• Journal of Gastric Cancer
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.132-144
• /
• 2017

Purpose: To identify baseline prognostic factors for survival in patients with disease progression, during or after chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer. Materials and Methods: We pooled data from patients randomized between 2009 and 2012 in 2 phase III, global double-blind studies of ramucirumab for the treatment of advanced gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma following disease progression on first-line platinum- and/or fluoropyrimidine-containing therapy (REGARD and RAINBOW). Forty-one key baseline clinical and laboratory factors common in both studies were examined. Model building started with covariate screening using univariate Cox models (significance level=0.05). A stepwise multivariable Cox model identified the final prognostic factors (entry+exit significance level=0.01). Cox models were stratified by treatment and geographic region. The process was repeated to identify baseline prognostic quality of life (QoL) parameters. Results: Of 1,020 randomized patients, 953 (93%) patients without any missing covariates were included in the analysis. We identified 12 independent prognostic factors of poor survival: 1) peritoneal metastases; 2) Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance score 1; 3) the presence of a primary tumor; 4) time to progression since prior therapy <6 months; 5) poor/unknown tumor differentiation; abnormally low blood levels of 6) albumin, 7) sodium, and/or 8) lymphocytes; and abnormally high blood levels of 9) neutrophils, 10) aspartate aminotransferase (AST), 11) alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and/or 12) lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Factors were used to devise a 4-tier prognostic index (median overall survival [OS] by risk [months]: high=3.4, moderate=6.4, medium=9.9, and low=14.5; Harrell's C-index=0.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.64-0.68). Addition of QoL to the model identified patient-reported appetite loss as an independent prognostic factor. Conclusions: The identified prognostic factors and the reported prognostic index may help clinical decision-making, patient stratification, and planning of future clinical studies.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.317-324
• /
• 2006

Objectives: This study was conducted to estimate the unbiased smoking prevalence and its standard errors among adolescents in a large city in Korea, by design-based analysis. Methods: All the students in Daegu city were stratified by grade, gender and region, and then schools as primary sampling units (PSU) were selected by probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling. One or two classes were sampled randomly from each grade, from 5th grade in elementary schools to the 3rd grade in high schools. The students anonymously completed a standardized self-administered questionnaire from October to December 2004. The total number of respondents was 8,480 in the final analysis, excluding the third graders in the general high schools because of incomplete sampling. The sampling weight was calculated for each student after post-stratification adjustment, with adjustment being made for the missing cases. The data were analyzed with Stata 8.0 with consideration of PSU, weighting and the strata variables. Results: The smoking prevalence (%) and standard errors for male students from the fifth grade in elementary schools to the second grade in high schools were $0.93{\pm}0.47,\;1.83{\pm}0.74,\;3.16{\pm}1.00,\;5.12{\pm}1.02,\;10.86{\pm}1.13,\;15.63{\pm}2.44\;and\;17.96{\pm}2.67$, and those for the female students were $0.28{\pm}0.28,\;1.17{\pm}0.73,\;3.13{\pm}0.60,\;1.45{\pm}0.58,\;3.94{\pm}0.92,\;8.75{\pm}1.86\;and\;10.04{\pm}1.70$, sequentially. Conclusions: The smoking prevalence from this study was much higher than those from the other conventional studies conducted in Korea. The point estimates and standard errors from the design-based analysis were different from those of the model-based analysis. These findings suggest the importance of design-based analysis to estimate unbiased prevalence and standard errors in complex survey data and this method is recommended to apply to future surveys for determining the smoking prevalence for specific population.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.40 no.5 s.110
• /
• pp.514-532
• /
• 2005

The purpose of this study is to critically examine conventional spatial measures of individual accessibility, which are based on the notion of spatial proximity, the single reference location, and the unlinked travel model. Using space-time accessibility measures with the travel-activity diary data set of Portland Metro, US, three expectations from spatial measures on spatial patterns of individual accessibility were empirically examined: (1) does individual accessibility decrease with an increase of distance from the CBD?; (2) does the spatial pattern of accessibility resemble that of urban opportunity density pattern?; and (3) are spatial patterns of individual accessibility of different socio- demographic population groups basically similar as people in the same area share the same geographic characteristics regardless of gender, race, age, and so on? First of all, the results showed that spatial variations in individual accessibility were not directly determined by spatial proximity and opportunity density as suggested by previous accessibility measures. The spatial pattern of individual accessibility was dramatically different from that of urban opportunity density High peaks of accessibility level were found far away from the CBD and regional centers. This finding might be associated with the importance of multi-reference locations and linked travels in shaping accessibility in reality. Furthermore, this study found that spatial patterns of accessibility clearly differ between men and women. These findings suggest that access requires more than proximity, and that the interaction between person-specific space-time constraints and the consequential availability of urban opportunities in space-time renders different accessibility experiences to people even in the same region, which would be one of the key ingredients missing from conventional spatial measures of accessibility.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.29 no.1 s.52
• /
• pp.51-65
• /
• 1996

The purpose of this study was to examine the trends of length of hospital stay (LOS), which is most likely to be a major attribute to hospital performance. From 1984 to 1994, an average LOS of each hospital was analyzed by factors such as medical departments, bed size, occupancy rate, region and ownership. This study was analyzed changing rate of LOS during 11 years. This rate was calculated by simple regression, which was used only with hospital without missing data during 11 years. This study findings are as follows. 1. The results indicated that the average LOS was steadily increased until 1990 but it was slightly decreased after 1990. 2. This trend could be found in all hospital scale and all group of occupancy rate. Specifically this trends of LOS were found in internal medicine, corporate owned hospitals, and hospitals in major city. But LOS of individual owned hospital was continuously increased until 1994. 3. Means of changing rates of LOS were calculated from 1984 to 1994. If we devided it into two parts, before 1990 and after 1990, most changing rates of LOS before 1990 except individual owned hospital were found positive sign. The changing rates after 1990 were negative sign but small hospital(lesser then 200 bed), individual owned hospital, national & public hospital and hospital in small urban have little change of LOS after 1990. Finally from this results we thought that most hospitals in Korea began to be concerned with LOS. Nevertheless LOS of several hospital such as small hospital or individual owned hospital was increased. And this trend may be caused by a few patients, low occupancy rate, or low profit. This trend of LOS is different from that of other countries. Perhaps this phenomenon is resulted from the reimbursement method. Because of fee for service reimbursement system in Korea the hospitals didn't need to shorten LOS in order to save the cost and increase the profit. Therefore reform of hospital cost reimbursement method will be needed to reduce hospital cost in Korea. We thought that the Korean health authority should consider the reimbursement method by unit of bundle of services, for example DRG and prepayment in the United States. This study presents some limitations such as no insight of severity of disease, case-mix measurement of hospital, and other clinical characteristics that can. possibly affect LOS. However, this study reports an important trend in LOS from 1984 to 1994.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.49-56
• /
• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of virtual reality bowling on emotional changes using EEG (Electroencephalogram). Sixteen bowling players who have at least three years of experiences in bowling participated in this study. Their aged ranged from 26 to 35 years old with a mean age of 29.6 years. The frontal lobes (Fp2-Fp1, F4-F3, F8-F7) of each player were measured while subjects were performing five games of bowling. And after performing every frame, their emotion was measured immediately with Visual Analogue Scale. The data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance to test differences in the alpha value of each region of the frontal lobes. The dependent variable is the alpha power of the cerebral asymmetry. The results showed that players who scored a strike showed higher VAS values than those who missed the spares or cleared the spares; those who cleared spares showed higher VAS values than those who missed spares In addition, with respect to frontal R-L asymmetry score, the alpha-wave of the left frontal lobe was activated when scoring a strike and clearing spares and the alpha-wave of the right frontal lobe was activated when missing spares. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrated that success or achievement in competition gives rise to positive emotions and vice versa. This study neurophysiologically proved that performance outcomes during a competition directly influence players' emotion and brain waves.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.47 no.5
• /
• pp.167-178
• /
• 2014

We search for misclassified type 1 AGNs among type 2 AGNs identified with emission line flux ratios, and investigate the properties of the sample. Using 4 113 local type 2 AGNs at 0.02 < z < 0.05 selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, we detected a broad component of the $H{\alpha}$ line with a Full-Width at Half-Maximum (FWHM) ranging from 1 700 to $19090km\;s^{-1}$ for 142 objects, based on the spectral decomposition and visual inspection. The fraction of the misclassified type 1 AGNs among type 2 AGN sample is ~3.5%, implying that a large number of missing type 1 AGN population may exist. The misclassified type 1 AGNs have relatively low luminosity with a mean broad $H{\alpha}$ luminosity, log $L_{H\alpha}=40.50{\pm}0.35\;erg\;s^{-1}$, while black hole mass of the sample is comparable to that of the local black hole population, with a mean black hole mass, log $M_{BH}=6.94{\pm}0.51\;M_{\odot}$. The mean Eddington ratio of the sample is log $L_{bol}/L_{Edd}=-2.00{\pm}0.40$, indicating that black hole activity is relatively weak, hence, AGN continuum is too weak to change the host galaxy color. We find that the O III lines show significant velocity offsets, presumably due to outflows in the narrow-line region, while the velocity offset of the narrow component of the $H{\alpha}$ line is not prominent, consistent with the ionized gas kinematics of general type 1 AGN population.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.303-311
• /
• 2019

Background: Cerebrovascular disease is included in four major diseases and is a disease that has high rates of prevalence and mortality around the world. Moreover, it is a disease that requires a high cost for long-term hospitalization and treatment. This study aims to figure out the correlation between grip strength, which was presented as a simple, cost-effective, and relevant predictor of cerebrovascular disease, and cerebrovascular disease based on the results of a prior study. And furthermore, our study compared model suitability of the model to measuring grip strength and relative grip strength as a predictor of cerebrovascular disease to improve the quality of cerebrovascular disease's predictor. Methods: This study conducted an analysis based on the generalized linear mixed model using the data from the Korea Longitudinal Study of Ageing from 2006 to 2016. The research subjects consisted of 9,132 middle old age people aged 45 years or older at baseline with no missing information of education level, gender, marital status, residential region, type of national health insurance, self-related health, smoking status, alcohol use, and economic activity. The grip strength was calculated the average which measured 4 times (both hands twice), and the relative grip force was divided by the body mass index as a variable considering the anthropometric figure that affects the cerebrovascular disease and the grip strength. Cerebrovascular diseases, a dependent variable, were investigated based on experiences diagnosed by doctors. Results: An analysis of the association between grip strength and found that about 0.972 (odds ratio [OR], 0.972; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.963-0.981) was the incidence of cerebral vascular disease as grip strength increased by one unit increase and the association between relative grip strength and cerebrovascular disease found that about 0.418 (OR, 0.418; 95% CI, 0.342-0.511) was the incidence of cerebral vascular disease as relative grip strength increased by unit. In addition, the model suitability of the model for each grip strength and relative grip strength was 11,193 and 11,156, which means relative grip strength is the better application to the predictor of cerebrovascular diseases, irrespective of other variables. Conclusion: The results of this study need to be carefully examined and validated in applying relative grip strength to improve the quality of predictors of cerebrovascular diseases affecting high mortality and prevalence.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.755-765
• /
• 2021

The objectives of this study are to subdivide the group of elderly population into the liberation generation as a poor generation that experienced the barley hump, and the baby boom generation to verify differences in the mean of social capital and well-being between those groups of two generations, to verify the effects of social capital on the well-being, and then to review differences between those groups of two generations regarding the effects of subfactors of social capital on the well-being. This study collected and analyzed data from 200 people excluding missing values from the baby boom generation and liberation generation born in 1945-1963, in the D region from July 1st to July 31st, 2018. The main results of this study are as follows. in the results of comparatively reviewing the social capital having effects on the well-being of each group of liberation generation and baby boom generation, when relieving the statistical significance level to 90%, the network was working as a variable having effects on both groups. In this case, when mutually comparing the influence of regression coefficient as �� value, the network had a relatively larger effect on the well-being of the liberation generation.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
• /
• v.57 no.2
• /
• pp.102-109
• /
• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of three types of intraoral scanners and the accuracy of the single abutment and bridge abutment model. Materials and methods: In this study, a single abutment, and a bridge abutment with missing first molar was fabricated and set as the reference model. The reference model was scanned with an industrial three-dimensional scanner and set as reference scan data. The reference model was scanned five times using the three intraoral scanners (CS3600, CS3500, and EZIS PO). This was set as the evaluation scan data. In the three-dimensional analysis (Geomagic control X), the divided abutment region was selected and analyzed to verify the scan accuracy of the abutment. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (${\alpha}=.05$). The accuracy of intraoral scanners was compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test and post-test was performed using the Pairwise test. The accuracy difference between the single abutment model and the bridge abutment model was analyzed by the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: The accuracy according to the intraoral scanner was significantly different (P < .05). The trueness of the single abutment model and the bridge abutment model showed a statistically significant difference and showed better trueness in the single abutment (P < .05). There was no significant difference in the precision (P = .616). Conclusion: As a result of comparing the accuracy of single and bridge abutments, the error of abutment scan increased with increasing scan area, and the accuracy of bridge abutment model was clinically acceptable in three types of intraoral scanners.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.17 no.12
• /
• pp.198-204
• /
• 2016

This research studied the relevance of oral symptoms and fear to find solutions for prevention and treatment at the right time. The study was conducted over a three-month period from September to November 2015. College students who lived in the region of Busan were surveyed, and the data from 288 respondents were analyzed. The female students felt a higher level of fear in every item than the males. To be specific, there were statistically significant differences in postponing the appointment (p=0.014), tension during treatment (p=0.001), dread when making the appointment (p=0.001), dread upon arrival (p=0.001), dread in the waiting room (p=0.001), dread of dental smells (p=0.006), dread while undergoing anesthesia (p<0.001), dread when receiving an injection (p<0.001), dread when looking at a tool for tooth preparation (p<0.001), dread of the sound of a tool for tooth preparation (p<0.001), dread of the feelings of tooth preparation (p<0.001), dread during scaling(p<0.001), and apprehension about the entire treatment (p<0.001). Concerning the fear level according to oral symptom awareness, the respondents with dental caries experienced a higher level of fear in terms of treatment avoidance (p=0.001), physiological reactions (p=0.001) and overall Dental Fear Survey (DFS)(p=0.003), and the students whose teeth were broken had a higher level of fear in terms of treatment avoidance (p=0.010), stimulus factors (p=0.031) and overall DFS (P=0.019). The students who had a missing tooth felt a higher level of fear in terms of physiological reactions (p=0.019) and overall DFS (p=0.033), and the respondents with gingival pain felt a higher level of pain in terms of the stimulus factors (p=0.013) and overall DFS (p=0.034). Therefore, college students should be educated to visit a dental clinic when they are aware of any oral symptom, and methods to reduce the stimulus factors as much as possible should be considered carefully to relieve dental fear.