• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1463-1467
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• 2016

Background: The incidence of breast cancer is rapidly increasing in Yemen with recent indications of constituting one-third of female cancers. The main problem in Yemen remains very late presentation of breast cancer, most of which should have been easily recognisable. Since stage of disease at diagnosis is the most important prognostic variable, early diagnosis is an important option to be considered for control of breast cancer in low resourced settings like Yemen. In the present study, we aimed at describing breast cancer knowledge, perceptions and breast self-examination (BSE) practices among a sample of Yemeni women. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study covered 400 women attending four reproductive health centres in Aden, Yemen through face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire during April - July 2014. We collected data on sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge about breast cancer, and screening practices as well as respondents' perceptions based on the five sub scales of the Health Belief Model (HBM): perceived susceptibility; perceived severity; perceived barriers; perceived benefits; and self-efficacy. The response format was a five-point Likert scale. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 20) was used for statistical analysis. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Logistic regression analysis was conducted with BSE as a dependent variable. Results: The mean age of women was 26.5 (S.D=5.6) years. The majority (89.0%) had never ever performed any screening. Two-thirds of respondents had poor knowledge. Perceived BSE benefits and self-efficacy and lower BSE barriers perception were significant independent predictors of BSE practice. Conclusions: Poor knowledge and inadequate BSE practices are prevailing in Yemen. The need for implementing culturally sensitive targeted education measures is mandatory in the effort to improve early detection and reduce the burden of breast cancer.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.420-427
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• 2019

Introduction: To prevent and manage the societal and economic burden of occupational diseases (ODs), countries should develop strong prevention policies, health surveillance and registry systems. This study aims to contribute to the improvement of OD surveillance at national level as well as to identify priority actions in Turkey. Methods: The history and current status of occupational health studies were considered from the perspective of OD surveillance. Interpretative research was done through literature review on occupational health at national, regional and international level. Analyses were focused on countries' experiences in policy development and practice, roles and responsibilities of institutions, multidisciplinary and intersectoral collaboration. OD surveillance models of Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands were examined through exchange visits. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to explore the peculiarities of legislative and institutional structures, the best and worst practices, and approach principles. Results: Some countries are more focused on exploring OD trends through effective and cost-efficient researches, with particular attention to new and emerging ODs. Other countries try to reach every single case of OD for compensation and rehabilitation. Each practice has advantages and shortcomings, but they are not mutually exclusive, and thus an effective combination is possible. Conclusion: Effective surveillance and registry approaches play a key role in the prevention of ODs. A well-designed system enables monitoring and assessment of OD prevalence and trends, and adoption of preventive measures while improving the effectiveness of redressing and compensation. A robust surveillance does not only provide protection of workers' health but also advances prevention of economic losses.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3623-3626
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• 2016

Breast cancer is very common and the leading cause of cancer deaths among women globally. Hereditary cases account for 5-10% of the total burden and CHEK2, which plays crucial role in response to DNA damage to promote cell cycle arrest and repair or induce apoptosis, is considered as a moderate penetrance breast cancer risk gene. Our objective in the current study was to analyze mutations in related to breast cancer. A total of 271 individuals including breast cancer patients and normal subjects were enrolled and all 14 exons of CHEK2 were amplified and sequenced. The majority of the patients (>95%) were affected with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), 52.1% were diagnosed with grade III tumors and 56.2% and 27.5% with advanced stages III and IV. Two novel nonsense variants i.e. c.58C>T (P.Q20X) and c.256G>T (p.E85X) at exon 1 and 2 in two breast cancer patients were identified, both novel and not reported elsewhere.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.625-630
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• 2013

Background: Hardcore smoking is represented by a subset of daily smokers with high nicotine dependence, inability to quit and unwillingness to quit. Estimating the related burden could help us in identifying a high risk population prone to tobacco induced diseases and improve cessation planning for them. This study assessed the prevalence and associated factors of hardcore smoking in three South-East Asian countries and discussed its implication for smoking cessation intervention in this region. Materials and Methods: Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) data of India, Bangladesh and Thailand were analyzed to quantify the hardcore smoking prevalence in the region. On the basis of review, an operational definition of hardcore smoking was adopted that includes (1) current daily smoker, (2) no quit attempt in the past 12 months of survey or last quit attempt of less than 24 hours duration, (3) no intention to quit in next 12 months or not interested in quitting, (4) time to first smoke within 30 minutes of waking up, and (5) knowledge of smoking hazards. Logistic regression analysis was carried out using hardcore smoking status as response variable and gender, type of residence, occupation, education, wealth index and age-group as possible predictors. Results: There were 31.3 million hardcore smokers in the three Asian countries. The adult prevalence of hardcore smoking in these countries ranges between 3.1% in India to 6% in Thailand. These hardcore smokers constitute 18.3-29.7% of daily smokers. The logistic regression model indicated that age, gender, occupation and wealth index are the major predictors of hardcore smoking with varied influence across countries. Conclusions: Presence of a higher number of hardcore smoking populations in Asia is a major public health challenge for tobacco control and cancer prevention. There is need of intensive cessation interventions with due consideration of contextual predictors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5293-5299
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• 2013

Purpose: High levels of bone morphogenetic protein (BMPs) have been reported in patients with lung cancer. This study was conducted to assess correlations between serum BMP-2 levels and prognostic outcome in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Blood samples from 84 patients with advanced NSCLC and 42 healthy controls were analyzed and quantitated for serum BMP-2 levels before and after two cycles of chemotherapy using a commercially available ELISA kit. Results: The median level of BMP-2 was 146.9 pg/ml in patients with NSCLC vs. 87.7 pg/ml in healthy controls (P<0.01). A significant correlation was observed between pretreatment serum BMP-2 level and ECOG PS, disease stage and number of organs with metastases (P<0.05). Serum BMP-2 level decreased significantly in patients who achieved objective response after two cycles of chemotherapy. Multivariate analysis showed that increased BMP-2 level and advanced clinical stage were significantly correlated with poor prognosis. Conclusion: Thes erum BMP-2 level is positively correlated with clinical stage, ECOG PS and metastatic burden and may serve as an independent negative predictor for prognosis. Decreased BMP-2 after chemotherapy could be a reliable marker for efficacy of treatment.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.276-284
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• 2018

Purpose: Traditionally, three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) is used for neoadjuvant chemoradiation in locally advanced rectal cancer. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) was later developed for more conformal dose distribution, with the potential for reduced toxicity across many disease sites. We sought to use the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to examine trends and predictors for IMRT use in rectal cancer. Materials and Methods: We queried the NCDB from 2004 to 2015 for patients with rectal adenocarcinoma treated with neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiation to standard doses followed by surgical resection. Odds ratios were used to determine predictors of IMRT use. Univariable and multivariable Cox regressions were used to determine potential predictors of overall survival (OS). Propensity matching was used to account for any indication bias. Results: Among 21,490 eligible patients, 3,131 were treated with IMRT. IMRT use increased from 1% in 2004 to 22% in 2014. Predictors for IMRT use included increased N stage, higher comorbidity score, more recent year, treatment at an academic facility, increased income, and higher educational level. On propensity-adjusted, multivariable analysis, male gender, increased distance to facility, higher comorbidity score, IMRT technique, government insurance, African-American race, and non-metro location were predictive of worse OS. Of note, the complete response rate at time of surgery was 28% with non-IMRT and 21% with IMRT. Conclusion: IMRT use has steadily increased in the treatment of rectal cancer, but still remains only a fraction of overall treatment technique, more often reserved for higher disease burden.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1021-1029
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• 2010

In 2009 the former three surveys on small and medium enterprises were combined into one survey to reduce the response burden of enterprises. In this report, we study a sample design for 2009 survey on actual state of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). However, the differences between the manufacturing industries and knowledge-based service industries are so large that we need to consider separate populations in the survey. The total sample size is decided as 10,000 in new survey design for integration. We allocate the sample sizes for the first stratum based on CV and then allocate the sample sizes for the second stratum using root proportional formula. Also we calculate survey weights and propose the formula for the estimators as well as standard errors using weights for each characteristic.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartC
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• v.16C no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2009

Recently, as traffic flooding attacks such as DoS/DDoS and Internet Worm have posed devastating threats to network services, rapid detection and proper response mechanisms are the major concern for secure and reliable network services. However, most of the current Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) focus on detail analysis of packet data, which results in late detection and a high system burden to cope with high-speed network traffic. In this paper we propose an SNMP-based lightweight and fast detection algorithm for traffic flooding attacks, which minimizes the processing and network overhead of the detection system, minimizes the detection time, and provides high detection rate. The attack detection algorithm consists of three consecutive stages. The first stage determines the detection timing using the update interval of SNMP MIB. The second stage analyzes attack symptoms based on correlations of MIB data. The third stage determines whether an attack occurs or not and figure out the attack type in case of attack.

• Journal of The Korean Association of Information Education
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.60-68
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• 2009

With the increase of double-income families, parents are not free in terms of time and space in communicating with teachers. Also for teachers, with many students and heavy load of work, communication with parents has been poor. As a means for overcoming this kind of situation, this research examined the current status of communication between teachers and parents using SMS and problems to solve. The investigation of the actual conditions of SMS use showed that there was a high number of answers pointing out that SMS is needed for the exchange of information regarding children and educational activities, and teachers pointed out that the communication was effective for exchanging educational information regarding children whereas parents pointed out that it was effective in improving the children's attitudes. Based on the results of the analysis, the following was found as tasks to be solved: preparing a plan for revitalizing SMS use, solving the burden that parents have in communicating with teachers, becoming more friendly with teachers, investigation of the reason why there is no response regarding SMS and preparing countermeasures, providing information appropriate to what parents want, increasing the reply rate of parents, expansion of text capacity, and trouble with getting online with a computer.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.92-104
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• 1996

Contract Managed foodservice has been expanded rapidly in university foodservice operations. The purposes of this study were to examine customers and administrators' preference concerning operation format, the decision making components for operation format, and administrators' attitudes concerning contract managed and self-operated foodservice. Two types of questionnaires were developed and implemented. Customer and administrator's questionnaires were distributed to 900 university students and 27 administrators respectively, and 831 customers and 24 administrators were responded with a response rate of 92.3% and 88.8% respectively. Statistical data analysis was completed using the SPSS programs for descriptive analysis, $x^2$-test, ANOVA, and T-test. The results of this study can be summarized as follows 1. In deciding foodservice operation format, the components customers considered were the ability to provide variety of meal items, aesthetic and safe food(62.6%), the ability to provide a food with competetive low price(22.1%), and the ability to provide adequate service and nutrition information. On the contrary, the components administrators considered were the ability to provide variety of meal items, aesthetic and safe food(66.7%), the ability to relieve administrators of managerial burden of the foodservice operation(12.5%), and the ability to invest facility(8.3%). 2. The average score of attitude on contracted and self-operated management activities were 3.41, 3.10 respectively. University administrators evaluated that contractors performed financial management activities more effectively. 3. University administrators with contracted or self-operated foodservice favored their own current operation format.