• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.3793-3796
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• 2016

Background: Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the leading causes of death, especially in developed countries. The human development index (HDI) and its dimensions seem correlated with incidence and mortality rates of PC. This study aimed to assess the association of the specific components of HDI (life expectancy at birth, education, gross national income per 1000 capita, health, and living standards) with burden indicators of PC worldwide. Materials and Methods: Information of the incidence and mortality rates of PC was obtained from the GLOBOCAN cancer project in year 2012 and data about the HDI 2013 were obtained from the World Bank database. The correlation between incidence, mortality rates, and the HDI parameters were assessed using STATA software. Results: A significant inequality of PC incidence rates was observed according to concentration indexes=0.25 with 95% CI (0.22, 0.34) and a negative mortality concentration index of -0.04 with 95% CI (-0.09, 0.01) was observed. Conclusions: A positive significant correlation was detected between the incidence rates of PC and the HDI and its dimensions including life expectancy at birth, education, income, urbanization level and obesity. However, there was a negative significant correlation between the standardized mortality rates and the life expectancy, income and HDI.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.227-235
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• 2018

PURPOSE. Implant site preparation may be adjusted to achieve the maximum possible primary stability. The aim of this investigation was to study the relation among bone-to-implant contact at insertion, bone density, and implant primary stability intra-operatively measured by a torque-measuring implant motor, when implant sites were undersized or tapped. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Undersized (n=14), standard (n=13), and tapped (n=13) implant sites were prepared on 9 segments of bovine ribs. After measuring bone density using the implant motor, 40 implants were placed, and their primary stability assessed by measuring the integral of the torque-depth insertion curve. Bovine ribs were then processed histologically, the bone-to-implant contact measured and statistically correlated to bone density and the integral. RESULTS. Bone-to-implant contact and the integral of the torque-depth curve were significantly greater for undersized sites than tapped sites. Moreover, a correlation between bone to implant contact, the integral and bone density was found under all preparation conditions. The slope of the bone-to-implant/density and integral/density lines was significantly greater for undersized sites, while those corresponding to standard prepared and tapped sites did not differ significantly. CONCLUSION. The integral of the torque-depth curve provided reliable information about bone-to-implant contact and primary implant stability even in tapped or undersized sites. The linear relations found among the parameters suggests a connection between extent and modality of undersizing and the corresponding increase of the integral and, consequently, of primary stability. These results might help the physician determine the extent of undersizing needed to achieve the proper implant primary stability, according to the planned loading protocol.

• Carbon letters
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• v.28
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• pp.87-95
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• 2018

This study examined the influence of operating parameters on the electrosorptive recovery system of lithium ions from aqueous solutions using a spinel-type lithium manganese oxide adsorbent electrode and investigated the electrosorption kinetics and isotherms. The results revealed that the electrosorption data of lithium ions from the lithium containing aqueous solution were well-fitted to the Langmuir isotherm at electrical potentials lower than -0.4 V and to the Freundlich isotherm at electrical potentials higher than -0.4 V. This result may due to the formation of a thicker electrical double layer on the surface of the electrode at higher electrical potentials. The results showed that the electrosorption reached equilibrium within 200 min under an electrical potential of -1.0 V, and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was correlated with the experimental data. Moreover, the adsorption of lithium ions was dependent on pH and temperature, and the results indicate that higher pH values and lower temperatures are more suitable for the electrosorptive adsorption of lithium ions from aqueous solutions. Thermodynamic results showed that the calculated activation energy of $22.61kJ\;mol^{-1}$ during the electrosorption of lithium ions onto the adsorbent electrode was primarily controlled by a physical adsorption process. The recovery of adsorbed lithium ions from the adsorbent electrode reached the desorption equilibrium within 200 min under reverse electrical potential of 3.5 V.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.10-16
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• 2001

Purpose: The p53 protein is a tumor supressor gene, and its mutation is associated with biologic aggressiveness. CD44v6, one of the CD44 family, is a cell surface glycoprotein that plays a role in cancer invasion and metastasis. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is another recently identified growth factor with significant angiogenic properties. The purpose of this study was to investigate p53, CD44v6, and VEGF expressions to determine whether degree of expression was related to pathological parameters such as Lauren's classification, depth of invasion, and lymph node metastasis. Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemical stains of p53, CD44v6, and VEGF in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections of 125 gastric adenocarcinomas were done. Results: The overall expression rates of p53, CD44v6, and VEGF were $54.4\%$ (68/125), $36.8\%$ (46/125), and $48.0\%$ (60/125), respectively. The p53, not CD44v6 and VEGF was higher in intestinal-type gastric carcinomas by Lauren's classification. The expressions of p53, CD44v6, and VEGF were statistically correlated with depth of tumor invasion. The expression of CD44v6 was higher in the lymph node metastatic group than in the negative group. The p53 expression was significantly associated with VEGF expression. Conclusions: These data suggest that the expressions of p53, CD44v6, and VEGF are biologically related to malignancy. The p53 and CD44v6 expressions are independent; however, p53 gene mutation is one of the contributing factors to VEGF expression in gastric adenocarcinoma.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.337-349
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• 1997

The prognosis of maintenance hemodialysis (HD) patients is closely related to their nutritional status. It is important to develop and use of a reliable, useful and easy method of nutritional assessment scale for evaluation of nutritional status and progression of the patients. This study was initiated to evaluate the clinical usefulness of Instant Nutritional Assessment Scale(INAS) by cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. One hundred HD patients entered a continuing nutritional study and followed for 1 year. The results were as follow ; 1. 24% of patients was normal to mild, 43% was moderate and 33% was severe deficit of nutritional status. 2. The mean INAS score of the patients was 8.00(S. D.=2.83), and there didn't reveal any differences in INAS score by general characteristics. The mean transferrin score was 1.98, whih was the highest of 5 nutirtional parameters of INAS. Only 7 patients had within nomal range of transferrin concentration. 3. Within one year since this study was initiated, 10 patients died. Six of them were with severe deficit and one of them was normal to mild deficit groups. The death rate in severe deficit group was higher than that of normal to mild deficit group (P=.0640). 4. Occurrence of acute complication during HD in severe deficit guoup was higher than that of normal to mild deficit group(P=.001). 5. The number of consultation to the doctor and hospital admission in severe deficit group was higher than that of normal to mild deficit group(P=.0001). 6. INAS score was significantly correlated with occurrence of acute complications during HD and the number of consultation to the doctor. In conclusion, INAS based on the levels of body mass index, midarm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, transferrin concentration and total lymphocyte count seems to be a reliable predictive nutritional index for prognosis. So nurses are encouraged to adopt INAS in care of the chronically illed patients. Recommendations for further research was suggested.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.165-173
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• 2010

Soil respiration ($R_S$) is a critical component of the annual carbon balance of forests, but few studies thus far have attempted to evaluate empirical regression models in $R_S$. The principal objectives of this study were to evaluate the relationship between $R_S$ rates and soil temperature (ST) and soil water content (SWC) in soil from a cool-temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest, and to evaluate empirical regression models for the prediction of $R_S$ using ST and SWC. We have been measuring $R_S$, using an open-flow gas-exchange system with an infrared gas analyzer during the snowfree season from 1999 to 2001 at the Takayama Forest, Japan. To evaluate the empirical regression models used for the prediction of $R_S$, we compared a simple exponential regression (flux = $ae^{bt}$Eq. [1]) and two polynomial multiple-regression models (flux = $ae^{bt}{\times}({\theta}{\nu}-c){\times}(d-{\theta}{\nu})^f:$ Eq. [2] and flux = $ae^{bt}{\times}(1-(1-({\theta}{\nu}/c))^2)$: Eq. [3]) that included two variables (ST: t and SWC: ${\theta}{\nu}$) and that utilized hourly data for $R_S$. In general, daily mean $R_S$ rates were positively well-correlated with ST, but no significant correlations were observed with any significant frequency between the ST and $R_S$ rates on periods of a day based on the hourly $R_S$ data. Eq. (2) has many more site-specific parameters than Eq. (3) and resulted in some significant underestimation. The empirical regression, Eq. (3) was best explained by temporal variations, as it provided a more unbiased fit to the data compared to Eq. (2). The Eq. (3) (ST $\times$ SWC function) also increased the predictive ability as compared to Eq. (1) (only ST exponential function), increasing the $R^2$ from 0.71 to 0.78.

• ALGAE
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.83-87
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• 2002

Photosynthetic parameters of Scendesmus quadricauda, such as the maximum photosynthetic rate ($P_{max}$), photosynthetic efficiency (α) and the initial saturation intensity of irradiance for photosynthesis ($I_K$) were obtained using photosynthesis-irradiance (P-I) curve in a phosphorus-limited chemostat. S. quadricauda exhibitied no photoinhibition until at 200 μmol·$m^{-2}$ . $P_{max}$ (r=0.963, P=0.002) and $I_K$(r=0.904, P=0.013) showed linear relationships with growth rate. Chlorophyll-α concentration and cell dry weight decreased at higher growth rates, ut chlorophyll-α content per cell dry weight increased. The increase in photosynthetic rates at higher growth rates was due to the increase of $P_{max}$ and $I_K$ which was caused mainly by the increase in the absolute amount of chlorophyll-α rather than the increased photosynthetic efficiency of individual chlorphyll-α. The α did not show a significant relationship with growth rate (r=0.714, P=0.111). The cell quota of carbon (r=0.554, P=0.254) was not correlated with growth rate, but cell quota of nitrogen (r=0.818, P=0.047) and phosphorus (r=0.855, P=0.030) exhibited linear correlations with growth rate.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2017

Objective: Azoospermia owing to testicular disorders is the most severe manifestation of male infertility. The main concern for patients with nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA) is the probability of successful sperm retrieval following testicular sperm extraction (TESE). Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine predictive factors correlated with sperm retrieval. Methods: We assessed the testicular histopathological patterns, the choice of TESE surgical procedure, hormone levels, and chromosomal abnormalities in patients with NOA (n=170). The histopathology specimens were analyzed based on the histopathological patterns of hypospermatogenesis, maturation arrest, and Sertoli cell-only syndrome. Results: The mean rate of sperm retrieval was 48.8%. The rate of sperm retrieval was significantly higher in the hypospermatogenesis group than in the other groups (p<0.001). There was a positive correlation between micro-TESE (vs. conventional TESE) and the sperm retrieval rate (odds ratio, 8.077; p<0.01). A logistic regression model demonstrated that high levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and small testicular volume were significantly associated with lower chances of successful sperm retrieval. Conclusion: Some parameters, including testicular histopathology patterns, FSH levels, testicular volume, and method of TESE surgery, may be able to predict the chances of obtaining spermatozoa in patients with NOA. However, despite the efficiency of some predictive models, the hope of retrieving any functioning spermatozoa may be sufficient to disregard predictive factors of the success of intracytoplasmic sperm injection in these patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1557-1561
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• 2012

Objective: To investigate the promoter methylation status of the E-cadherin gene in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its association with clinical pathological parameters, and to explore the relationship between downregulation of E-cadherin gene expression and the methylation status of its promoter region. Methods: Nested methylation-specific PCR was performed to examine CpG methylation within the 5' CpG island of the E-cadherin gene in lung cancer and para-cancerous tissue from 37 patients with primary non-small cell lung cancer. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to measure the level of E-cadherin mRNA. Results: Of thirty-seven cases, 12 (32.4%) samples showed aberrant CpG methylation in tumor tissues compared with the corresponding normal tissues. In addition, a reduction in E-cadherin mRNA levels was observed in 11 of the 12 (91.7%) tumor tissues carrying a methylated E-cadherin gene. However, only 10 (43.5%) cases displayed reduced mRNA levels in tumor tissues from the remaining 23 cases (excluding 2 samples from which mRNA was unavailable) without methylation events. Downregulation of E-cadherin gene expression significantly correlated with the promoter methylation status of this gene. Conclusion: These results provide strong evidence that the methylation status of E-cadherin gene contributes to a reduction in the expression of E-cadherin mRNA, and may play a role in the development and progression of NSCLC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7781-7784
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• 2014

Background: The aims of this study were to investigate the utility of red blood cell distribution width (RDW) as a simple and readily available marker in prostate cancer, as well as to evaluate RDW as a predictor of progression in prostate cancer patients. Materials and Methods: We evaluated 62 newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients who underwent transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided biopsy and 62 healthy controls of mean age 64 (range, 45-75) years at the Urology Clinic of Bozok University Hospital. Data collection was performed using our laboratory information system database to retrieve findings regarding RDW, hemoglobin, prostatespecific antigen (PSA), and age. The RDW values were compared between the healthy control group and prostate cancer patients. A high risk of progression as defined as a Gleason score (GS) >6, total number of cores positive for cancer >33%, each core containing >50% cancer cells, and a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level >10 ng/mL. Patients were classified according to risk of progression, as well as divided into subgroups according to the RDW quartile. Results: The mean RDW value of prostate cancer patients was 14.6, compared with 13.7 in the healthy control group (p=0.001). A higher RDW was associated with an increased risk of progression, whereas a lower RDW value was correlated with a low risk of progression. Conclusions: RDW is an easily derived measure that might, in combination with other markers, help predict prostate cancer risk and progression. We suggest that RDW may be used in combination with other parameters in the assessment of prostate cancer.