prediction accuracy too in CF systems and also that using some demographic information also results in better accuracy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.24
• /
• pp.10905-10909
• /
• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of FNA-Tg for detecting lymph node metastases in patients with a history of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Materials and Methods: A total of 58 patients with DTC diagnosis and evidence of single or multiple suspicious cervical lymph nodes were assessed. All underwent total or near-total thyroidectomy with (35 cases) or without (23 cases) radioiodine (RAI) ablation, followed by thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) suppression therapy. A total of 68 lymph nodes were examined by ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (US-FNA) for both cytological examination and FNA-Tg measurement. Serum Tg and anti-thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) levels were also measured. Diagnostic performance including sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of FNAC and FNA-Tg were calculated and compared. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to estimate the relationship between FNA-Tg and serum TgAb. Results: The FNA-Tg levels were significantly higher with DTC metastatic lymph nodes (median 927.7 ng/mL, interquartile range 602.9 ng/mL) than non-metastatic lymph nodes (median 0.1 ng/mL, interquartile range 0.4 ng/mL) (p<0.01). Considering 1.0 ng/mL as a threshold value for FNA-Tg, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV and NPV of FNA-Tg were 95.7%, 95.5%, 95.6%, 97.8% and 91.3%, respectively. The sensitivity and accuracy of the combination of FNAC and FNA-Tg were significantly higher than that of FNAC alone (p<0.05). The diagnostic performance of FNA-Tg was not significantly different between cases with or without RAI ablation, and the serum TgAb levels did not interfere with FNA-Tg measurements. Conclusions: Measurement of FNA-Tg is useful. The combination of FNAC and FNA-Tg is more sensitive and accurate for detecting lymph node metastases in patients with a history of DTC than FNAC alone. Serum TgAbs appear to be irrelevant for measurement of FNA-Tg.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.284-295
• /
• 2012

Purpose: This study was done to clarify effects of bispectral index monitoring sedative administration, compared to MOAA/S (Modified Observer's Assessment of Alertness and Sedation), on conscious sedation, physiological stability and recovery time for patients undergoing endoscopic submucosal dissection. Methods: Participants In this study were patients who underwent endoscopic submucosal dissection because of early gastric cancer. Participants were assigned randomly to an experimental group receiving sedatives based on bispectral index monitoring or to a control group with the MOAA/S instrument. Movements, belching, memory, pain, discomfort, physiological stability (MBP, PR, $SpO_2$), and recovery time were measured during the treatment and recovery. Data were analyzed using Spearman partial correlation coefficient analysis, Mixed model and Wilcoxon rank sum test to determine differences in the parameters. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups for conscious sedation(movement, belching, memory, pain, or discomfort), physiological stability and recovery time. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that no differences were found between the two types of monitoring. Thus, use of a bispectral index monitor in clinical practice enabling medical staff to readily assess the conscious sedation of for these patients is expected to be increasingly used as an objective assessment tool for conscious sedation for patient safety.

• The Journal of Korean society of community based occupational therapy
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.11-21
• /
• 2018

Objective : Migration can be a stressful process to people because they have to adjust a lot of things including habits, routine and cultural behavior. Also, Migrant can negatively impact on participation in daily meaningful occupations. Thus, the purpose of this research is to investigate whether participation in meaningful occupations after immigration and environmental factors impact the QOL in migrant women. Method : Migrant females who live in Australia were invited to participate in the study (n= 9). In this study, participation, environmental factors and QOL were measured using the questionnaire, which was developed by researchers. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants who were then asked to fill out a survey. Both quantitative data and qualitative data were collected. The SPSS program was used to process the quantitative data that was transcribed and coded. Result : Spearman's rank correlation coefficient shows that the total scale of QOL and the total scale of occupational engagement were significantly correlated at the 0.05 level. Conclusion : There was a significant relationship between quality of life and occupational engagements. Migrant women tend to have a lack of participation in meaning occupations thus, it seems to impact on their quality of life.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.41-51
• /
• 2019

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of virtual reality-based activities of daily living (ADL) training on ADL and rehabilitative motivation in patients with traumatic brain injury. Methods : This study was performed using a pre-post design with seven traumatically brain injured patients. Subjects were subjected to virtual reality-based ADL training for 30 minutes a day, 2 to 3 times a week for 4 weeks. Evaluation was conducted before and after the intervention using the Korean Modified Barthel Index (K-MBI), Cognitive Functional Independence Measure (C-FIM), and Volitional Questionnaire (VQ). Changes before and after intervention were analyzed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and correlations were analyzed using Spearman's coefficient. Results : After intervention, patients with traumatic brain injury showed significant improvements in K-MBI (p<.05). There was no significant change in total C-FIM score and VQ score (p>.05). Total C-FIM score correlated significantly with VQ score (p<.05, r=.755). The social cognition domain of C-FIM had a significant correlation with VQ score (p<.05, r=826). Conclusions : Virtual reality-based ADL training can improve ADL performance, but further research is needed to determine whether improvements in social cognition and rehabilitative motivation are possible.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.12-21
• /
• 2019

Objectives This study was aimed to evaluate the one-year test-retest reliability of the Korea Sasang constitutional diagnostic questionnaire (KS-15) in university students. Methods In March 2017, and March 2018, a survey was sent by email to 583 Korean medicine students in two universities. Of these, 149 (25.6%) participated and completed the first survey (test) and second survey (retest). Participants responded to the KS-15 questionnaire and the general characteristics including their age, sex, height, and weight. Cohen's kappa Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and agreement rate (%) were used for the test-retest reliability for each question item and the diagnosis of the Sasang constitution. The independent T-test was used to determine the difference in BMI between Sasang constitutional accordance and discordance groups obtained from the test-retest results of KS-15. Results The agreement of Sasang constitutional diagnosis was 75.8% (Kappa = 0.618), indicating that KS-15 had a certain level (substantial) of test-retest reliability. However, the kappa of each item was 0.161 ~ 0.620, which showed a large difference between the items. The agreements of each Sasang constitution were 85.1% for Taeeumin, 73.6% for Soeumin, and 58.6% for Soyangin. There was no significant difference in the BMI change between Sasang constitutional accordance and discordance groups in the test-retest. Conclusions These results indicate KS-15 has a reliable one-year test-retest reliability. However, further studies will be required to improve reliability, validity and application across different age ranges for the practical utilization of KS-15.