• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.675-678
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• 2015

Background: There are several validated risk factors for breast cancer. However the legitimacy of elevated fasting blood glucose (FBG) is not well established. This study was designed to assess this parameter as a risk factor for breast cancer among pre- and post-menopausal women. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted at Department of Biochemistry, University of Karachi from June 2010 to August 2014. Simple random sampling technique was used to collect data of study subjects comprising 175 diagnosed breast cancer patients with positive histopathology from Breast Clinic, surgical unit-1, Civil Hospital, Karachi and 175 healthy controls from various screening programs. Blood samples were analyzed for FBG and serum insulin. Results: FBG, HOMA-IR, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly raised in breast cancer cases when compared to control subjects. Cases and controls were further categorized in to two groups using cutoff value of 110mg/dl to distinguish subjects into normal fasting glucose (<110mg/dl) and having impaired fasting glucose (${\geq}110-{\leq}125mg/dl$) or diabetes (${\geq}126mg/dl$). Odds ratios were found to be 1.57, 2.15 and 1.17 in overall, pre-menopausal and post-menopausal groups, respectively. (all p < 0.05). Conclusions: A statistically significant risk of breast cancer exists in women having elevated fasting blood glucose levels, corresponding to prediabetes and diabetes, among pre and postmenopausal ages, with comparatively greater effects in the premenopausal group.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.475-479
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• 2013

Background: In this study we aimed to determine the rate and habitual patterns of smoking, intentions of cessation, dependence levels and sociodemographic characteristics of relatives of patients with a diagnosis of cancer. Materials and Methods: This study was designed by the Turkish Oncology Group, Epidemiology and Prevention Subgroup. The relatives of cancer patients were asked to fill a questionnaire and Fagerstrom test of nicotine dependence. Results: The median ages of those with lower and higher Fagerstrom scores were 40 years and 42 years, respectively. We found no evidence of variation between the two groups for the remaining sociodemographic variables, including the subject's medical status, gender, living in the same house with the patient, their educational status, their family income, closeness to their cancer patients or spending time with them or getting any help or wanting to get some help. Only 2% of the subjects started smoking after cancer was diagnosed in their loved ones and almost 20% of subjects had quit smoking during the previous year. Conclusions: The Fagerstrom score is helpful in determining who would be the most likely to benefit from a cigarette smoking cessation program. Identification of these people with proper screening methods might help us to pinpoint who would benefit most from these programs.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.25-35
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to figure out emotional labor, healthy lifestyle, needs for health services of flight attendants and the relationships among needs for health services according to various characteristics of flight attendants. Methods: The participants of this study were 140 flight attendants who work on major and low cost airlines. Data were collected through a questionnaire from 2017 .Jan.~2017. Feb. Data were subsequently analyzed using the SPSS 21 Program. Results: The score of emotional labor was 3.76 surface acting was 3.75 and deep acting was 3.77. The average of healthy lifestyle was 2.41, and the highest was 3.13 of personal relationship and the lowest was 1.91 of eating habits. There is a positive correlation between emotional labor-deep acting and healthy lifestyle. Flight attendants demand health services for physical exercise, stress and emotional labor management, healthy eating habits, emergency treatment, prevention of fatigue, cancer screening, sexual harassment prevention, sex education and etc. Conclusion: These results show that flight attendants need to various interventions for improving healthy lifestyle and reducing emotional labor. It is necessary to develop customized health promotion program suited to their job and general characteristics.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.473-484
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the relations among appropriateness of work, competency on student suicide and attitude toward suicide in health teachers. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional descriptive one. The subjects were 193 health teachers. Self-administered questionnaires were used to measure the variables of this study. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and stepwise multiple regression with SAS 9.3 software were used for the data analysis. Results: The attitude score toward suicide ranged from 1.47 to -1.03. The average score of appropriateness of work and competency related to student suicide were 2.34 and 2.81 respectively. Associated factors with competency related to student suicide among health teacher were appropriateness of work related to student suicide, two items of attitude toward suicide(suicide is an acceptable means to end an incurable illness and people who commit suicide are usually mentally ill), education level, education experience on suicide prevention and management, and the adjusted $R^2$ of the regression model was 34.3%. Conclusion: Health teachers were not tolerable to student suicide. However, they evaluated themselves as low in the appropriateness and competency to the work on student suicide, especially in screening and counselling of high risk groups. The results of this study suggest that it is necessary to develop education programs about counseling and intervention on student suicide for health teachers.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.sup1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2008

PET or PET/CT detects only less than 50% of early gastric cancer and 62-98% of advanced gastric cancer. Therefore, mass screening programs are recommended for all adults over the age of 40 for early detection and early treatment of gastric cancer through endoscopy or various radiological tests. The most important step after diagnosis of gastric cancer is accurate staging, which mainly evaluates tumor resectability to avoid unnecessary surgery. Important factors that affect tumor resectability are whether the tumor can be separated from adjacent organs or important blood vessels, the extent of lymph node metastasis, presence of peritoneal metastasis, or distant organ metastasis. To evaluate the extent of local tumor invasion, anatomical imaging that has superior spatial resolution is essential. There are a few studies on prognostic significance of FDG uptake with inconsistent results between them. In spite of lower sensitivity for lymph node staging, the specificity of CT and PET are very high, and the specificity for PET tends to be higher than that for CT. Limited data published so far show that PET seems less useful in the detection of lung and bone metastasis. In the evaluation of pleural or peritoneal metastasis, PET seems very specific but insensitive as well. When FOG uptake of primary tumor is low, distant metastasis also tends to show low FDG uptake reducing its detection on PET. There are only a few data available in the evaluation of recurrence detection and treatment response using FDG PET or PET/CT.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1393-1397
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• 2016

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the first cause of cancer death in women worldwide, with infiltrating duct carcinoma as the most common morphology. This study aimed to investigate trend of breast cancer incidence by age groups and histological changes in Iranian women between 2003 and 2008. Materials and Methods: This is analytic study, carried out based on re-analysis of the Cancer Registry Center report of health deputy for women's breast cancer in Iran during a 6-year period (2003-2008). Statistical analysis for incidence time trends and morphology change percentage carried out joinpoint regression analysis using the software Joinpoint Regression Program. Results: A total of 36,340 cases were reported for Iranian women in the six years. Analytical trend showed an increasing incidence trend with significant annual percentage change (APC) of 15.2 (CI: 11.6 to 18.8). The lowest and highest significant increased trend were related to age groups of 40 to 44 years and above 85 years, respectively; with APCs of 13.0 and 25.1, respectively. Of total cases, 78.7% of cases were infiltrating duct carcinoma, decreasing from 82.0% in 2003 to 76.6% in 2008, which was significant with an APC equal to -1.76 (CI:-2.7 to -0.8). Conclusions: The incidence trend of breast cancer is rising in Iranian women. The highest incidence was observed in the age groups 45-65 and 80-85. In conclusion, to reduce breast cancer incidence and its burden, preventive and screening programs for breast cancer, especially in young women, are recommended in Iran.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7679-7686
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• 2014

Background: This study aimed to seek insights into Chinese women's lay beliefs about cervical cancer causal attributions and prevention. Materials and Methods: Twenty-three new immigrant adult women from Mainland China and thirty-five Hong Kong adult women underwent semi-structured in-depth interviews. Interviews were audio taped, transcribed and analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach. Results: This study generated three foci: causal beliefs about cervical cancer, perceived risk of cervical cancer, and beliefs about cervical cancer prevention. Personal risky practices, contaminated food and environment pollution were perceived as the primary causes of cervical cancer. New immigrant women more likely attributed cervical cancer to external factors. Most participants perceived cervical cancer as an important common fatal female cancer with increased risk/prevalence. Many participants, particularly new immigrant women participants, expressed helplessness about cervical cancer prevention due to lack of knowledge of prevention, it being perceived as beyond individual control. Many new immigrant participants had never undergone regular cervical screening while almost all Hong Kong participants had done so. Conclusions: Some Chinese women hold pessimistic beliefs about cervical cancer prevention with inadequate knowledge about risk factors. Future cervical cancer prevention programs should provide more information and include capacity building to increase Chinese women's knowledge and self-efficacy towards cervical cancer prevention.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 2015

Wuchereria bancrofti, Dirofilaria immitis, and Dirofilaria repens are filarial nematodes transmitted by mosquitoes belonging to Culex, Aedes, and Anopheles genera. Screening by vector dissection is a tiresome technique. We aimed to screen filarial parasites in their vectors by single and multiplex PCR and evaluate the usefulness of multiplex PCR as a rapid xenomonitoring and simultaneous differentiation tool, in area where 3 filarial parasites are coexisting. Female mosquitoes were collected from 7 localities in Assiut Governorate, were microscopically identified and divided into pools according to their species and collection site. Detection of W. bancrofti, D. immitis, and D. repens using single PCR was reached followed by multiplex PCR. Usefulness of multiplex PCR was evaluated by testing mosquito pools to know which genera and species are used by filarial parasites as a vector. An overall estimated rate of infection (ERI) in mosquitoes was 0.6%; the highest was Culex spp. (0.47%). W. bancrofti, D. immitis, and D. repens could be simultaneously and differentially detected in infected vectors by using multiplex PCR. Out of 100 mosquito pools, 8 were positive for W. bancrofti (ERI of 0.33%) and 3 pools each were positive for D. immitis and D. repens (ERI 0.12%). The technique showed 100% sensitivity and 98% specificity. El-Nikhila, El-Matiaa villages, and Sahel Seleem district in Assiut Governorate, Egypt are still endemic foci for filarial parasites. Multiplex PCR offers a reliable procedure for molecular xenomonitoring of filariasis within their respective vectors in endemic areas. Therefore, it is recommended for evaluation of mosquito infection after lymphatic filariasis eradication programs.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.9
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• pp.353-362
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to suggest a professional consensus on the topics that should be dealt with importantly in the movement program for the recovery of cancer patients in Korea. As a result of calculating the importance of the finalized movement program component, First, the opinions about the environment for the promotion of movement were suggested as pleasant facilities, natural lighting, rest room space, facilities aspect of environment friendly space, education about diseases, participation programs, health feedback, information handouts. Second, the opinions on the purpose of the movement program were suggested to promote prevention and early screening of cancer, education, sharing effective treatment methods of cancer patients, cognitive aspect and psychological support for accurate information transmission, stress relief, and improvement of quality of life. Third, the opinions on the consideration of the movement program suggested stress relieving, cancer patient's needs, correct information delivery, quality of life, and participation of cancer patients. Fourth, the problems of the movement program were presented with different physical characteristics, physical inconvenience, the patient side of passive participation, space narrowness and lack, space aspect of program exclusive space etc.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.317-325
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• 2018

Purpose: We investigated correlations between the findings of oral examinations and panoramic radiography in order to determine the efficacy of using panoramic radiographs in screening examinations. Methods: This study included patients who visited dental clinics at National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) Ilsan Hospital for checkups during 2009-2015 and underwent panoramic radiographic examinations within 1 year prior to the oral examinations. Among the 48,006 patients who received checkups, 1,091 were included in this study. The data were evaluated using the Cohen kappa and interrater agreement coefficients. Accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated using data from the panoramic radiographs as true positive diagnoses. Results: The interrater agreement coefficient for occlusal caries was 28.8%, and the Cohen kappa coefficient was 0.043 between the oral and panoramic radiographic examinations. Root caries and subgingival calculus were only found on the radiographs, while gingival inflammation was found only by the oral examinations. The oral examinations had a specificity for detecting occlusal dental caries of 100%, while their sensitivity for proximal dental caries and supragingival calculus was extremely low (14.0% and 18.3%, respectively) compared to the panoramic radiographic examinations. The oral examinations showed a relatively low sensitivity of 66.2% and a specificity of 43.7% in detecting tooth loss compared with panoramic radiography. Conclusions: Panoramic radiography can provide information that is difficult to obtain in oral examinations, such as root caries, furcation involvement, and subgingival calculus, which are factors that can directly affect the survival rate of teeth. It therefore seems reasonable and necessary to add panoramic radiography to large-scale health checkup programs such as that provided by the NHIS.