• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3607-3612
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• 2013

Introduction: Reported prognostic roles of hypoxic inducible factor (HIF) expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have varied. This meta-analysis aimed to examine the relationship between HIF expression and clinical outcome in NSCLC patients. Methods: PubMed were used to identify relevant literature with the last report up to December $20^{th}$, 2012. After careful review, survival data were collected from eligible studies. We completed the meta-analysis using Stata statistical software (Version 11) and combined hazard ratio (HR) for overall survival (OS). Subgroup specificity, heterogeneity and publication bias were also assessed. All of the results were verified by two persons to ensure accuracy. Results: Eight studies were finally stepped into this meta-analysis in which seven had available data for HIF-$1{\alpha}$ and three for HIF-$2{\alpha}$. Combined HRs suggested that higher expression of $HIF1{\alpha}$ had a negative impact on NSCLC patient survival (HR=1.50; 95%CI=1.07-2.10; p=0.019). The expression of HIF-$2{\alpha}$ was also relative to a poorer survival (HR=2.02; 95%CI=1.47-2.77; p=0.000). No bias existed in either of the two groups. Conclusion: This study suggests that elevations of HIF-$1{\alpha}$ and HIF-$2{\alpha}$ expression are both associated with poor outcome for patients with NSCLC. The data support further and high quality investigation of HIF expression for predicting poor outcome in patients with NSCLC.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.1002-1011
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• 2020

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the composition and diversity of the fungal flora at various control points in cheese ripening rooms of 10 dairy farms from six different provinces in the Republic of Korea. Methods: Floor, wall, cheese board, room air, cheese rind and core were sampled from cheese ripening rooms of ten different dairy farms. The molds were enumerated using YM petrifilm, while isolation was done on yeast extract glucose chloramphenicol agar plates. Morphologically distinct isolates were identified using sequencing of internal transcribed spacer region. Results: The fungal counts in 8 out of 10 dairy farms were out of acceptable range, as per hazard analysis critical control point regulation. A total of 986 fungal isolates identified and assigned to the phyla Ascomycota (14 genera) and Basidiomycota (3 genera). Of these Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Cladosporium were the most diverse and predominant. The cheese ripening rooms was overrepresented in 9 farms by Penicillium (76%), while Aspergillus in a single farm. Among 39 species, the prominent members were Penicillium commune, P. oxalicum, P. echinulatum, and Aspergillus versicolor. Most of the mold species detected on surfaces were the same found in the indoor air of cheese ripening rooms. Conclusion: The environment of cheese ripening rooms persuades a favourable niche for mold growth. The fungal diversity in the dairy farms were greatly influenced by several factors (exterior atmosphere, working personnel etc.,) and their proportion varied from one to another. Proper management of hygienic and production practices and air filtration system would be effective to eradicate contamination in cheese processing industries.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.1017-1023
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• 2017

Duration induced by freeway crashes has a critical influence on traffic congestion. In general, crash duration composes detection and verification, response, and clearance time. Of these, the crash clearance time determined by a crash clearance team has attracted considerable attention in the freeway congestion management since the interest of the first two time stages faded away with increasing ubiquitous mobile phone users. The objective of this study is to identify the critical factors that affect freeway crash clearance time using a Cox's proportional hazard model. In total, 6,870 crash duration data collected from 30 major Korean freeways in 2013 were used. As a result, it was found that crashes during the night, with trailer or larger size truck, and in tunnel section contribute to increasing clearance time. Crashes associated with fatality, completed damage of crashed vehicle (s), and vehicles' fire or rollover after crash also lead to increasing clearance time. Additionally, an increase in the number of vehicles involved resulted in longer clearance time. On the other hand, crashes in the vicinity of tollgate, by passenger car, during spring, on flat section, and of car-facility type had longer clearance time. On the basis of the results, this paper suggested some strategic plans and mitigation measures to reduce crash clearance time on Korean freeway systems.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.245-250
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• 2017

Flash floods is defined as the flooding of intense rainfall over a relatively small area that flows through river and valley rapidly in short time with no advance warning. So that it can cause damage property and casuality. This study is to establish the flash-flood warning system using 38 accident data, reported from the National Disaster Information Center and Land Surface Model(TOPLATS) between 2009 and 2012. Three variables were used in the Land Surface Model: precipitation, soil moisture, and surface runoff. The three variables of 6 hours preceding flash flood were reduced to 3 factors through factor analysis. Decision tree, random forest, Naive Bayes, Support Vector Machine, and logistic regression model are considered as big data methods. The prediction performance was evaluated by comparison of Accuracy, Kappa, TP Rate, FP Rate and F-Measure. The best method was suggested based on reproducibility evaluation at the each points of flash flood occurrence and predicted count versus actual count using 4 years data.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.91-102
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• 2007

Through lessons in recent earthquakes, the bridge engineering community recognizes the need for new seismic design methodologies based on the inelastic structural performance of RC bridge structures. This study represents results of performance-based fragility analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge. Monte carlo simulation is performed to study nonlinear dynamic responses of RC bridge. Two-parameter log-normal distribution function is used to represent the fragility curves. These two-parameters, referred to as fragility parameters, are estimated by the traditional maximum likelihood procedure, which is treated each event of RC bridge pier damage as a realization of Bernoulli experiment. In order to formulate the fragility curves, five different damage states are described by two practical factors: the displacement and curvature ductility, which are mostly influencing on the seismic behavior of RC bridge piers. Five damage states are quantitatively assessed in terms of these seismic ductilities on the basis of numerous experimental results of RC bridge piers. Thereby, the performance-based fragility curves of RC bridge pier are provided in this paper. This approach can be used in constructing the fragility curves of various bridge structures and be applied to construct the seismic hazard map.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.461-468
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• 2001

The effectiveness and safety of Enzyme Food, a group of dietary supplements designated by Korean Food Law, were evaluated and the possibility of HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) application was investigated. Chemical composition, enzyme activities and the degree of bacterial contamination in 12 samples of different brands sold in Korean market were measured. The chemical composition of the selected products varied and inconsistent to those claimed in the label description. It is known that effectiveness of Enzyme Food depends on enzyme activity, but enzyme activities of ${\alpha}-amylase$ varied from $1,793\;{\mu}g/min$ g to $159\;{\mu}g/min$ g and those of ${\beta}-amylase$ ranged from $171\;{\mu}g/min$ g to $11\;{\mu}g/min$ g. The protease activities varied from $27.57\;{\mu}g/min$ g to $0.18\;{\mu}g/min$ g. In coli-form bacterial test, positive reactions were appeared in the 50 % of the samples. Numbers of bacteria ranged from $1.3\;{\times}\;10^5\;to\;1.2\;{\times}\;10^9$. Five CCPs were identified; heating, inoculation, cultivation, drying and granulation. Consideration of HACCP system indicated that the pretreatment of raw material, checking of bacterial contamination and stability of enzyme activity during fermentation process were important factors for the quality of Enzyme Foods.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.312-321
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• 2018

Background: Treatment strategies for octogenarians with lung cancer remain controversial. The purpose of this study was to compare surgical outcomes and survival between octogenarians and younger patients with stage IA and IB lung cancer. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 34 consecutive octogenarians and 457 younger patients (<70 years) with stage I lung cancer who underwent surgical resection from January 2007 to December 2015. We analyzed the survival and surgical outcomes of the 2 groups according to the lung cancer stage (IA and IB). Results: The only significant differences in the clinicopathological features between the groups were the higher proportion of sublobar resection (56.3% vs. 18.9%) and the smaller number of dissected lymph nodes (LNs) in octogenarians. There was no significant difference in hospital stay (11 days vs. 9 days), pneumonia (5.8% vs 1.9%), or operative mortality (0% vs 0.6%) between the 2 groups. Among patients with stage IA lung cancer, 5-year recurrence-free survival was not significantly different between the octogenarians (n=16) and younger patients (n=318) (86.2% vs. 89.1%, p=0.548). However, 5-year overall survival was significantly lower in octogenarians than in younger patients (79.4% vs. 93.4%, p=0.009). Among patients with stage IB lung cancer, there was no significant difference in 5-year recurrence-free survival (62.1% vs. 73.5%, p=0.55) or overall survival (77.0% vs 85.0%, p=0.75) between octogenarians (n=18) and younger patients (n=139). In multivariable analysis, male sex, the number of dissected LNs, and tumor size were factors related to survival (hazard ratio [HR], 5.795; p=0.017; HR, 0.346, p=0.025; and HR, 1.699; p=0.035, respectively). Conclusion: Surgical outcomes and survival after pulmonary resection for stage I lung cancer were comparable in octogenarians and younger patients. Continued careful selection of octogenarians for pulmonary resection is important to achieve good results.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.524-535
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• 2013

Catastrophe risk models require the damage functions of each vulnerable item in inventory to estimate volcanic ash losses. The damage functions are used to represent the relation between damage factors and damage and also widely used in engineering and natural hazard studies to calculate the vulnerability. In most cases, damage functions are constructed as fragility or vulnerability curves, and researchers are confused by the similarities between them particularly when they perform interdisciplinary research. Thus, we aim to explain the similarities and differences between fragility and vulnerability curves and their relationship by providing case studies to construct them. In addition, we suggest a simple method to construct the damage functions between damage ratio and volcanic ash thickness using limited damage data. This study comes from the fact that damage functions are generally constructed using damage data. However, there is no available volcanic ash damage data in Korea, and not even enough volcanic disaster data to construct damage functions in the world, compared to other hazards. Using the method suggested in the study and the limited damage data from Japan and New Zealand, we construct Weibull-type functions or linear functions dependent of available data to calculate volcanic ash loss estimation, which we think need to be corrected to make it more suitable for inventory characteristics and environmental conditions in Korea.

• 한국방재학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.193-193
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• 2011

본 연구에서는 산불발생인자들에 대한 정보를 각각의 요인별로 집적화하고 체계화시킴으로써 산불예방활동의 기초자료로 활용할 뿐만 아니라 산불발생 시, 산불의 거동을 예측하기 위한 자료로 활용하고자 하였다. 발생인자는 크게 연료 및 기상조건 관련 인자와 열적특성 관련 인자로 분류하고 연료 및 기상조건 관련 인자는 수종별, 부위별, 지역별, 고도별, 월별 산림연료들의 구성 요인들에 대해서 분석하였다. 수종별로는 생강나무, 초피나무, 조록싸리, 산초, 개암, 청미래, 고추나무, 철쭉, 조릿대, 털진달래 등 관목류 10개 수종과 김의털, 방아풀, 주름조개풀, 칡, 엉겅퀴 등 초본류 5개 수종 그리고 소나무, 잣나무, 리기다소나무, 해송, 구상나무, 주목 등 6개의 침엽수 및 굴참나무, 떡갈나무, 신갈나무, 갈참나무, 졸참나무, 상수리, 산개벚나무, 고채목, 개서어나무, 굴거리나무, 서어나무, 산벚나무, 때죽나무, 당단풍나무, 단풍나무 등 15개의 활엽수로 구성된 교목류를 대상으로 분석하였다. 부위별로는 생엽, 낙엽, 가지, 수피, 솔방울 등으로 구분하여 분석을 수행했으며, 지역별 구성은 강원(삼척/태백산), 경북(응봉산), 경기(용문산), 충북(월악산), 충남(계룡산), 전북(덕유산), 전남(월출산), 부산(금정산), 제주(한라산) 등 9개 지역을 대상으로 선정하였다. 고도별로는 강원도에 소재하고 있는 태백산을 중심으로 소나무와 신갈나무 생엽을 대상으로 900m, 1000m, 1100m, 1200m, 1300m, 1400m, 1500m 고도를 선정하여 분석을 수행하였다. 월별 분석데이터는 소나무 생엽의 경우, 2008년 6월부터 2010년 11월까지 매월 분석을 수행하였으며, 굴참나무 생엽의 경우에는 2008년부터 2010년까지 매년 6월부터 10월까지 생엽을 채취할 수 있는 기간 동안 분석을 수행하였다. 또한, 열적특성 관련 인자로는 착화특성(무염착화온도, 발염착화시간, 소염시간, 화염지속시간), 발열특성(총열방출량, 평균열방출률), 발연특성(총연기방출량, 최대연기밀도, 최대밀도시간) 등을 고찰하였다. 이와 같은 결과들은 산불발생인자 DB구축으로 부터 산불발생 위험도 및 동태예측의 기본 자료로 활용할 수 있을 뿐만 아니라 지역별 연료별 산림연료의 열적특성 DB로 부터 산불발생시 산불 위험도에 대한 기술정립과 응용성을 향상시킬 수 있을 것으로 사료된다. 이외에도 산림연료 종류별 열적특성을 결과를 토대로 문화재보존지역과 같이 문화적 가치가 높은 시설이나 주유소, 가스 충전소 등의 위험 시설에 대한 효과적인 보호를 위한 대처 방안을 사전에 준비할 수 있어 산불 피해에 대한 국민의 불안감을 줄일 수 있을 것으로 생각된다.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9823-9829
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• 2014

Background: High-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) is recognized as an efficient component of therapy against pediatric osteosarcoma in combination with other drugs such as cisplatin (CDP), carboplatin (CBDCA), doxorubicin (ADM), etoposide (VP-16) and ifosfamide (IFO). Objectives: To demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the HD-MTX/CDP/DOX/VP-16/IFO [MTX(+)] protocol comparable to CDP/ADM/CBDCA/IFO [MTX(-)] for treating childhood osteosarcoma at Ramathibodi Hospital (1999-2014). Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of osteosarcoma patients aged less than 18 years treated with two chemotherapeutic regimens between 1999 and 2014. A total of 45 patients received the MTX(-) and 21 the MTX(+) protocol. Results: Overall limb-salvage and amputation rate were 12.9% and 77.7%, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis results for 3-year disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) regardless of treatment regimens were $43.4{\pm}6.0%$ and $53.2{\pm}6.1%$ respectively. The 3-year DFS and OS were improved significantly with the MTX(+) protocol compared to MTX(-) protocol (p=0.010 and p=0.009, log rank test) [$69.8{\pm}10.5%$, $79.8{\pm}9.1%$ for MTX(+) and $31.1{\pm}6.9%$, $42.2{\pm}7.4%$ for MTX(-) protocol, respectively]. Patients with metastatic osteosarcoma treated with the MTX(+) protocol had statistically significant higher 3-year DFS and OS than those treated with the MTX(-) protocol ($66.7{\pm}13.6%$ and $15.0{\pm}8.0%$ for 3-year DFS, p=0.010, $73.3{\pm}13.2%$ and $20{\pm}8.9%$ for 3-year OS, p=0.006, respectively). The independent risk factors for having inferior 3-year DFS and OS were poor histological response (tumor necrosis <90%) and treatment with the MTX(-) protocol. The multivariate analysis identified only the treatment with the MTX(-) protocol as an independent predictor of inferior OS with a hazard ratio (HR) of 3.53 (95% confidence interval of 1.2-10.41, p=0.022). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated the tolerability, feasibility and efficacy of the HDMTX-based regimen improving the survival rate in pediatric osteosarcoma cases, in line with reports from developed countries.