• Acta Via Serica
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.87-100
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• 2023

Interaction between sedentary and nomadic cultural traditions has played an important role in the centuries-old history of applied arts in Uzbekistan. By the late 19th and early 20th century, driven by urbanization in the region and the gradual transition of nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples to sedentary lifestyles, many industries and traditional cultural forms of formerly nomadic ethnic groups disappeared. Nevertheless, their role in shaping the national cultural identity of the Uzbek people is great. This is true in relation to one of the largest ethnic groups in Uzbekistan, the Kungrats, whose applied art represents a unique, viable, and yet little-studied phenomenon in the national culture of Uzbekistan. The article reviews carpet weaving, one of their surviving crafts, exemplified by qiz-gilam, a unique type of rug made using a combined technique. This study helps to show the nature of historical and cultural interrelations in the carpet weaving of Central Asian peoples and their cultural contacts with the carpet art of neighboring regions more widely and objectively. An important theoretical result of this study is the creation of criteria and tools for identifying qiz-gilam carpets. This allows us to bring clarity to the yet undeveloped system of their identification in museum and gallery practice.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.1311-1337
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• 2010

This paper deals with one of the hottest debates in the history of the Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) since its inception in the late 1960s. In 1998 at Hawai'i, the AAAS awarded Lois-Ann Yamanaka its Fiction Award for her novel Blu's Hanging, only to have this award protested. The point at issue was the inappropriate representation of Filipino American characters called "Human Rats" in the novel. This event divided the association into two groups: one criticizing the novel for the problematic portrayal of Filipinos in colonial Hawai'i, and the other defending it from the criticism in the name of aesthetic freedom. Such a "crisis of representation" in Asian American identity reflects on the ways in which local Hawaiians are positioned in the complicate power dynamic between oppositional Hawaiian identity and cosmopolitan diasporic identity within the larger framework of Asian American pan-ethnic identity. The controversial event triggered the eruption of Asian Americans' anxiety over the identity-bounded nation of Asian America where intra-racial classism and conflict have been at play, which are primary themes of Blu's Hanging. This paper shows how Yamanaka's Blu's Hanging becomes so disturbing a work to prevent the hegemonic formality of Asian America identity from being fully dogmatic. Ultimately, it contradicts the political unconscious of the reading public and unmasked its false consciousness by engendering a "free subjective intervention" in the ideological reality of colonial Hawai'i.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.21
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• pp.9453-9458
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• 2014

Background: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death for women in the United States. Differences in survival of breast cancer have been noted among racial and ethnic groups, but the reasons for these disparities remain unclear. This study presents the characteristics and the survival curve of two racial and ethnic groups and evaluates the effects of race on survival times by measuring the lifetime data-based half-normal model. Materials and Methods: The distributions among racial and ethnic groups are compared using female breast cancer patients from nine states in the country all taken from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry. The main end points observed are: age at diagnosis, survival time in months, and marital status. The right skewed half-normal statistical probability model is used to show the differences in the survival times between black Hispanic (BH) and black non-Hispanic (BNH) female breast cancer patients. The Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard ratio are used to estimate and compare the relative risk of death in two minority groups, BH and BNH. Results: A probability random sample method was used to select representative samples from BNH and BH female breast cancer patients, who were diagnosed during the years of 1973-2009 in the United States. The sample contained 1,000 BNH and 298 BH female breast cancer patients. The median age at diagnosis was 57.75 years among BNH and 54.11 years among BH. The results of the half-normal model showed that the survival times formed positive skewed models with higher variability in BNH compared with BH. The Kaplan-Meir estimate was used to plot the survival curves for cancer patients; this test was positively skewed. The Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard ratio for survival analysis showed that BNH had a significantly longer survival time as compared to BH which is consistent with the results of the half-normal model. Conclusions: The findings with the proposed model strategy will assist in the healthcare field to measure future outcomes for BH and BNH, given their past history and conditions. These findings may provide an enhanced and improved outlook for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer patients in the United States.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.651-656
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• 2014

Background: Cervical cancer is the third commonest type of cancer among women in Malaysia. Our aim was to determine the distribution of human papilloma virus (HPV) genotypes in cervical cancer in our multi-ethnic population. Materials and Methods: This was a multicentre study with a total of 280 cases of cervical cancer from 4 referral centres in Malaysia, studied using real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) detection of 12 high risk-HPV genotypes. Results: Overall HPV was detected in 92.5% of cases, in 95.9% of squamous cell carcinomas and 84.3%of adenocarcinomas. The five most prevalent high-risk HPV genotypes were HPV 16 (68.2%), 18 (40%), 58 (10.7%), 33 (10.4%) and 52 (10.4%). Multiple HPV infections were more prevalent (55.7%) than single HPV infections (36.8%). The percentage of HPV positive cases in Chinese, Malays and Indians were 95.5%, 91.9% and 80.0%, respectively. HPV 16 and 18 genotypes were the commonest in all ethnic groups. We found that the percentage of HPV 16 infection was significantly higher in Chinese (75.9%) compared to Malays (63.7%) and Indians (52.0%) (p<0.05), while HPV 18 was significantly higher in Malays (52.6%) compared to Chinese (25.0%) and Indians (28%) (p<0.05). Meanwhile, HPV 33 (17.9%) and 52 (15.2%) were also more commonly detected in the Chinese (p<0.05). Conclusions: This study showed that the distribution of HPV genotype in Malaysia is similar to other Asian countries. Importantly, we found that different ethnic groups in Malaysia have different HPV genotype infection rates, which is a point to consider during the implementation of HPV vaccination.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.16
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• pp.7097-7101
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• 2015

Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is linked to Epstein Barr virus infection and is particularly common in the Far East, particularly among some Chinese groups. Certain ethnicities have been reported to have low incidence of NPC. This study looked at NPC in Brunei Darussalam over a three decade period. Materials and Methods: The cancer registry from 1986 to 2014 maintained by the State Laboratory was retrospectively reviewed. The age standardized rates (ASR) and the age specific incidence rates (ASIR) were calculated. Non NPC tumors were excluded from the study. Results: Altogether, there were a total of 450 NPC cases diagnosed accounting for 4.4% of all total cancer cases over the study period, declining from 10.3% in 1986-1990 to 2.3% in 2011-2014. The most common tumor type was the undifferentiated carcinoma (96.4%). The case characteristics were mean age $50.4{\pm}14.4$ years old, male 69%, and predominately Malays 74.4%, followed by Chinese 16.7%. The mean age of diagnosis increased over the study period from $45.6{\pm}17.1$ years (1986-1989) to $54.1{\pm}12.5$ years (ANOVA, p<0.01 for trend). There were no differences in the mean age of diagnosis between the ethnic groups or genders. The ASR showed a declining trend from 11.1 per 100,000 in 1986-1990 to 5.95 per 100,000 in 2011-2014, similar trends been observedfor both genders. Among the age groups, declining trends were seen in all the other age groups apart from the >70 years group. The overall ASRs for the Malays and Chinese were 7.92/100,000 and 8.83/100,000 respectively, both showing declining trends. Conclusions: The incidence of NPC in Brunei Darussalam is comparable to rates reported from Singapore and Malaysia, but higher than rates reported from the other Southeast Asian nations. Unlike higher rates reported for Chinese compared to the Malays in other countries, the rates between the Malays and Chinese in our study was comparable. Importantly, the ASR is declining overall and for both genders and ethnic groups.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.21
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• pp.9199-9202
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• 2014

Background: Kurdish women with breast cancer have more unfavorable prognostic factors than their Turkish and Arab counterparts. However, the effects of these factors on breast cancer survival among these ethnic groups remain unclear. We therefore investigated the impact of ethnicity on survival in breast cancer patients in Turkey. Materials and Methods: Ethnicity, age, stage at diagnosis, tumor characteristics, treatments given (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy), and survival times were recorded. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to estimate the overall survival times and survival plots. Log-rank test was used to compare the survival curves.Results: Of the 723 breast cancer patients included in the study, 496 (68.7%) were Turkish, 189 (26.2%) were Kurdish, 37 (5.1%) were Arabic and 1 was Armenian. Kurdish women with breast cancer had larger tumor sizes and higher rates of hormone receptor negative tumors than Turkish and Arab patients. Mean follow-up time was 118.4 [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 95.4-141.3] months, and it was 129.9 (95% CI: 93.7-166.2), 124.2 (95% CI: 108.4-140.1) and 103.1 (95% CI: 85.9-120.4) months for Turkish, Arabic and Kurdish patients, respectively. Conclusions: Kurdish ethnicity is associated with higher rates of hormone receptor negative and triple-negative tumors and with worse survival. Clinical and epidemiological research is warranted to elucidate reasons underlying overall survival, variations in tumor biology, differences in treatment responsiveness, and effects of social factors among ethnic groups in Turkey.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.594-606
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• 2015

Acculturation may manifest dietary behavioral changes of students from overseas. This study investigated the dietary attitudes, food intakes, and dietary behaviors of 121 Chinese college students residing in Busan, Korea. Using a focus group interview and structured survey, subjects were divided into two groups (SG, LG) based on their self-rated acculturation status. The SG (n=70) and LG (n=51) groups consisted of participants that had resided in Korea for shorter than 18 months versus 18 months or longer, respectively. The SG group was more likely to point out the taste of Korean foods as being too sweet, salty, and spicy but less greasy. A food frequency questionnaire was developed to assess normal intake of Korean ethnic, Chinese ethnic, and common foods. The LG group consumed more Korean foods such as rice cake, dried laver, and radish kimchi but less Chinese foods such as bread glue ball and kidney bean. The LG group consumed more salty and fatty foods and Korean liquors, whereas the SG group consumed more fruits and noodles. Based on the exploratory factor analysis, the SG group showed significantly higher scores for "dietary regularity" but lower scores for "indulgence of unhealthful food" factors. In summation, the LG group became more accustomed to Korean foods and adopted less desirable dietary behaviors compared with the SG group. Findings suggest that the residential period of Chinese college students may be associated with their self-rated acculturation status and food acculturation process, and therefore tailored nutrition education programs are needed to support Chinese students' healthier dietary behaviors and food acculturation process.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1687-1692
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• 2012

Background: Few studies have examined theoretically informed constructs related to hepatitis B (HBV) testing, and comparisons across studies are challenging due to lack of uniformity in constructs assessed. The present analysis examined relationships among Health Behavior Framework factors across four Asian American groups to advance the development of theory-based interventions for HBV testing in at-risk populations. Methods: Data were collected from 2007-2010 as part of baseline surveys during four intervention trials promoting HBV testing among Vietnamese-, Hmong-, Korean- and Cambodian-Americans (n = 1,735). Health Behavior Framework constructs assessed included: awareness of HBV, knowledge of transmission routes, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, doctor recommendation, stigma of HBV infection, and perceived efficacy of testing. Within each group we assessed associations between our intermediate outcome of knowledge of HBV transmission and other constructs, to assess the concurrent validity of our model and instruments. Results: While the absolute levels for Health Behavior Framework factors varied across groups, relationships between knowledge and other factors were generally consistent. This suggests similarities rather than differences with respect to posited drivers of HBV-related behavior. Discussion: Our findings indicate that Health Behavior Framework constructs are applicable to diverse ethnic groups and provide preliminary evidence for the construct validity of the Health Behavior Framework.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.75-81
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• 2004

Bone mineral density (BMD) is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Among genetic study; calcitonin receptor (CTR) gene is a good candidate influencing the inter-individual difference in BMD because CTR is involved in calcium and bone metabolism. Thus, we investigated the distribution of C1377T polymorphism in the CTR gene among male Korean elite athletic and control groups, respectively and also an association with BMD in lumbar spine and femoral neck. Our results suggested that this polymorphism of CTR gene was not significantly associated with lumbar spine or femoral neck BMDs in the both groups, respectively. However, we found that there was the racial difference in genotype distribution of this polymorphism between Caucasian and Asian populations. Though we could not detect the significant association between C1377T polymorphism of CTR gene and lumbar spine or femoral neck BMDs, further studies using other ethnic groups are necessary to clarify the precise role in BMD of CTR gene.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.163-192
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• 2002

Residential overcrowding, also called density, measured as more than one person per room, is a important variable as a principal indicator of inadequate housing. We investigated how immigrants in the US are assimilated to the host society through a lens of housing density. We estimated the probability of living in overcrowded housing of Korean, Chinese and Japanese immigrants armored with the 1980 and 1990 Public Use Microdata Sample(PUMS, A, 5%) in the US. Along with economic effects, we also consider life-cycle effects on the indicator. We applied "double cohort" method that enables duration of immigration effects to be separated from aging effects, which captures family size fluctuations due to life-cycle effects. The study found that cohort trends sharply changed during 10years. The 1970's immigrants are more likely to live in overcrowded housing than the pre-1970 immigrants. The pre-1970 immigrants are more likely to live in overcrowded housing than native-born persons. This may be explained by different assimilation processes driven by the disparities of individual human capitals or cultural differences among the ethnic groups. Especially, Korean experienced a sharp decline in overcrowding between 1980 and 1990. We also found that the major determinants that affect the level of housing density are years since migration, income, and gender. The present study concluded with some future studies related to the Korean immigrants abroad.ts abroad.