• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2024

Despite improvements in vaccine coverage, a resurgence of measles has been reported, especially in the infant and adult populations in recent years. We conducted a systematic review of seroprevalence studies conducted in the Western Pacific Region (WPR) to provide insights into seropositivity trends in different countries. This systematic review aimed to collect data from all available measles seroprevalence studies to characterize the differences in population immunity against measles in different countries. We searched the online databases PubMed and Embase to identify: 1) observational studies that investigated seroprevalence in all age groups, and 2) results reported as antibody levels. The following variables were extracted from different study arms: paper identification (title, first author, publication year), inclusion and exclusion criteria, study site, age of subjects, number of subjects, country/area, population, methods, and seropositivity (%). The search yielded a total of 69 studies included in the review. Among the 1-6-year-old group, seropositivity remained relatively high, at 81-100% in China, 86-94% in Korea, and 77-91% in Australia. In adolescents aged 7-18-years old, seropositivity was relatively constant in China and Australia over time; however, a decreasing trend was noted in Korea in 2011 (66%), 2014 (69%), and 2014 (50%) in this age group. A similar downward trend was observed among Korean adults aged 19-39 years in 2011 (74%), 2019 (71%), and 2019 (64%). Children are likely to be protected by universal vaccination programs in WPR countries and regions. However, susceptible individuals with waned immunity may be present among the adult population.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.27-40
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• 2024

Objective : This study aimed to conduct a systematic review of the assessment tools used to assess the housing environment of older adults. Methods : Data were collected from January 2015 to August 31st, 2023, by searching databases including the Cochrane Library, PubMed, and ProQuest. From the 267 articles, nine assessment tools were selected for analysis based on their original instruments. These tools were categorized and systematically organized for analysis based on their frequency of use, assessment purposes, sub-domains, scales, and other relevant criteria. Results : Among the nine tools, HOME FAST and IPAQ-E were the most frequently used (20% each). The objectives of these tools are to assess friendliness, physical barriers, fall prevention, dementia-friendly environments, physical activity, and accessibility. The measurement scope encompassed various factors, such as outdoor spaces, buildings, transportation, housing, and community support. Conclusion : When considering the suitability of housing for the older adults population, providing foundational data for the rational selection of evaluation tools with logical validity is important. This includes factors such as the objectives and measurement scopes of housing environment assessment tools.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1857-1863
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• 2015

Background: Alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase(AMACR) is thought to play key roles in diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer. However, studies of associations between AMACR gene polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk reported inconsistent results. Therefore, we conducted the present meta-analysis to clarify the link between AMACR gene polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk. Materials and Methods: A literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang and Weipu databases. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated to assess the strength of any association between AMACR polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk. Subgroup analyses by ethnicity, source of controls, quality control and sample size were also conducted. Results: Five studies covering 3,313 cases and 3,676 controls on five polymorphisms (D175G, M9V, S201L, K277E and Q239H) were included in this meta-analysis. Significant associations were detected between prostate cancer and D175G (dominant model: OR=0.89, 95%CI=0.80-0.99, P=0.04) and M9V (dominant model: OR=0.87, 95%CI=0.78-0.97, P=0.01) polymorphisms as well as that in subgroup analyses. We also observed significant decreased prostate cancer risk in the dominant model (OR=0.90, 95%CI=0.81-0.99, P=0.04) for the S201L polymorphism. However, K277E and Q239H polymorphisms did not appear to be related to prostate cancer risk. Conclusions: The current meta-analysis indicated that D175G and M9V polymorphisms of the AMACR gene are related to prostate cancer. The S201L polymorphism might also be linked with prostate cancer risk to some extent. However, no association was observed between K277E or Q239H polymorphisms and susceptibility to prostate cancer.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.18-23
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• 2002

Efficiency estimation of toxicity free resistance cable experiments were conducts to understand toxicity free fire ersistance polyolefin insulation material and smoke density characteristic and combustion gas corrosion analysis. A main cause of fire-growth and generating toxic gas when it burns, should be dealt with great care in life safety design. Similar patterned fire incidents such as, Inchon Live-Hof Pub Restaurant as, Sea-land Children Resort have proven that serious loss of lives were caused by hazardous gas generated fire resistance cable materials. In this paper, Referenced documents were ASTM E662 standard test method for specific Ds genalated by solid materials. The furnace control system shall maintain the required irradiance level under steady-state condition with the chamber door closed of 2.5$\pm40.04〔w/$\textrm{cm}^2$〕for 20 min. According to the results of the smoke density analysis of NFR-8 and FR-PVC the highest decomposition flaming smoke density range of NFR-8 and FR-PVC were 25.2 to 37.5 and 51.1 respectively. Nonflaming smoke density range of NFR-8 and FR-PVC were 100.4 to 112.2 and 126.5 to 398.8. Also, the fire gases was occurred carbon monoxide and decomposition than in polyolefin due to incomplete combustion of PVC which has high content of carbon in chemical compound.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5317-5324
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• 2014

Polymorphisms in the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene may influence the risk of cancer, but the results are still debatable. Therefore, we performed a systematic review to provide a more complete picture and conducted a meta-analysis to derive a precise estimation. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, EBSCO, Google Scholar and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases until April 2014 to identify eligible studies. Thirty-one studies with cancer patients and controls were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, the polled analysis revealed that the T-786C polymorphism was significantly associated with increased cancer risk under multiple genetic models (C vs T: OR=1.135, 95%CI=1.048-1.228; CC vs TT: OR=1.278, 95%CI=1.045-1.562; TC vsTT: OR=1.136, 95%CI=1.023-1.261; CC+TC vs TT: OR=1.159, 95%CI=1.047-1.281; CC vs TC+TT: OR=1.204, 95%CI= 1.003-1.447). G894T was associated with significant risk for females (TT vs GG: OR=1.414, 95%CI=1.056-1.892; TT vs GT+GG: OR=1.356, 95%CI=1.108-1.661) and for breast cancer (T vs G: OR=1.097, 95%CI=1.001-1.203; TT vs GG: OR=1.346, 95%CI=1.012-1.789; TT vs GT+GG: OR=1.269, 95%CI=1.028-1.566). Increased susceptibility was revealed for prostate cancer with 4a/b (ba vs bb: OR=1.338, 95%CI=1.013-1.768; aa+ba vs bb: OR=1.474, 95%CI=1.002-2.170). This meta-analysis indicated that the eNOS T-786C polymorphism is associated with elevated cancer risk; the G894T polymorphism contributes to susceptibility to breast cancer and cancer generally in females; and the 4a/b polymorphism may be associated with prostate cancer risk.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.41.1-41.13
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• 2019

Objectives: This paper presents a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of preheating on the hardness of nanofilled, nanoceramic, nanohybrid, and microhybrid resin composites. Materials and Methods: An electronic search of papers on MEDLINE/PubMed, ScienceDirect, and EBSCOhost was performed. Only in vitro studies were included. Non-English studies, case reports, clinical trials, and review articles were excluded. A meta-analysis of the reviewed studies was conducted to quantify differences in the microhardness of the Z250 microhybrid resin composite using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Results: Only 13 studies met the inclusion criteria for this systematic review. The meta-analysis showed that there were significant differences between the non-preheated and preheated modes for both the top and bottom surfaces of the specimens (p < 0.05). The microhardness of the Z250 resin composite on the top surface in the preheated mode (78.1 ± 2.9) was higher than in the non-preheated mode (67.4 ± 4.0; p < 0.001). Moreover, the microhardness of the Z250 resin composite on the bottom surface in the preheated mode (71.8 ± 3.8) was higher than in the non-preheated mode (57.5 ± 5.7, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Although the results reported in the reviewed studies showed great variability, sufficient scientific evidence was found to support the hypothesis that preheating can improve the hardness of resin composites.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2017

Gastric cancer (GC) has high mortality owing to its aggressive nature. Tumor angiogenesis plays an essential role in the growth, invasion, and metastatic spread of GC. The aim of this work was to review the angiogenic biomarkers related to the behavior of GC, documented in the literature. A search of the PubMed database was conducted with the MeSH terms: "Stomach neoplasms/blood [MeSH] or stomach neoplasms/blood supply [MeSH] and angiogenic proteins/blood [Major]". A total of 30 articles were initially collected, and 4 were subsequently excluded. Among the 26 articles collected, 16 examined the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), 4 studied endostatin, 3 investigated angiopoietin (Ang)-2, 2 studied the Ang-like protein 2 (ANGTPL2), and 1 each examined interleukin (IL)-12, IL-8, and hypoxia inducible factor. Regarding VEGF, 6 articles concluded that the protein was related to lymph node metastasis or distant metastases. Five articles concluded that VEGF levels were elevated in the presence of GC and decreased following tumor regression, suggesting that VEGF levels could be a predictor of recurrence. Four articles concluded that high VEGF levels were correlated with poor prognosis and lower survival rates. Ang-2 and ANGTPL2 were elevated in GC and associated with more aggressive disease. Endostatin was associated with intestinal GC. VEGF is the most extensively studied angiogenic factor. It is associated with the presence of neoplastic disease and lymph node metastasis. It appears to be a good biomarker for disease progression and remission, but not for diagnosis. The data regarding other biomarkers are inconclusive.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.9-16
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• 2018

Objective : The aim of this research was to provide EEG (electroencephalogram) basic data in clinical areas through identifying measurement tools, measurement methods, and evaluation and analysis method of the EEG which is a neurological change measurement of patients with brain injury. Methods : Previous studies were found in an electronic database (e.g., PubMed, Science Direct). The keyword search terms were 'Electroencephalography', 'stroke', 'intervention OR training'. Results : Utilitizing brain-computer interface, the EEG, which is a tool for measuring the effects of rehabilitation through changes of brain activation state. Also, it could identify functional brain reorganization mechanism. Whenever a research utilized the EEG, which is composed of various channels, different types of electrode, and varied electrode locations. Conclusions : Through this review, we found that Electroencephalography is possible to neurologically verify the effectiveness of intervention and formulate an intervention strategy for efficient occupational therapy.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.5993-6000
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to analysis instruments, identify relevant factors and analyze the effect size of intervention studies in reference to adherence among hemodialysis patients. Electronic literature searches were conducted for PubMed, CINAH, RISS, Naver academic, KISS, NDSL, Nanet, Kci, DBpia and KoreaMed. Of 437 studies identified, 37 met inclusion criteria, and 5 were used to estimate effect size. As a results, total of 11 original instruments were found, 61 factors were considered as relevant factors for adherence. Types of intervention were individual education program, self-care program using SMS, E-mail, or telephone counseling, supportive care program and drug education program. The effect size using random model effect was high (d=1.04, 95% CI: 0.60, 1.49, p<.00001).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9615-9619
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• 2014

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare, aggressive form of breast cancer which is more likely to be her-2/neu amplified. While the her-2/neu status has been utilised to predict prognosis, the published data are inconsistent. The present meta-analysis was conducted to determine whether the her-2/neu status predicts outcomes. Papers were selected from the PubMed database based on defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Parameters such as total patients, follow-up time and outcome statistics (i.e. overall survival (OS), relapse-free survival (RFS) were collected. The analysis included 6 studies with 2,838 IBC patients. The summary hazards ratio (HR) estimating the association of OS with HER-2-positive disease was 0.96 (95% confidence interval (95%CI: 0.85-1.10)), with similar findings for RFS (HR=0.81, 95%CI: 0.61-1.09). No obvious statistical heterogeneity was detected. This meta-analysis suggests that HER-2-positive status is not an independent adverse prognostic factor for survival among IBC patient cases.