• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.335-351
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• 2021

Purpose: An underlying factor for the failure of several clinical trials of anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) therapies is the lack of an effective method to identify patients who overexpress EGFR protein. The quantitative dot blot method (QDB) was used to measure EGFR protein levels objectively, absolutely, and quantitatively. Its feasibility was evaluated for the prognosis of overall survival (OS) of patients with gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: Slices of 2×5 ㎛ from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded gastric cancer specimens were used to extract total tissue lysates for QDB measurement. Absolutely quantitated EGFR protein levels were used for the Kaplan-Meier OS analysis. Results: EGFR protein levels ranged from 0 to 772.6 pmol/g (n=246) for all gastric cancer patients. A poor correlation was observed between quantitated EGFR levels and immunohistochemistry scores with ρ=0.024 and P=0.717 in Spearman's correlation analysis. EGFR was identified as an independent negative prognostic biomarker for gastric cancer patients only through absolute quantitation, with a hazard ratio of 1.92 (95% confidence interval, 1.05-3.53; P=0.034) in multivariate Cox regression OS analysis. A cutoff of 208 pmol/g was proposed to stratify patients with a 3-year survival probability of 44% for patients with EGFR levels above the cutoff versus 68% for those below the cutoff based on Kaplan-Meier OS analysis (log rank test, P=0.002). Conclusions: A QDB-based assay was developed for gastric cancer specimens to measure EGFR protein levels absolutely, quantitatively, and objectively. This assay should facilitate clinical trials aimed at evaluation of anti-EGFR therapies retrospectively and prospectively for gastric cancer.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2022

Purpose: The scoring system for traumatic liver injury (SSTLI) was developed in 2015 to predict mortality in patients with polytraumatic liver injury. This study aimed to validate the SSTLI as a prognostic factor in patients with polytrauma and liver injury through a generalized estimating equation analysis. Methods: The medical records of 521 patients with traumatic liver injury from January 2015 to December 2019 were reviewed. The primary outcome variable was in-hospital mortality. All the risk factors were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression analysis. The SSTLI has five clinical measures (age, Injury Severity Score, serum total bilirubin level, prothrombin time, and creatinine level) chosen based on their predictive power. Each measure is scored as 0-1 (age and Injury Severity Score) or 0-3 (serum total bilirubin level, prothrombin time, and creatinine level). The SSTLI score corresponds to the total points for each item (0-11 points). Results: The areas under the curve of the SSTLI to predict mortality on post-traumatic days 0, 1, 3, and 5 were 0.736, 0.783, 0.830, and 0.824, respectively. A very good to excellent positive correlation was observed between the probability of mortality and the SSTLI score (γ=0.997, P<0.001). A value of 5 points was used as the threshold to distinguish low-risk (<5) from high-risk (≥5) patients. Multivariate analysis using the generalized estimating equation in the logistic regression model indicated that the SSTLI score was an independent predictor of mortality (odds ratio, 1.027; 95% confidence interval, 1.018-1.036; P<0.001). Conclusions: The SSTLI was verified to predict mortality in patients with polytrauma and liver injury. A score of ≥5 on the SSTLI indicated a high-risk of post-traumatic mortality.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2022

Background: The current guidelines for the diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis (APN) recommend that APN be diagnosed based on the clinical features and the presence of pyuria. However, we observed that some of the patients who are diagnosed with APN do not have characteristic clinical features or pyuria at the initial examination. We performed this study to investigate the characteristics of APN without pyuria. Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted on 391 patients diagnosed with APN based on clinical and radiologic findings, between 2015 and 2019. The clinical features, laboratory results, and computed tomography (CT) findings were compared between patients with normal white blood cell (WBC) counts and those with abnormal WBC counts (WBC of 0-5/high power field [HPF] vs. >5/HPF) in urine. Results: More than 50% of patients with APN had no typical urinary tract symptoms and one-third of them had no costovertebral angle (CVA) tenderness. Eighty-eight patients (22.5%) had normal WBC counts (0-5/HPF) on urine microscopy. There was a negative correlation between pyuria (WBC of >5/HPF) and previous antibiotic use (odds ratio, 0.249; 95% confidence interval, 0.140-0.441; p<0.001), and the probability of pyuria was reduced by 75.1% in patients who took antibiotics before visiting the emergency room. Conclusion: The diagnosis of APN should not be overlooked even if there are no typical clinical features, or urine microscopic examination is normal. If a patient has already taken antibiotics at the time of diagnosis, imaging studies such as CT should be performed more actively, regardless of the urinalysis results.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.164-172
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• 2022

Objectives: We aimed to estimate the space-time distribution of the risk of suicide mortality in Iran from 2006 to 2016. Methods: In this repeated cross-sectional study, the age-standardized risk of suicide mortality from 2006 to 2016 was determined. To estimate the cumulative and temporal risk, the Besag, York, and Mollié and Bernardinelli models were used. Results: The relative risk of suicide mortality was greater than 1 in 43.0% of Iran's provinces (posterior probability >0.8; range, 0.46 to 3.93). The spatio-temporal model indicated a high risk of suicide in 36.7% of Iran's provinces. In addition, significant upward temporal trends in suicide risk were observed in the provinces of Tehran, Fars, Kermanshah, and Gilan. A significantly decreasing pattern of risk was observed for men (β, -0.013; 95% credible interval [CrI], -0.010 to -0.007), and a stable pattern of risk was observed for women (β, -0.001; 95% CrI, -0.010 to 0.007). A decreasing pattern of suicide risk was observed for those aged 15-29 years (β, -0.006; 95% CrI, -0.010 to -0.0001) and 30-49 years (β, -0.001; 95% CrI, -0.018 to -0.002). The risk was stable for those aged >50 years. Conclusions: The highest risk of suicide mortality was observed in Iran's northwestern provinces and among Kurdish women. Although a low risk of suicide mortality was observed in the provinces of Tehran, Fars, and Gilan, the risk in these provinces is increasing rapidly compared to other regions.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.523-536
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• 2023

Purpose: This study investigated the association between sleep problems and food allergies (FAs) in Chinese preschoolers and assessed whether there is a difference in this association among children with/without siblings. Methods: A cluster-stratified sampling approach was employed to select four districts in Chongqing based on demographic considerations. A total of 16 kindergartens (n = 966 parents) participated in this study. Parents completed the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) and a standard FAs questionnaire. Analysis of covariance and multiple logistic regression were used to assess the associations between sleep problems and FAs after adjusting for relevant confounders. Results: The study found that 16.3% of children had FAs, with eggs, shellfish, and fruit being the most common allergenic foods. The prevalence of FAs was significantly higher in single children (20.63%) than in children with siblings (13.36%). A total of 70.39% of children had CSHQ scores above the clinical cut-off for sleep disorder. Factor analysis revealed five underlying dimensions from the CSHQ. Factor scores, except for the 'difficulty morning waking' factor, were not significantly different between the two groups. Remarkably, the factor scores of 'parasomnias' and 'sleep anxiety' were significantly higher when children had both siblings and FAs. For all subjects, the odds ratios (ORs) of FAs significantly increased with the presence of sleep disorder (OR, 2.35; 95% confidence interval [CI],1.50-3.68) and 'difficulty falling asleep' (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.22-1.48). The subgroup analysis showed that the probability of FAs significantly increased with the 'difficulty falling asleep' (OR, 1.32 vs. 1.38) and sleep disorder (OR, 2.48 vs. 2.14) in children with and without siblings, respectively. The 'parasomnias' was positively associated only with children with siblings. Conclusion: This study suggests that children with siblings might be more susceptible to FAs when accompanied by certain sleep problems. Further studies are warranted to address the underlying dimensions and possible mediation effects of having siblings with sleep problems.

• Industry Promotion Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.45-58
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• 2024

This study modelled the social network structure characteristics between Innopolis Start-ups located in Daejeon and Innopolis Start-ups' customers scattered across the country as a tendency of regional clustering among homogeneous technologies, and the observed values were included within the 95% confidence interval of the ERGM(Exponential Random Graph Model) analysis model. If both the research institute and the customer company are located in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, the probability of being connected is about 13 times higher than if they are located in other administrative districts, and there is a strong tendency of connection between firms with the same technology with a negative value of assortment and homogeneity (0.1904), especially among the six technology sectors, with a P value of 0.035. There was a negative value (-0.0035) among firms not located in Yuseong-gu, with less clustering tendency. This confirms that Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, where the Daedeok Innopolis is located, is forming the centre of an innovation cluster.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.684-694
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose was to review the diagnostic performance of the length of tumor capsular contact (LCC) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for detecting prostate cancer extraprostatic extension (EPE). Materials and Methods: PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched up to March 24, 2019. We included diagnostic accuracy studies that evaluated LCC on MRI for EPE detection using radical prostatectomy specimen histopathology as the reference standard. Quality of studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool. Sensitivity and specificity were pooled and graphically presented using hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) plots. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses were conducted to explore heterogeneity. Results: Thirteen articles with 2136 patients were included. Study quality was generally good. Summary sensitivity and specificity were 0.79 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.73-0.83) and 0.67 (95% CI 0.60-0.74), respectively. Area under the HSROC was 0.81 (95% CI 0.77-0.84). Substantial heterogeneity was present among the included studies according to Cochran's Q-test (p < 0.01) and Higgins I² (62% and 86% for sensitivity and specificity, respectively). In terms of heterogeneity, measurement method (curvilinear vs. linear), prevalence of Gleason score ≥ 7, MRI readers' experience, and endorectal coils were significant factors (p ≤ 0.01), whereas method to determine the LCC threshold, cutoff value, magnet strength, and publication year were not (p = 0.14-0.93). Diagnostic test accuracy estimates were comparable across all assessed MRI sequences. Conclusion: Greater LCC on MRI is associated with a higher probability of prostate cancer EPE. Due to heterogeneity among the studies, further investigation is needed to establish the optimal cutoff value for each clinical setting.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.2218-2229
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• 2015

Recently Wi-Fi Alliance defined Wi-Fi direct, which can communicate through a direct connection between the mobile device anytime, anywhere. In Wi-Fi direct, all devices are categorized by group of owner (GO) and client. Since portability is emphasized in Wi-Fi direct devices, it is essential to control the energy consumption of a device very efficiently. In order to avoid unnecessary power consumed by GO, Wi-Fi direct standard defines two power management schemes: Opportunistic power saving scheme and Notice Of Absence (NOA) scheme. But, these two schemes do not consider the traffic pattern, so we cannot expect high energy efficiency. In this paper, we suggest an algorithm to enhance the energy efficiency of Wi-Fi direct power saving, considering the characteristics of multimedia video traffic. Proposed algorithm utilizes the statistical distribution for the size of video frames and adjusts the length of awake interval dynamically. Also, considering the inter-dependency among video frames, the proposed algorithm assigns priorities to video frames and ensures that a video frame with high priority is transmitted with higher probability than other frames with low priority. Simulation results shows that the proposed method outperforms the traditional NOA in terms with average delay and energy efficiency.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 1991

This paper described on the availability fo the underwater telemetering by the ulterasonic multi-beam system made as a trial to expand detectable range of the fish school. The ultrasonic multi-beam system consisted of four transducers which reconstructed with the existing net recorder. The experiment for the telemetering carried out in the set net fishing ground. The results obtained are summerized as follows: 1. The detectable distance of a target by the linear arrangement of four transducers increased according to the sea depth and the interval between transducers. 2. When the fish school in the entrance of set net was measured by linear arrangement of transducers it was entered in depth of 2.5~3.5m at near position of leader, and in depth of 3.5~4.5m at near position of door net. 3. The deviations of error between the actual position and the position by transducer in case of the target depth 1m, 1.5m, 2m were 5.9~27.1cm, 3.2~28.9cm, 3.5~25.8cm respectively, and 68.3% probability radius of them were 14.6cm, 17.7cm, 17.0cm respectively. 4. When the fish school in the fish court of set net was measured by plane arrangement of transducer it was entered toward the opposite direction of tide current. 5. The available distance of telemetering by the multi-beam transducer was 1.8km and the telemetering was possible to control everywhere in case of sea depth more than three meters.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.447-454
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• 2017

Using two large coast guard ships at sea, we created four encounter situations ($000^{\circ}$, $045^{\circ}$, $090^{\circ}$, $135^{\circ}$) with high possibility of collision, from 3 NM up to 0.25 NM. As relative distance was gradually decreased, the subjects were measured at 0.25 NM intervals and perceived ship collision risk (PSCR) was determined by looking at the opponent ship. Characteristics were statistically analyzed using the obtained data. The purpose of this study was to analyze the characteristics of collision risk values obtained from twelve intervals, from 3 NM to 0.25 NM relative to encounter situations by curve fitting with appropriate polynomials, to determine the distance from which the change in perceived collision risk is greatest. As a result, an optimal regression equation for each distance interval was derived from each analysis direction. The greatest variation in average collision risk value was over the range 1.25 ~ 1 NM, and the collision risk value was largest at 1 NM. The maximum change in perceived collision risk was at 1 NM. These results can contribute to preventive guidelines to minimize human error in close proximity situations with a high probability of ship collision.