• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.710-718
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• 2009

Background: The Cox maze procedure has been used as a standard surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation for about 20 years. Recently, the creators have used a bipolar radiofrequency electrode (Cox maze IV procedure) instead of the incision and suture (cut-sew) technique to make atrial ablation lesions for persistent atrial fibrillation. We investigated clinical outcomes for the Cox maze procedure with a bipolar radiofrequency electrode and cryoablator in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation, and compared results with clinical outcomes of the cut-sew procedure. Material and Method: Between April 2005 and July 2007, 40 patients with persistent atrial fibrillation underwent Cox maze IV procedure with a bipolar radiofrequency electrode and cryoablator (bipolar radiofrequency group). Surgical outcomes were compared with those of 35 patients who had the cut-sew technique for the Cox maze III procedure. All patients had concomitant cardiac surgery. Postoperatively, the patients were followed up every 1 to 2 months. Result: At 6 months postoperatively, the conversion rate to regular sinus rhythm was not significantly different between the two groups: 95.0% for the bipolar radiofrequency ablation group; 97.1% for the cut-sew technique (p=1.0). At the end of the follow-up period, the conversion rate to regular sinus rhythm was also not significantly different (92.5% vs. 91.6%, p=1.0). In multivariate analysis using a Cox-regression model, the postoperative atrial dimension was an independent determinant of sinus conversion in the bipolar radiofrequency ablation group (hazard ratio 31, p=0.005). In the Cox-regression model for both groups, atrial fibrillation at 6 months postoperatively (hazard ratio 92.24, p=0.003) and the postoperative left atrial dimension (hazard ratio 16.05, p=0.019) were independent risk factors of continuance or recurrence of atrial fibrillation after Cox maze procedures. Aortic cross-clamp time and cardiopulmonary bypass time were significantly shorter in the radiofrequency group than in the cut-sew group. Conclusion: In the Cox maze procedure for patients with persistent atrial fibrillation, the use of bipolar radiofrequency ablation and a cryoablator is as good as the cut-sew technique for conversion to sinus rhythm. The postoperative left atrial dimension is an independent determinant of postoperative continuance and recurrence of atrial fibrillation.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.629-640
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• 2022

Variable selection is one of the most crucial tasks in supervised learning, such as regression and classification. The best subset selection is straightforward and optimal but not practically applicable unless the number of predictors is small. In this article, we propose directly solving the best subset selection via the genetic algorithm (GA), a popular stochastic optimization algorithm based on the principle of Darwinian evolution. To further improve the variable selection performance, we propose to run multiple GA to solve the best subset selection and then synthesize the results, which we call ensemble GA (EGA). The EGA significantly improves variable selection performance. In addition, the proposed method is essentially the best subset selection and hence applicable to a variety of models with different selection criteria. We compare the proposed EGA to existing variable selection methods under various models, including linear regression, Poisson regression, and Cox regression for survival data. Both simulation and real data analysis demonstrate the promising performance of the proposed method.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.307-328
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• 2009

This study aims to investigate the patterns and causes of the marital duration. Data used for this study are ten waves of Korean Labor and Income Panel Study(KLIPS) in 1998~2007, in which the final sample consists of 2,397 households. The Life-table method is used for describing the overall patterns of marital duration by birth-cohorts and different education groups, and the Cox proportional hazard regression model is used to identify significant factors on the marital duration. The results show that among the all respondents, the 0.79% has divorced or separated within five years after marriage, 2.12% within 10 years, and 5.84% within 20 years, respectively. In addition, the Cox regression results show that the marital duration is significantly affected by the birth-cohorts of respondents and their spouses, education level, earning of spouses, co-residence with parents, and household income. This implies that the hazard rate of marital disruption is higher for younger cohorts, individuals with lower education and economic status, persons living with parents-in-law, compared to their counterparts. Thus, it is necessary to implement social welfare policies applicable for these persons.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.202-212
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• 2006

The prognostic factors for extrahepatic biliary atresia (EHBA) after Kasai portoenterostomy include the patient's age at portoenterostomy (age), size of bile duct in theporta hepatis (size), clearance of jaundice after operation (clearance) and the surgeon's experience. The aim of this study is to examine the most significant prognostic factor of EHBA after Kasai portoenterostomy. This retrospective study was done in 51 cases of EHBA that received Kasai portoenterostomy by one pediatric surgeon. For the statistical analysis, Kaplan-Meier method, Logrank test and Cox regression test were used. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered to be significant. Fifteen patients were regarded as dead in this study, including nine cases of liver transplantation. There was no significant difference of survival to age. The age is also not a significant risk factor for survival in this study (Cox Regression test; p = 0.63). There was no significant difference in survival in relation to the size of bile duct. However, bile duct size was a significant risk factor for survival (Cox Regression test; p = 0.002). There was a significant difference in relation to survival and clearance (Kaplan-Meier method; p = 0.02). The clearing was also a significant risk factor for survival (Cox Regression test; p = 0.001). The clearance of jaundice is the most significant prognostic factor of EHBA after Kasai portoenterostomy.

• Journal of the Korean Statistical Society
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.117-130
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• 1997

We study the asymptotic behavior of the maximum partial likelihood estimator in the Cox proportional hazards model in the presence of nuisance parameters when the entry of patients is staggered. When entry of patients is simultaneous and there is only one regression parameter in the Cox model, the efficient score process of the partial likelihood is martingale and converges weakly to a time-chnaged Brownian motion. Our problem is to get a similar result in the presence of nuisance parameters when entry of patient is staggered.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.967-976
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• 2011

The Box-Cox transformation is a well known family of power transformations that brings a set of data into agreement with the normality assumption of the residuals and hence the response variable of a postulated model in regression analysis. Normalization (studentization) of the regressors is a common practice in analyzing microarray data. Here, we implement Box-Cox transformation in normalizing regressors in microarray data. Pridictabilty of the model can be improved using data transformation compared to studentization.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3967-3971
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• 2012

Aims: To explore the relationship between various molecular makers and liver metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC). Method: Using immunohistochemistry, protein expression of CEA, nm23, c-met, MMP2, COX-2, VEGF, EGFR, and CD44 was assessed in 80 CRC cases. The Chi-square test and logistic regression were performed to analyze the relationship between these indicators and CRC liver metastasis. Results: There were significant differences in expression of CEA, MMP2, CD44, VEGF and EGFR between the liver metastasis and non metastasis groups (P < 0.05); no significant differences were noted for nm23, c-met, and COX-2 expression. Logistic regression analysis showed that only CEA, VEGF, and EGFR entered into the regression equation, and had significant correlations with CRC liver metastasis (${\alpha}$ inclusion= 0.10, ${\alpha}$ elimination = 0.15, R2 = 0.718). Conclusions: Combination detection of CEA, VEGF, and EGFR may be an effective means to predict CRC liver metastasis. Nm23, c-met, MMP2, COX-2, and CD44, in contrast, are not suitable as prognostic markers.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.543-548
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• 2010

Objectives: The objective of this study was to calculate sample size and power in an ongoing cohort, Korea radiation effect and epidemiology cohort (KREEC). Method: Sample size calculation was performed using PASS 2002 based on Cox regression and Poisson regression models. Person-year was calculated by using data from '1993-1997 Total cancer incidence by sex and age, Seoul' and Korean statistical informative service. Results: With the assumption of relative risk=1.3, exposure:non-exposure=1:2 and power=0.8, sample size calculation was 405 events based on a Cox regression model. When the relative risk was assumed to be 1.5 then number of events was 170. Based on a Poisson regression model, relative risk=1.3, exposure:non-exposure=1:2 and power=0.8 rendered 385 events. Relative risk of 1.5 resulted in a total of 157 events. We calculated person-years (PY) with event numbers and cancer incidence rate in the nonexposure group. Based on a Cox regression model, with relative risk=1.3, exposure:non-exposure=1:2 and power=0.8, 136 245PY was needed to secure the power. In a Poisson regression model, with relative risk=1.3, exposure:non-exposure=1:2 and power=0.8, person-year needed was 129517PY. A total of 1939 cases were identified in KREEC until December 2007. Conclusions: A retrospective power calculation in an ongoing study might be biased by the data. Prospective power calculation should be carried out based on various assumptions prior to the study.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6773-6777
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• 2015

We used to LASSO-Cox method for determining prognostic factors of male breast cancer survival and showed the superiority of this method compared to Cox proportional hazard model in low sample size setting. In order to identify and estimate exactly the relative hazard of the most important factors effective for the survival duration of male breast cancer, the LASSO-Cox method has been used. Our data includes the information of male breast cancer patients in Fars province, south of Iran, from 1989 to 2008. Cox proportional hazard and LASSO-Cox models were fitted for 20 classified variables. To reduce the impact of missing data, the multiple imputation method was used 20 times through the Markov chain Mont Carlo method and the results were combined with Rubin's rules. In 50 patients, the age at diagnosis was 59.6 (SD=12.8) years with a minimum of 34 and maximum of 84 years and the mean of survival time was 62 months. Three, 5 and 10 year survival were 92%, 77% and 26%, respectively. Using the LASSO-Cox method led to eliminating 8 low effect variables and also decreased the standard error by 2.5 to 7 times. The relative efficiency of LASSO-Cox method compared with the Cox proportional hazard method was calculated as 22.39. The19 years follow of male breast cancer patients show that the age, having a history of alcohol use, nipple discharge, laterality, histological grade and duration of symptoms were the most important variables that have played an effective role in the patient's survival. In such situations, estimating the coefficients by LASSO-Cox method will be more efficient than the Cox's proportional hazard method.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.12
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• pp.1591-1595
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• 2002

Familial adenomatous polyposis(FAP) is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by numerous adenomas in the colorectum. Patients with FAP are always at risk of malignant transformation, so that colectomy is unavoidable. NSAID, such as sulindac, and selective COX-2 inhibitor, such as celecoxib, have shown a positive effect on FAP by causing polyp regression in some patients. We report a case of FAP in a 9-year-old female whose polyposis regressed markedly after six months-treatment with celecoxib.