• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.11
• /
• pp.4939-4944
• /
• 2016

Background: An upward trend has been noted for the incidence of prostate cancer (PCa) in Vietnam, but information is limited on modifiable factors associated with this form of cancer. This case-control study was conducted to ascertain any relationship between habitual tea consumption and PCa risk. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and fifty-three incident patients with histologically confirmed PCa and 419 (340 community-based and 79 hospital-based) controls, matched by age, were recruited in Ho Chi Minh City during 2013-2015. Information on frequency, quantity and duration of tea consumption, together with demographics, habitual diet and lifestyle characteristics, was obtained by direct interviews using a validated questionnaire. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess associations between tea consumption variables and PCa risk. Results: The control subjects reported higher tea consumption levels in terms of cumulative exposure, frequency and quantity of tea drank than the PCa patients. After accounting for confounding factors, increasing tea consumption was found to be associated with reduced risk of PCa. The adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 0.52 (95% CI 0.35-0.79) and 0.30 (95% CI 0.18-0.48) for participants drinking 100-500 ml/day and > 500 ml/day, respectively, relative to those drinking < 100 ml/day. Significant inverse dose-response relationships were also observed for years of drinking and number of cups consumed daily (P <0.01). Conclusion: Habitual tea consumption is associated with a reduced risk of PCa in Vietnamese men.

• Current Optics and Photonics
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.9-15
• /
• 2020

Fresnel zone plates have been widely used in many applications, such as x-ray telescopes, microfluorescence, and microimaging. To obtain an x-ray Fresnel zone plate, many fabrication methods, such as electron-beam etching, ion-beam etching and chemical etching, have been developed. Fresnel zone plates fabricated by these methods will inevitably lead to some nonideal factors, which have an impact on the focusing characteristics of the zone plate. In this paper, the influences of these nonideal factors on the focusing characteristics of the zone plate are studied systematically, by numerical simulations based on scalar diffraction theory. The influence of the thickness of a Fresnel zone plate on the absolute focusing efficiency is calculated for a given incident x-ray's wavelength. The diffraction efficiency and size of the focal spot are calculated for different incline angles of the groove. The simulations of zone plates without struts, with regular struts, and with random struts are carried out, to study the effects of struts on the focusing characteristics of a zone plate. When a Fresnel zone plate is used to focus an ultrashort x-ray pulse, the effect of zone-plate structure on the final pulse duration is also discussed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.1453-1461
• /
• 2016

Regarding 'mate' intake (infusion of Ilex paraguariensis herb, a staple beverage in temperate South American regions), most epidemiologic studies showed positive associations with risk of some cancers, (e.g. upper aerodigestive tract), but evidence on breast cancer (BC) risk is limited to a previous multi-site study, which reported a non significant odds ratio [OR]=0.85, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.67-1.09, p for trend=0.31) for the highest quartile of intake. The present study was conducted in order to further assess associations of 'mate' intake with BC risk. We combined two databases of women belonging to public and private healthcare hospitals. The sample included 572 BC incident cases and 889 controls interviewed with a specific questionnaire featured by socio-demographic, reproductive and lifestyle variables, and a food frequency questionnaire of 64 items, also analyzing 'mate' intake (consumer status, daily intake, age at start, age at quit, duration of habit, intensity of intake). ORs and their 95%CI were calculated through unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for relevant potential confounders. The highest quartile of 'mate' intake was inversely associated with BC risk (OR=0.40, 95%CI 0.26-0.57, p for trend <0.001). Stratified analyses also displayed strong significant inverse associations for 'mate' in frequent tea drinkers (OR=0.22), high energy intake (OR=0.23), high body mass index (OR=0.29) and in postmenopausal women (OR=0.36), among other results. As conclusions, we found evidence of a significant inverse association for 'mate' intake and BC risk.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.2303-2307
• /
• 2014

Background: Renal cancer is a serious public health problem which may be under reported and registered in our setup, since the Karachi cancer registry documented only 43 cases out of 4,268 incident cancer cases over 3 year duration. Therefore we aimed to determine the clinicopathologic characteristics of adult renal tumors in our setup. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in histopathology department, Liaquat National Hospital and included total of 68 cases of adult renal tumors over 4 years. Detailed histopathologic characteristics of tumors were analyzed. Results: Mean age of patients was 56.4 (18-84) years. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) was the most common cell type (78%) cases; followed by transitional/urothelial carcinoma (12.5%), leiomyosarcoma (4.7%), oncocytoma (1.6%), squamous cell carcinoma (1.6%) and high grade pleomorphic undifferentiated sarcoma (1.6%). Among 50 RCC cases; 62% were conventional/clear cell RCC (CCRCC) type followed by papillary RCC(PRCC), 24%; chromophobe RCC(CRCC), 6% and sarcomatoid RCC(SRCC), 8%. Mean tumor size for RCC was 7.2 cm. Most RCCs were intermediate to high grade (60% and 40% respectively). Capsular invasion, renal sinus invasion, adrenal gland involvement and renal vein invasion was seen in 40%, 18%, 2% and 10% of cases respectively. Conclusions: We found that RCC presents at an earlier age in our setup compared to Western populations. Tumor size was significantly larger and most of the tumors were of intermediate to high grade. This reflects late presentation of patients after disease progression which necessitates effective measures to be taken in primary care setup to diagnose this disease at an early stage.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.2923-2933
• /
• 2016

Recently, we reported an inverse association between high 'mate' intake (infusion of Ilex paraguariensis herb, a staple beverage in temperate South America) and breast cancer (BC) risk. Stronger inverse associations were found in high strata of tea, vegetable, fruit and energy intakes, and in overweight/obese women, suggesting possible roles for 'mate' mainly from its antioxidant contribution. The present study attempted to thoroughly explore possible associations among 'mate' and tea intake, dietary antioxidants and BC risk. Combining two databases of previous studies, 572 BC incident cases and 889 controls were interviewed with a specific questionnaire featuring socio-demographic, reproductive and lifestyle variables, and a food frequency questionnaire (64 items), focusing on 'mate' intake (consumer status, daily intake, age at start, age at quit, duration of habit). Food-derived nutrients were calculated from available databases. Odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated through unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for relevant potential confounders. The highest 'mate' intake was significantly inversely associated with BC risk for both low and high carotenoids (OR=0.40 vs. 0.41), vitamin C (OR=0.33 vs. 0.50), vitamin E (OR=0.37 vs. 0.45), flavonols (OR=0.38 vs. 0.48) and reduced glutathione (OR=0.48 vs. 0.46) strata. High tea intake showed significant inverse risk associations only with high carotenoids (OR=0.41), vitamin E (OR=0.48) and reduced glutathione (OR=0.43) strata. In conclusion, a strong and inverse association for 'mate' intake and BC was found, independent of dietary antioxidant levels. Also strong inverse associations with tea intake were more evident only at high levels of certain dietary antioxidants.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.59 no.5
• /
• pp.212-217
• /
• 2016

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical features of children who have survived a water submersion incident, and to identify risk factors for prognosis. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who experienced submersion between January 2005 and December 2014. The patients were classified into 2 groups, according to complications, and prognostic factors were evaluated. Results: During the study period, 29 children experienced submersion (20 boys and 9 girls; mean age, $83.8{\pm}46.4$ months). Submersion occurred most commonly in the summer, with the peak incidence in August. The most frequent Szpilman clinical score was grade 5 (13 patients; 44.8%), followed by grade 6 (7 patients; 24.1%), and grades 1 or 2 (3 patients; 10.3%). Five children (17.2%) in the poor prognosis group died or had hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, and the overall mortality rate was 6.9%. Poor prognosis after submersion was associated with lower consciousness levels (P=0.003), higher Szpilman scores (P=0.007), greater need for intubation and mechanical ventilator support (P=0.001), and longer duration of oxygen therapy (P=0.015). Poor prognosis was also associated with lower bicarbonate levels (P=0.038), as well as higher sodium, aspartate transaminase (AST), and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels (P=0.034, P=0.006, and P=0.005, respectively). Szpilman clinical scores were positively correlated with consciousness levels (r=0.489, P=0.002) and serum liver enzyme levels (AST and ALT; r=0.521, P=0.004). Conclusion: We characterized the prognostic factors associated with submersion outcomes, using the Szpilman clinical score, which is comparable to consciousness level for predicting mortality.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.31 no.5
• /
• pp.235-241
• /
• 2018

The internal pressure is a critical parameter for designing a pressure vessel. The static pressure that a pressure vessel must withstand is usually determined according to the various codes and standards with simple formula or numerical simulations considering the geometric parameters such as diameter and thickness of a vessel. However, there is no specific codes or technical standards we can use practically for designing of pressure vessels which have to endure the detonation pressure. Detonation pressure is a kind of dynamic pressure which causes an impulsive pressure on the vessel wall in a extremely short time duration. In addition, it is known that the magnitude of reflected pressure at the vessel wall due to the explosion can be over twice the incident pressure. Therefore, if we only consider the reflected pressure, the design of the pressure vessel can be too conservative from the economical point of view. In this study, we suggest a practical method to evaluate the magnitude of maximum allowable pressure that the pressure vessel can withstand against the detonation inside a vessel. As an example to validate the proposed method, we consider the pressure vessel containing hydrogen gas.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
• /
• 2000.05a
• /
• pp.1-1
• /
• 2000

The results of the modification of metal materials treated by high temperature pulst:d plasma fluxes (HTlPPF) with a specific power of incident flux changing in the $(3...100)10^5{]\;}W/cm^2$ range and a pulse duration lying from 15 to $50{\;}\mu\textrm{s}$ have been presented. The results of HTPPF action were studied on the stainless steels of 18Cr-l0Ni, 16Cr- 15Ni, 13Cr-2Mo types; on the structural carbon steels of (13...35)Cr, St. 3, St. 20, St. 45 types; on the tool steels of U8, 65G, ShHI5 types, and others; on nickel and high nickel alloy of 20Cr-45Ni type; on zirconium- and vanadium-base alloys and other materials. The microstructure and properties (mechanical, tribological, erosion, and other properties) of modified materials and surface alloying of metals exposed to HTPPF action have been investigated. It was found that the modification of materials by HTPPF resulted in a simultaneous increase of several properties of the treated articles: microhardness of the surface and layers of 40...60 $\mu\textrm{m}$ in depth, tribological characteristics (friction coefficient, wear resistance), mechanical properties ({\sigma_y}, {\;}{\sigma_{0.2}}.{\;}{\sigma_r}) on retention of the initial plasticity ($\delta$), corrosion resistance, radistanation erosion under ion irradiation, and others. The determining factor of the changes observed is the structural-phase modification of the near-surface layers, in particular, the formation of the fine cellular structure in the near-surface layers at a depth of $20{\;}{\mu\textrm{m}}$ with dimension of cells changing in the range from 0.1 to $1., 5{\;}\mu\textrm{m}$, depending on the kind of material, its preliminary treatment, and the parameters of plasma fluxes. The remits obtained have shown the possibility of purposeful surface alloying of metals exposed to HTPPF action over a depth up to 20...45 $\mu\textrm{m}$ and the concentration of alloying element (Ni, Cr, V) up to 20 wt.%. Possible industrial brunches for using the treatment have been also considered, as well as some results on modifying the serial industrial articles by HTPPF.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
• /
• 2022.05a
• /
• pp.516-516
• /
• 2022

Agricultural reservoirs are critical water resources structures to ensure continuous water supplies for rice cultivation in Korea. Climate change has increased the risk of reservoir failure by exacerbating discrepancies in upstream runoff generation, downstream irrigation water demands, and evaporation losses. In this study, the variations in water balance components of 400 major reservoirs during 1973-2017 were examined to identify the reservoirs with reliable storage capacities and resilience. A conceptual lumped hydrological model was used to transform the incident rainfall into the inflows entering the reservoirs and the paddy water balance model was used to estimate the irrigation water demand. Historical climate data analysis showed a sharp warming gradient during the last 45 years that was particularly evident in the central and southern regions of the country, which were also the main agricultural areas with high reservoir density. We noted a country-wide progressive increase in average annual cumulative rainfall, but the forcing mechanism of the rainfall increment and its spatial-temporal trends were not fully understood. Climate warming resulted in a significant increase in irrigation water demand, while heavy rains increased runoff generation in the reservoir watersheds. Most reservoirs had reliable storage capacities to meet the demands of a 10-year return frequency drought but the resilience of reservoirs gradually declined over time. This suggests that the recovery time of reservoirs from the failure state had increased which also signifies that the duration of the dry season has been prolonged while the wet season has become shorter and/or more intense. The watershed-irrigated area ratio (W-I_ratio) was critical and the results showed that a slight disruption in reservoir water balance under the influence of future climate change would seriously compromise the performance of reservoirs with W-I_ratio< 5.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2015

Breakthrough cancer pain is a transient exacerbation of pain that occurs despite relatively well controlled background pain with around-the-clock analgesia. It is highly prevalent in patients with cancer pain, with an overall prevalence of 70~90%. Breakthrough cancer pain has several negative effects on quality of life, including a decrease in functional status and social relationship, and higher incidence of anxiety/depression. It also places a detrimental burden on their families, society, and the healthcare system. According to the pathogenic mechanism, breakthrough cancer pain is classified into two categories: idiopathic (or spontaneous) pain and incident pain. Episodes of breakthrough cancer pain have typical characteristics, including rapid onset (5~10 min), severe intensity, and short duration (30~60 min). However, there are some variations in timing and severity of pain among patients and episodes. Therefore, a thorough assessment of pain episodes is needed and management plan must be individualized to provide optimal treatment. Several immediate-release formulations such as oxycodone, morphine, and hydromorphone are widely used despite relatively slow onset of action. Recent studies have shown that transmucosal fentanyl preparations were effective for faster control of breakthrough pain. We hope to improve management of breakthrough cancer pain with more efficient analgesics in line with currently available evidence.