• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.887-890
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• 2014

This study was undertaken to compare surgical outcomes and survival rates of patients with the 2009 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IIA1 versus IIA2 cervical cancer treated with radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy (RHPL). Patients with stage IIA cervical cancer undergoing primary RHPL between January 2003 and December 2012 at Chiang Mai University Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The analysis included clinicopathologic variables, i.e. nodal metastasis, parametrial involvement, positive surgical margins, deep stromal invasion (DSI)), lymph-vascular space invasion (LVSI), adjuvant treatment, and 5-year survival. The chi square test, Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used for statistical analysis. During the study period, 133 women with stage IIA cervical cancer, 101 (75.9 %) stage IIA1, and 32 (24.1 %) stage IIA2 underwent RHPL. The clinicopathologic variables of stage IIA1 compared with stage IIA2 were as follows: nodal metastasis (38.6% vs 40.6%, p=0.84), parametrial involvement (10.9% vs 15.6%, p=0.47), positive surgical margins (31.7% vs 31.3%, p=1.0), DSI (39.6% vs 53.1%, p=0.18), LVSI (52.5% vs 71.9%, p=0.05) and adjuvant radiation (72.3% vs 84.4%, p=0.33). With a median follow-up of 60 months, the 5-year disease-free survival (84.6% vs 88.7%, p=0.67) and the 5-year overall survival (83.4% vs 90.0%, P=0.49) did not significantly differ between stage IIA1 and stage IIA2 cervical cancer. In conclusion, patients with stage IIA1 and stage IIA2 cervical cancer have comparable rates of locoregional spread and survival. The need for receiving adjuvant radiation was very high in both substages. The revised 2009 FIGO system did not demonstrate significant survival differences in stage IIA cervical cancer treated with radical hysterectomy. Concurrent chemoradiation should be considered a more suitable treatment for patients with stage IIA cervical cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1101-1106
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• 2013

Background: Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone tumor in childhood and adolescence. Carboplatin, a platinum-derived agent, is used as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for pediatric osteosarcoma because of its anti-tumor activity and had low toxicity as compared to cisplatin. Objective: To determine demographic data, prognostic factors and outcome of childhood osteosarcoma treated with a carboplatin-based chemotherapeutic protocol at Chiang Mai University. Method: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 34 osteosarcoma patients aged less than 18 years and treated between 2003 and 2011. Results: Overall limb-salvage and amputation rates were 23.5% and 70.6%, respectively. With the mean follow-up time of 29.5 months (1.5-108.9), the Kaplan-Meier analysis for 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) and 3-year overall survival (OS) were $20.2{\pm}7.7%$ and $47.1{\pm}9.5%$ respectively. Patients who had initial pulmonary metastasis were at significantly greater risk for developing recurrence (p=0.02, OR=7; 1.2-40.1) and had a tendency to have lower 3-year OS compared to those without initial pulmonary metastasis ($28.1{\pm}13%$, $63.1{\pm}12.3%$, respectively, p=0.202). On univariate analysis, age at diagnosis >14 years and patients who were declined surgery were significantly associated with lower 3-year OS (p=0.008 and <0.05, respectively). However, age at diagnosis, sex, tumor size and histological subtypes were not found to significantly affect recurrence or survival. Conclusions: In our study, the survival rate was far lower than those reported from developed countries. These might indicate the ineffectiveness of carboplatin in combination with doxorubicin as frontline treatment of pediatric osteosarcoma, especially in those with initial pulmonary metastasis. Refinement in risk and treatment stratification and dose intensification for pediatric osteosarcoma constitutes a future challenge to improve outcomes, especially in metastatic patients who may need a more intensive regimen.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.31 no.6A
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• pp.575-585
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• 2006

In Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, timing synchronization in uplink is accomplished by an initial uplink synchronization called an initial ranging process. The Base Station's receiver synchronizes the symbol timing to specific user's symbol and the other user's symbols have some Symbol Timing Offset (STO). Linear phase shift is occurred by each user's STO in an OFDMA symbol. The Multiple Access Interference (MAI) caused by the summation of each user's linear phase shift degrades the performance of ranging code detection. In this paper, we propose an initial ranging symbol structure with common ranging code for phase shift estimation and compensation. We car estimate the average of phase shift that is generated by each user's STO and compensate this phase shift by using common ranging code. This scheme will suppress the MAI and provide better detection performance than conventional process.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2016

Purpose: This study assessed the accuracy of age estimates produced by a regression equation derived from lower third molar development in a Thai population. Materials and Methods: The first part of this study relied on measurements taken from panoramic radiographs of 614 Thai patients aged from 9 to 20. The stage of lower left and right third molar development was observed in each radiograph and a modified Gat score was assigned. Linear regression on this data produced the following equation: Y=9.309+1.673 mG+0.303S (Y=age; mG=modified Gat score; S=sex). In the second part of this study, the predictive accuracy of this equation was evaluated using data from a second set of panoramic radiographs (539 Thai subjects, 9 to 24 years old). Each subject's age was estimated using the above equation and compared against age calculated from a provided date of birth. Estimated and known age data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and descriptive statistics. Results: Ages estimated from lower left and lower right third molar development stage were significantly correlated with the known ages (r=0.818, 0.808, respectively, $P{\leq}0.01$). 50% of age estimates in the second part of the study fell within a range of error of ${\pm}1year$, while 75% fell within a range of error of ${\pm}2years$. The study found that the equation tends to estimate age accurately when individuals are 9 to 20 years of age. Conclusion: The equation can be used for age estimation for Thai populations when the individuals are 9 to 20 years of age.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.51-57
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• 2018

Purpose: To perform a comparative analysis of the palatal bone thickness in Thai patients exhibiting class I malocclusion according to whether they exhibited a normal or open vertical skeletal configuration using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: Thirty CBCT images of Thai orthodontic patients (15-30 years of age) exhibiting class I malocclusion with a normal or open vertical skeletal configuration were selected. Palatal bone thickness was measured in a 3.0-mm grid pattern on both the right and left sides. The palatal bone thickness of the normal-bite and open-bite groups was compared using the independent t-test. The level of significance was established at P<.05. Results: The palatal bone thickness in the normal-bite group ranged from $2.2{\pm}1.0mm$ to $12.6{\pm}4.1mm$. The palatal bone thickness in the open-bite group ranged from $1.9{\pm}1.1mm$ to $13.2{\pm}2.3mm$. The palatal bone thickness was lower at almost all sites in patients with open bite than in those with normal bite. Significant differences were found at almost all anteroposterior sites along the 3 most medial sections (3.0, 6.0, and 9.0 mm lateral to the midsagittal plane)(P<.05). Conclusion: Class I malocclusion with open vertical skeletal configuration may affect palatal bone thickness, so the placement of temporary anchorage devices or miniscrew implants in the palatal area in such patients should be performed with caution.

• Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.88-96
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• 2010

This paper presents a two-phase quantitative framework to aid the decision making process for effective selection of an efficient freight logistics hub from 8 alternatives in Thailand on the North-South economic corridor. Phase 1 employs both multiple regression and Pearson Feature selection to find the important criteria, as defined by logistics hub score, and to reduce number of criteria by eliminating the less important criteria. The result of Pearson Feature selection indicated that only 5 of 15 criteria affected the logistics hub score. Moreover, Genetic Algorithm (GA) was constructed from original 15 criteria data set to find the relationship between logistics criteria and freight logistics hub score. As a result, the statistical tools are provided the same 5 important criteria, affecting logistics hub score from GA, and data mining tool. Phase 2 performs the fuzzy stochastic AHP analysis with the five important criteria. This approach could help to gain insight into how the imprecision in judgment ratios may affect their alternatives toward the best solution and how the best alternative may be identified with certain confidence. The main objective of the paper is to find the best alternative for selecting freight logistics hub under proper criteria. The experimental results show that by using this approach, Chiang Mai province is the best place with the confidence interval 95%.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.110-115
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• 2018

Objective: To compare our in-house method of embryo freezing with Cryotop vitrification in terms of immediate survival, subsequent cleavage and blastocyst formation, and cell numbers in blastocysts. Methods: Two-cell mouse embryos were randomly allocated into three groups: a non-frozen control group (group 1, n = 300), a group that underwent Cryotop vitrification (group 2, n = 300), and a group that underwent our in-house freezing method (group 3, n = 300). Results: There were no significant differences between groups 2 and 3 in the immediate survival rate (96.3% vs. 98.6%, respectively; p= 0.085), the further cleavage rate (91.7% vs. 95.0%, respectively; p= 0.099), or the blastocyst formation rate (80.7% vs. 78.6%, respectively; p= 0.437). The cell numbers in the blastocysts from groups 1, 2, and 3 were comparable ($88.99{\pm}10.44$, $88.29{\pm}14.79$, and $86.42{\pm}15.23$, respectively; p= 0.228). However, the percentage of good-quality blastocysts in the Cryotop vitrification group was significantly higher than in the group in which our in-house method was performed, but was lower than in the control group (58.0%, 37.0%, and 82.7%, respectively; p< 0.001). Conclusion: At present, our method is inferior to the commercial Cryotop vitrification system. However, with further improvements, it has the potential to be useful in routine practice, as it is easier to perform than the current vitrification system.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.735-743
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• 2018

We investigated the effect of transforming growth factor beta 1 ($TGF-{\beta}1$) on equine hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2) gene expression and hyaluronan (HA) synthesis in culture models of articular chondrocytes. Equine chondrocytes were treated with $TGF-{\beta}1$ at different concentrations and times in monolayer cultures. In three-dimensional cultures, chondrocyte-seeded gelatin scaffolds were cultured in chondrogenic media containing 10 ng/mL of $TGF-{\beta}1$. The amounts of HA in conditioned media and in scaffolds were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. HAS2 mRNA expression was analyzed by semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The uronic acid content and DNA content of the scaffolds were measured by using colorimetric and Hoechst 33258 assays, respectively. Cell proliferation was evaluated by using the alamarBlue assay. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), histology, and immunohistochemistry were used for microscopic analysis of the samples. The upregulation of HAS2 mRNA levels by $TGF-{\beta}1$ stimulation was dose and time dependent. $TGF-{\beta}1$ was shown to enhance HA and uronic acid content in the scaffolds. Cell proliferation and DNA content were significantly lower in $TGF-{\beta}1$ treatments. SEM and histological results revealed the formation of a cartilaginous-like extracellular matrix in the $TGF-{\beta}1$-treated scaffolds. Together, our results suggest that $TGF-{\beta}1$ has a stimulatory effect on equine chondrocytes, enhancing HA synthesis and promoting cartilage matrix generation.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.127-132
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• 2021

Background: Herbicides such as glyphosate, paraquat, and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid have been reported to cause adverse side effects through production of reactive oxygen species. However, there were no data representing the adverse effects of a mixture herbicide usage in farmers, especially the changes in oxidative marker and antioxidant defense. This study aimed to determine the urinary malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) level in farmers using mixed herbicides. Methods: Ninety-three farmers were recruited, and two spot urine samples (before and after work) were collected. The urinary MDA level was evaluated by thiobarbituric acid reactive substance assay, and the urinary GSH level was determined using the enzymatic recycling method. Results: Sixty-two percent of the participants were men, and 59% of the participants worked in a farm for 20-40 years. The common combinations of herbicide usage were glyphosate with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (36.5%). There was no significant difference between pre- and post-work urinary MDA and GSH levels among the 3 groups of herbicides. However, the urinary MDA levels in farmers using the combination of glyphosate and paraquat were significantly higher than those found in farmers using glyphosate alone. The associated factors with changes in MDA levels found that the exposure intensity index (B = 0.154), the cumulative exposure intensity index (B = 0.023), and wearing gloves while working (B = -2.347) were found to be significantly associated with MDA level. Conclusion: The results suggest that the combined use of glyphosate and paraquat caused a significant increase in urinary MDA levels. Moreover, intensity of exposure to herbicide and wearing gloves were associated with the level of MDA.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.526-532
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• 2020

Background: The high incidence of work-related diseases and injuries among day-laborers and workers with no legal contracts (informal workers) has received the attention of the Thai authorities. Workers' low occupational health literacy (OHL) has been reasoned as one contributing factor. Absence of a valid tool has prevented assessment of informal workers' OHL. The aim of this study was to create a valid and reliable Occupational Health Literacy Scale within the context of Thai working culture (TOHLS-IF). Methods: This study used the mixed method approach to develop TOHLS-IF. Questions were generated using in-depth interviews and an extensive review of the literature. Experts' assessment confirmed the content validity of TOHLS-IF. The scales of its psychometric properties were assessed in a sample of 400 informal workers using cluster random sampling. Results: The final version of the TOHLS-IF comprises 38 items within 4 dimensions: Ability to Gain Access, Understanding, Evaluation, and Use of occupational health and safety information. Factor analysis identified items explaining 50.22% of the total variance. The final confirmatory analysis confirmed the model estimates were satisfactory for the construct. TOHLS-IF demonstrated a high internal consistency and satisfactory reliability (Cronbach's alpha = .98). Conclusion: The TOHLS-IF is a valid and reliable instrument to assess informal workers' OHL. The structural dimensions of this instrument are based on the concept of health literacy and Thai culture. Thai health professionals are encouraged to benefit from this instrument to assess their workers' OHL and apply findings as guidelines for effective occupational health and safety interventions.