A Study of the Content Validity of Reading Comprehension Tests in NMET II

Zhen-Jie Liu,Ming-Hao Jin 대한언어학회 2018 언어학 Vol.26 No.4

Liu, Zhen-Jie & Jin, Ming-Hao. (2018). A study of the content validity of reading comprehension tests in NMET II. The Linguistic Association of Korea Journal, 26(4), 103-124. Based on Bachman and Palmer’s (1996) framework of task characteristics, this paper aims to compare the reading comprehension tests of the 2013-2017 National Matriculation English Test II (NMET II) with the requirements of the New Curriculum Standards and Testing Syllabus, in particular, concerning the content validity of the tests in terms of the characteristics of input and expected responses. The implications of this study are discussed for test designers, teachers, and students. The results show that reading comprehension tests from 2013 to 2017 basically meet the requirements of the New Curriculum Standard and Testing Syllabus and have a high content validity. In terms of the characteristics of input, the length, reading speed, and readability of comprehension passages are appropriate for students; however, the distribution of topics and genres in each year is uneven. In terms of the characteristics of expected responses, the wordings of questions and the design of question items are reasonable. However, the response type is mainly restricted to selected response questions (multiple-choice), and the measure of reading skills coverage is unbalanced.

뇌졸중환자의 인지기능에 관한 연구

류명인,소희영 충남대학교 간호과학연구소 2006 충남대 간호학술지 Vol.9 No.1

Purpose: This study was to explore the cognitive function of stroke patients. Method: The study sample were 88 who were possible to communicate and agreed to participate. The data was collected at OPD and wards from 2 Veteran's hospital located at Daejeon and Seoul and one C University hospital by trained nursing students at 2004 February. this research design is survey research. The measurement tool was MMSE-K. The data were analysed by SPSS 10.0 using frequency, t-test ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients and Regression. Result: The mean score of MMSE-K was 26.74, being from minimum 13 to maximum 30. There was significant difference in attention/calculation subtype of MMSE-K according to length of education. There were statistically significant correlation among Time orientation, Place orientation, Registration, Attention & Calculation, Recall and Language. Conclusion: The cognitive function score of stroke patients was within normal limit. The length of education was a significant demographic characteristic affecting cognitive function. For rehabilitative care of stroke patient, the nurse has to collect data about cognition as well as demographic characteristics like income and perceived health status in order tar understand better and improve patients cognitive function.

Efficacy and safety of herbal medicine (Lianhuaqingwen) for treating COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Ming Liu,Ya Gao,Yuan Yuan,Kelu Yang,Shuzhen Shi,Jinhui Tian,Junhua Zhang 한국한의학연구원 2021 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.10 No.1

Background: Lianhuaqingwen (LH) has been proven effective for influenza. However, the promotion of LH for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 remains controversial. Therefore, our study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of Lianhuaqingwen (LH) in treating patients with COVID-19 by a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: We conducted the literature search using six electronic databases from December 1, 2019, to June 2, 2020. Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used to assess the quality of randomized controlled trials. Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of case control studies. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality checklist was used to assess the quality of case series. All analyses were conducted by RevMan 5.3. For outcomes that could not be meta-analyzed were performed a descriptive analysis. Results: Eight studies with 924 patients were included. Three studies were RCTs, three were case control studies, and two were case series. The quality of the included studies was poor. Compared with patients treated by conventional treatment, patients treated by LH combined with conventional treatment have a higher overall effective rate (RR = 1.16, 95%CIs: 1.04∼1.30, P = 0.01) and CT recovery rate (RR=1.21, 95%CIs: 1.02∼1.43, P = 0.03). Patients of LH groups have a lower incidence of diarrhea (5.6% vs.13.4%), and have statistically significant (P = 0.026). But the rate of abnormal liver function in the combined medication group is higher than that in the single LH group. Conclusion: LH combined with conventional treatment seems to be more effective for patients with mild or ordinary COVID-19.

Clinicopathologic Characteristics and Prognostic Factors in Patients with Operable HER-2 Overexpressing Breast Cancer

Liu, Ai-Na,Sun, Ping,Liu, Jian-Nan,Ma, Jin-Bo,Qu, Hua-Jun,Zhu, Hua,Yu, Cai-Yan,Zhang, Liang-Ming Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.4

Objective: To study the relationship between clinical pathologic characteristics, treatment modalities and prognostic factors in HER-2 (Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor-2) overexpressed breast carcinoma. Materials and Methods: Major clinico-pathological factors including therapeutic modalities and survival status of 371 breast cancer patients with HER2 over-expression, teated at Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital from March of 2002 to December of 2010 were retrospectively studied, with special attention focused on survival-related factors. Results: The median age of the total 371 patients in this study was 48 years at time of diagnosis, among which, the leading pathological type was infiltrating ductal carcinoma (92.5%); 62.8% presented with a primary tomor larger than 2 cm in diameter at diagnosis, 51.0% had axillary lymph node (ALN) metastases; ER (Estrogen receptor)/PR (Progesterone receptor) double negative occured in 52.8% of cases, and PCNA (proliferation cell nuclear antigen) (+++) was found in 55.1%. HER-2 overexpressed patients were usually in advanced stage when the diagnosis was made (72.8% at stages IIA~IIIC). The prognosis and survival were assessed in 259 patients with complete follow-up data. 5-year DFS (disease-free survival) and OS (overall survival) rate was 68.0% and 78.0% respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that age, tumor size, ALN metastases, LVSI (lymph-vascular space involvement), PCNA status, hormonal therapy, chemotherapy cycles, and HER-2 overexpression, correlated closely with the prognosis. ALN metastases, LVSI, PCNA status and chemotherapy cycles were independent predictors of survival. Conclusions: HER-2 overexpressed breast cancer has special clinical and pathological characteristics, with advanced clinical stages and high rate of ER/PR double negative. Lymph node metastases, LVSI, PCNA and chemotherapy cycles are independent predictors of prognosis.

Conformational Transitions of Polymer Brushes for Reversibly Switching Graphene Transistors

Liu, Song,Jamali, Safa,Liu, Qingfeng,Maia, Joao,Baek, Jong-Beom,Jiang, Naisheng,Xu, Ming,Dai, Liming American Chemical Society 2016 Macromolecules Vol.49 No.19

<P>We developed a facile, but efficient, approach to graphene field-effect transistors (FET) functionalized with polymer brushes, in which the conductance can be reversibly switched by solvent-induced polymer conformational changes. Our experimental and stimulation results demonstrated that the solvent-induced conformational transition of the polymer brush could affect the carrier concentration by changing the number of,scattering sites associated with the graphene-polymer contact areas, leading to reversible electrical switching for the graphene FET device. Both end-adsorbed diblock and triblock copolymers showed similar switching effect through the solvent-induced chain stretching-collapse and tail-to-loop conformational changes, respectively. This work provides new platform technologies for developing novel electronic devices with tunable electrical properties and for studying macromolecular conformations and conformational transitions.</P>

MTHFR C677T Polymorphism and Pancreatic Cancer Risk: a Meta-analysis

Liu, Xiang-Ming,Liu, Feng-Hua,Tang, Yong,Li, Qiang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.8

Background: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a key enzyme in the metabolism of folate, and the role of the MTHFR C677T polymorphism in pancreatic carcinogenesis is still controversial. Methods: A literature search was performed using Pubmed and CNKI databases for published studies through May 2012. We performed a meta-analysis of all relevant case-control studies that examined the association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and pancreatic cancer risk. Results: Finally, 9 individual case-control studies with a total of 1,299 pancreatic cancer cases and 2,473 controls were included into this meta-analysis. Results: This metaanalysis showed there was an obvious association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and pancreatic cancer risk in East Asians (for allele model, OR = 1.67, 95%CI 1.11-2.51; For homozygote model, OR = 2.77, 95%CI 1.40-5.48; for recessive model, OR = 1.96, 95%CI 1.54-2.50; for dominant model, OR = 2.11, 95%CI 1.01-4.41). However, no significant association was found in Caucasians. Conclusions: The MTHFR C677T polymorphism is associated with pancreatic cancer risk, and a race-specific effect may exist in this association. More studies with a larger sample size are needed to further clarify this association.

MicroRNA Expression Profile Analysis Reveals Diagnostic Biomarker for Human Prostate Cancer

Liu, Dong-Fu,Wu, Ji-Tao,Wang, Jian-Ming,Liu, Qing-Zuo,Gao, Zhen-Li,Liu, Yun-Xiang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.7

Prostate cancer is a highly prevalent disease in older men of the western world. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNA molecules that regulate gene expression via posttranscriptional inhibition of protein synthesis. To identify the diagnostic potential of miRNAs in prostate cancer, we downloaded the miRNA expression profile of prostate cancer from the GEO database and analysed the differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) in prostate cancerous tissue compared to non-cancerous tissue. Then, the targets of these DE-miRNAs were extracted from the database and mapped to the STRING and KEGG databases for network construction and pathway enrichment analysis. We identified a total of 16 miRNAs that showed a significant differential expression in cancer samples. A total of 9 target genes corresponding to 3 DE-miRNAs were obtained. After network and pathway enrichment analysis, we finally demonstrated that miR-20 appears to play an important role in the regulation of prostate cancer onset. MiR-20 as single biomarker or in combination could be useful in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. We anticipate our study could provide the groundwork for further experiments.

Screening of Differentially Expressed Genes among Various TNM Stages of Lung Adenocarcinoma by Genomewide Gene Expression Profile Analysis

Liu, Ming,Pan, Hong,Zhang, Feng,Zhang, Yong-Biao,Zhang, Yang,Xia, Han,Zhu, Jing,Fu, Wei-Ling,Zhang, Xiao-Li Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.11

Background: To further investigate the molecular basis of lung cancer development, we utilize a microarray to identify differentially expressed genes associated with various TNM stages of adenocarcinoma, a subtype with increasing incidence in recent years in China. Methods: A 35K oligo gene array, covering about 25,100 genes, was used to screen differentially expressed genes among 90 tumor samples of lung adenocarcinoma in various TNM stages. To verify the gene array data, three genes (Zimp7, GINS2 and NAG-1) were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR in a different set of samples from the gene array. Results: First, we obtained 640 differentially expressed genes in lung adenocarcinomas compared to the surrounding normal lung tissues. Then, from the 640 candidates we identified 10 differentially expressed genes among different TNM stages (Stage I, II and IIIA), of which Zimp7, GINS2 and NAG-1 genes were first reported to be present at a high level in lung adenocarcinoma. The results of qRT-PCR for the three genes were consistent with those from the gene array. Conclusions: We identified 10 candidate genes associated with different TNM stages in lung adenocarcinoma in the Chinese population, which should provide new insights into the molecular basis underlying the development of lung adenocarcinoma and may offer new targets for the diagnosis, therapy and prognosis prediction.

Adjuvant Radiotherapy after Breast Conserving Treatment for Breast Cancer:A Dosimetric Comparison between Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy and Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy

Liu, Zhe-Ming,Ge, Xiao-Lin,Chen, Jia-Yan,Wang, Pei-Pei,Zhang, Chi,Yang, Xi,Zhu, Hong-Cheng,Liu, Jia,Qin, Qin,Xu, Li-Ping,Lu, Jing,Zhan, Liang-Liang,Cheng, Hong-Yan,Sun, Xin-Chen Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.8

Background: Radiotherapy is an important treatment of choice for breast cancer patients after breast-conserving surgery, and we compare the feasibility of using dual arc volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT2), single arc volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT1) and Multi-beam Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (M-IMRT) on patients after breast-conserving surgery. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients with breast cancer (half right-sided and half left-sided) treated by conservative lumpectomy and requiring whole breast radiotherapy with tumor bed boost were planned with three different radiotherapy techniques: 1) VMAT1; 2) VMAT2; 3) M-IMRT. The distributions for the planning target volume (PTV) and organs at risk (OARs) were compared. Dosimetries for all the techniques were compared. Results: All three techniques satisfied the dose constraint well. VMAT2 showed no obvious difference in the homogeneity index (HI) and conformity index (CI) of the PTV with respect to M-IMRT and VMAT1. VMAT2 clearly improved the treatment efficiency and can also decrease the mean dose and V5Gy of the contralateral lung. The mean dose and maximum dose of the spinal cord and contralateral breast were lower for VMAT2 than the other two techniques. The very low dose distribution (V1Gy) of the contralateral breast also showed great reduction in VMAT2 compared with the other two techniques. For the ipsilateral lung of right-sided breast cancer, the mean dose was decreased significantly in VMAT2 compared with VMAT1 and M-IMRT. The V20Gy and V30Gy of the ipsilateral lung of the left-sided breast cancer for VMAT2 showed obvious reduction compared with the other two techniques. The heart statistics of VMAT2 also decreased considerably compared to VMAT1 and M-IMRT. Conclusions: Compared to the other two techniques, the dual arc volumetric modulated arc therapy technique reduced radiation dose exposure to the organs at risk and maintained a reasonable target dose distribution.

CT Findings of Persistent Pure Ground Glass Opacity: Can We Predict the Invasiveness?

Liu, Li-Heng,Liu, Ming,Wei, Ran,Jin, Er-Hu,Liu, Yu-Hui,Xu, Liang,Li, Wen-Wu,Huang, Yong Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.5

Background: To investigate whether CT findings can predict the invasiveness of persistent cancerous pure ground glass opacity (pGGO) by correlating the CT imaging features of persistent pGGO with pathological changes. Materials and Methods: Ninety five patients with persistent pGGOs were included. Three radiologists evaluated the morphologic features of these pGGOs at high resolution CT (HRCT). Binary logistic regression was used to assess the association between CT findings and histopathological classification (pre-invasive and invasive groups). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of diameters. Results: A total of 105 pGGOs were identified. Between pre-invasive (atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, AAH, and adenocarcinoma in situ, AIS) and invasive group (minimally invasive adenocarcinoma, MIA and invasive lung adenocarcinomas, ILA), there were significant differences in diameter, spiculation and vessel dilatation (p<0.05). No difference was found in air-bronchogram, bubble-lucency, lobulated-margin, pleural indentation or vascular convergence (p>0.05). The optimal threshold value of the diameters to predict the invasiveness of pGGO was 12.50mm. Conclusions: HRCT features can predict the invasiveness of persistent pGGO. The pGGO with a diameter more than 12.50mm, presences of spiculation and vessel dilatation are important factors to differentiate invasive adenocarcinoma from pre-invasive cancerous lesions.