• 콘크리트학회논문집
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• 제24권5호
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• pp.535-542
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• 2012

매스 콘크리트에서 발생하는 수화열을 예측하기 위한 단열온도상승시험은 시험 비용이 고가이고 시공간상 제약으로 인해 한계가 있는 실정이다. 이에 신속하고 경제적이며 간편한 간이 수화열 측정 장치의 개발이 필요한 실정이다. 이 연구에서는 간이 수화열 측정 장치를 완성하기 전 단열 성능이 뛰어난 보온병에 콘크리트를 타설하고 열손실량을 보정하여, 간이 수화열 측정 장치의 타당성을 입증하고자 하였다. 열손실량을 정확히 예측하기 위해서는 측정 장치의 정확한 열손실계수를 추정하는 것이 필수적인데, 열손실계수는 단열 장치 내부의 수온 변화를 이용하여 추정하였다. 시험 결과 장치 고유의 열손실계수는 외부 온도와 습도, 내부 온도 변화에 크게 변하지 않는 것으로 드러났다. 실제 단열온도상승시험과 열손실량이 보정된 보온병의 단열온도상승량과의 검증 시험을 통해 이 연구의 객관성과 타당성을 입증할 수 있었다.

• 대한전자공학회논문지SP
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• 제45권4호
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• pp.59-70
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• 2008

본 논문에서는 터널 환경 내에서 발생할 수 있는 화재를 조기에 실시간으로 탐지하기 위한 시각 처리 기법을 제시한다. 다양한 환경 하에서 화재 발생 시 이를 조기에 발견하여 인명 및 재산 피해를 최대한 줄이기 위한 목적을 가지고 많은 연구들이 제안되었다. 그러나 터널 화재 탐지의 경우 터널 환경이라는 특이성 때문에 기존의 화재 탐지 기법을 적용하기 어려우며, 터널 공간에 특성화된 새로운 알고리즘이 필요하다. 이에 본 논문에서는 컬러정보를 기반으로 한 화염 후보 영역 검출기법, 움직임 정보를 기반으로 한 연기 후보 영역 검출 기법을 사용하고 모폴로지 기법, 재검증 및 제거 기법을 이용하여 화재 검출 시 발생할 수 있는 오검출 영역을 제거하는 방법을 통해서 정확한 위치 탐지와 조기 탐지가 가능한 알고리즘을 개발하였다. 또한 실험 결과를 통해 각각의 성능을 비교함으로써 제시한 알고리즘의 타당성을 보여주었다.

• 한국병원경영학회지
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.73-88
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• 2014

Objective: This research investigates how to increase the quality of medical service and supply high quality of medical service to patients. By using Kano Model theory we examines what medical service attributes the hospital would be conducted preferentially for patient's satisfaction and provides informations of management strategies for hospitals. Method: To study patients' perception of medical service quality, first we performed pilot test to derive 30 medical service attributes. With 30 medical service attributes, we conducted survey of 300 subjects who have experienced medical services in 6 months. To examine patients' conception of medical services, a modified Kano's questionnaire using 5 scale is applied. Finally we calculated SI(Satisfaction index) and DI(Dissatisfaction index) and PCSI(Potential Customer Satisfaction Improvement) index with Kano's Model analysis results. Key Findings: We found that the quality of medical service categorized in 15 one-dimensional elements, 9 must-be elements and 6 indifferent elements. Moreover the attribute of gives prompt services and have patient's best interest at heart scored the highest SI, whereas the attributes of accurate and precise medical service, exact records, enough explanation and polite attitudes are the highest score of DI. And also good explanation of the bill scored the highest PCSI. In this study findings indicate that while medical service providers try to increase patients' satisfaction by improving hospital's environments, patients' perception of trust and good interpersonal relationships with medical service providers have strong and positive impact on patients' satisfaction.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.35-44
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• 2011

Thyroglossal duct cysts (TGDC) are the most common type of congenital developmental anomaly encountered in the anterior midline of the neck in childhood. The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics of TGDC and identify any factors that could be related to recurrence after surgery. This study consisted of a retrospective chart review of 45 patients treated at Kyungpook National University Hospital for TGDC between 1990 and 2008. All records were reviewed for age and sex, length of history, presentation, diagnostic methods, sizes and locations of cyst, surgical management, histopathology of the lesion and recurrences. The statistical analysis of risk factors for recurrence was made using the Fisher's exact test with a significance level of p (0.05. The male to female ratio was 2.2:1 with a male preponderance. The mean age at operation was 5 years and 2 months (4 months - 17 years). The most common presenting symptom was a nontender cervical mass (78 %). Most TGDC were found in the midline position. Twenty four were infrahyold, 17 were hyoid, and 4 were suprahyoid level. Forty one (91 %) patients received the Sistrunk operation, and 4(9 %) patients received Cyst excision. Postoperative a seroma developed in six patients in the early postoperative days. There were a total of 3(6.6 %) recurrences, 2 in patients who had excision only and in one patient who had the Sistrunk operation. Univariate analysis for risk factors with recurrence showed that there was no statistical relationship between the presence of preoperative infection and the development of recurrence. The removal of hyoid bone along with TGDC was a statistically significant risk factor for recurrent disease. This study suggests that the Sistrunk operation Is the treatment of choice for TGDC in order to reduce recurrence.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권12호
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• pp.5031-5036
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• 2015

Background: Adrenal tumors are relatively uncommon, and have different presentations, so we decided to evaluate the clinico-pathological characteristics of benign and malignant tumors in a ten-year period. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional-analytical study was conducted on adrenal resection samples taken during 2004-2014 in three hospitals in Yazd province. Data were analyzed using SPSS software, version 17. Chi-square and Fisher's exact test were used as appropriate Results: A total of 71 patients with adrenal tumors were analyzed, including 32 (45.1%) men and 39 (54.9%) women with an overall mean age $37.7{\pm}19.9$ (range: 6-75 years). Some 50.7% of lesions were benign and 49.3% were malignant. Neuroblastoma was the most malignant lesion (32.3%) followed by adrenocortical carcinoma (8.4%). Among the benign lesions pheochromocytoma was the most common (25.3%) followed by adrenocortical adenoma (12.6%). While 64% of tumors were functional 36% were non functional. Significant correlation was seen between the age of patient and type of tumor (P=0.001). In patients between 14-40 years old no malignant lesions was found, although under 14 years old all of the tumors were malignant. Malignant lesions mostly presented with abdominal pain, abdominal mass and anorexia (57.2%, 45.7% and 45.7%) respectively. Benign lesions mostly presented with paroxysmal hypertension, headache and abdominal pain (61.2%, 47.2% and 44.4%) respectively. Conclusions: Since the trend of adrenal tumors is on the rise based on this and other studies, suspected cases should undergo prompt hormonal and radiological assessment. Early diagnosis and treatment could prevent tumor progression and reduce mortality and morbidity rates.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권14호
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• pp.6155-6158
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• 2015

Background: The human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) gene is highly expressed in cancer pathologies and is one strategy used by tumor cells to escape immune surveillance. A 14-bp insertion/deletion (InDel) polymorphism of the HLA-G gene has been suggested to be associated with HLA-G mRNA stability and the expression of HLA-G. The aim of present study was to assess any genetic association between this polymorphism and breast cancer among Iranian-Azeri women. Materials and Methods: In this study 227 women affected with breast cancer, in addition to 255 age-sex and ethnically matched healthy individuals as the control group, participated. Genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction and electrophoresis assays. The data were compiled according to the genotype and allele frequencies, compared using the Chi-square test. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05. Results: In this case-control study, no significant difference was found between the case and control groups at allelic and genotype levels, although there is a slightly higher allele frequency of HLA-G 14bp deletion in breast cancer affected group. However,when the stage I subgroup was compared with stage II plus stage III subgroup of affected breast cancer, a significant difference was seen with the 14 bp deletion allele frequency. The stage II-III subgroup patients had higher frequency of deletion allele (57.4% vs 45.8%) than stage I cases (${\chi}^2=4.16$, p-value=0.041). Conclusions: Our data support a possible action of HLA-G 14bp InDel polymorphism as a potential genetic risk factor for progression of breast cancer. This finding highlights the necessity of future studies of this gene to establish the exact role of HLA-G in progression steps of breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.201-204
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• 2015

Background: This study was designed to determine the accuracy of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cytology (BAL) using histopathologic examination of transbronchial biopsy specimens as the gold standard in diagnosis of lung carcinoma at our center. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to investigate a total of 388 patients who were suspected of having lung cancer and had undergone fiberoptic bronchoscopy in Shahid Sadoughi hospital from 2006 to 2011. Lung masses were proven to be malignant by histology. Results: Transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) identified malignancy in 183 of the 388 cases, including 48 cases (26.2%) with adenocarcinoma, 4(2.1%) with bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, 47(25.6%)with squamous cell carcinoma, 34(18.5%) with well-diffentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma, 35(19.1%) with small cell carcinoma, 14 (7.6%) with non-small cell carcinoma, and 1 (0.54%) with large cell carcinoma. A total of 205 cases were correctly classified as negative. BAL was also performed in 388 patients; 86/103 cases were consistent with the final diagnosis of lung cancer and 188/285 cases were correctly classified as negative. The sensitivity of BAL was 46.9%(CI:41.9%, 51.8%)) and its specificity was 91.6%(CI:88.8%, 94.3%). BAL had a positive predictive value (PPV) of 83.4%(CI:79.7%, 87.1%) and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 65.8%(CI:61%, 70.5%). The overall accuracy of BAL was 70.5% and the exact concordance was 39%. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that BAL cytology is not sensitive but is a specific test for diagnosis of lung carcinoma. If transbronchial lung biopsy is combined with bronchoalveolar lavage, the positive diagnostic rate will be further elevated.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권8호
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• pp.3805-3809
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• 2014

Background: In Mexico, breast cancer (BCa) is the leading type of cancer in women. Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) is a superfamily of major oxidative enzymes that metabolize carcinogens and many antineoplastic drugs. In addition, these enzymes have influence on tumor development and tumor response to therapy. In this report, we analyzed the protein expression in patients with BCa and in healthy women. Links with some clinic-pathological characteristic were also assessed. Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemical analyses were conducted on 48 sets of human breast tumors and normal breast tissues enrolled in Hospital Militar de Especialidades de la Mujer y Neonatologia and Hospital Central Militar, respectively, during the time period from 2010 to 2011. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. Statistical analysis was performed using ${\chi}^2$ or Fisher exact tests to estimate associations and the Mann Whitney U test for comparison of group means. Results: We found a significant CYP3A4 overexpression in BCa stroma and gland regions in comparison with healthy tissue. A significant association between protein expression with smoking, alcoholism and hormonal contraceptives use was also observed. Additionally, we observed estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) positive association in BCa. Conclusions: We suggest that CYP3A4 expression promotes BCa development and can be used in the prediction of tumor response to different treatments. One therapeutic approach may thus be to block CYP3A4 function.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권14호
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• pp.5517-5522
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• 2014

Oral contraceptive use is the most common type of contraception. More than 300 million women worldwide take oral contraceptives every day. However, there is a concern about the relationship with the incidence of cancer. This analytical retrospective study aimed to investigate the relationship between the incidence of cervical and breast cancers and oral contraceptive use in 128 Iranian patients with cervical cancer, 235 with breast cancer and equal numbers of controls. Data were collected through interviews with an organized set of questions. Details were also extracted from patient files. Data were analyzed using Student's t-test, chi-square and Fisher's exact tests, and Pearson's correlation analysis. The result revealed correlations between both cervical and breast cancers and history of contraceptive pills use. While cervical cancer significantly correlated with duration of use of pills, breast cancer had significant correlations with the type of oral contraceptive and age at first use. No significant relationships were found between the two types of cancer and age at discontinuation of oral contraceptives, patterns of use, and intervals from the last use. The use of oral contraceptives may triple the incidence of cervical cancer and doubles the incidence of breast cancer. Therefore, performing Pap smears every six months and breast cancer screening are warranted for long-term oral contraceptive users.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권9호
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• pp.5067-5072
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• 2013

Background: The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway plays a significant role in apoptosis, cellular proliferation and motility. The aim of the present study was to analyze mutations and gene expression profiles of the PI3KCA gene to determine any role in breast carcinomas. Materials and Methods: We analyzed 38 breast cancers for mutations in the two PIK3CA hotspots in exons 9 and 20 by direct sequencing of DNA obtained from biopsy samples. We have also analyzed expression of the PI3KCA gene in 38 breast carcinoma tumor and corresponding control tissue samples at the mRNA level by RT-PCR. The Fisher's exact test ($2{\times}2$ only) was performed using MedCalc software for to examine associations with mRNA levels. Results: In the present study a total of 13 cases demonstrated somatic mutations. In 9/13 cases 1633 G>A (E545K) were found in exon 9, whereas in exon 20, 4/13 cases had 3140A>G mutation. Our combined analysis showed PI3KCA mutations present in 34% of human breast cancer patients. In our study, we have also clearly found significantly higher expression in breast cancer tissues in comparison with control tissues (p=0.001). Conclusions: PIK3CA mutation is an emerging tumor marker that, in the future, might be used in the process of choosing a treatment. The detection of PI3KCA mutation might have important clinical implications for diagnosis, progression and therapy.