A Comparative Study on the Designer-Oriented Current Status of Menu Book Designs in the Restaurants of Incheon Area / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The purpose of this study was to examine the designs of the menu books as an important tool of marketing and then present its improvement strategies. For this, the investigator comparatively examined the current status of menu book designs of the restaurants in Incheon area with 295 managers and then analyzed menu book designs by its designers. Menu book designers were printing houses (42.0%), specialized business (31.9%) and managers/employees (26.1%). 51.5% of menu books were impossible to substitute partially. Even there were seasonal menus or event menus, 27.5% of them were impossible to replace menu books partially; therefore, it was impossible to take a prompt action for seasonal or event menus. The easiness of understanding the terminology in menu books was average 2.74 +/- 0.45(3-point scale). The harmony of menu book design with restaurants was average 2.46 +/- 0.51 (3-point scale). Comparing to the menu books designed in specialized business, the menu books designed in printing houses or by managers/employees were uniform in type sizes (p < 0.001), had no menu photos (p < 0.001) and explanations (p < 0.001), and did not classify menus by groups (p < 0.001) in general. In addition, profit-making menus were not properly emphasized (p < 0.001), thus making the design of menu books a little improper. Therefore, it is necessary to educate managers in the restaurants to understand the importance of menu books and thus improve it. In addition, by maintaining close communication with designers of menu books, managers in the restaurants must ensure for their menu books to be designed appropriately, thus making their menu books play the role of an important marketing tool.

Jejunal Pouch Interposition (JPI) after Distal Gastrectomy in Patients with Gastric Cancer

PUPOSE: Recently, because of the increasing numbers of early gastric cancer patients and improvements in their survivals, greater attention has been directed towards the quality of life and nutritional status of gastric cancer patients after surgery. However, conventional reconstructions, Billroth- I, -II (B-I and B-II) or Roux-en-Y, have proven to have certain limitations, such as a small reservoir, and a malabsorption for iron, fat, calcium, and carotene. To overcome these limitations, we used a jejunal pouch interposition(JPI) after a distal gastrectomy not only to substitute for the small reservoir but also to maintain a physiologic pathway for ingested foods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 196 gastric cancer patients who underwent a distal gastrectomy between March 2001 and February 2004 were divided into 3 groups: JPI group (n=100), B-I group (n=29), and B-II group (n=67). We assessed the patient's nutritional status, gastric emptying time, and gastrofiberscopic findings. RESULTS: The percents of body weight loss at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years postoperatively in the JPI group (5.14%, 3.01%, 2.37%) were significantly less than those of the conventional B-I (8.41%, 6.69%, 5.90%) and B-II groups (7.50%, 7.65%, 5.86%) (P=0.011, 0.000, 0.013). The laboratory findings showed no significant differences between the 3 groups, except for a higher total protein level in the JPI group after 6 months postoperatively. Especially, stage I and II cancers in the JPI group showed much higher total protein levels after 1 year postoperatively. The gastric emptying times in the 99mTc- semisolid scans at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years postoperatively were 102.5, 83.1, and 58.1 minutes in the JPI group, 95.5, 92.0, and 58.5 minutes in the B-I group, and 53.9, 69.1, and 50.2 minutes in the B-II group, respectively. Also, the symptomatic gastric stasis detected with a gastrofiberscope during the early postoperative period (6 months) was gradually improved. CONCLUSION: From a nutritional aspect, a jejunal pouch interposition after a distal gastrectomy could be an alternative reconstruction method, especially in stage I and II gastric cancer patients, in spite of the longer operation time and the probable delayed gastric emptying.

Clinical Analysis of the Gastric Stump Cancer-Classification Proposed by the Korean Gastric Cancer Association-

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinicopathological features and treatment results of 49 cases of gastric stump cancer based on the classification proposed by the Korean Gastric Cancer Association. METHODS: A total of 49 patients with gastric stump cancer, who underwent operation from 1991 to 2000, were divided into three group: primary cancer (group I, n=20), remnant cancer (group II, n=15) and recurrent cancer (group III, n=14). The clinicopathological features and patient survivors in each groups were analyzed and compared with the primary upper one third cancer patients. RESULTS: The incidence of operated stump cancer was 0.8% (49/6, 445 cases) during the ten years. The male to female ratio was 3.9: 1 and mean age was 56.5 years (range 39~ 83 years). The resectability was 96% (47/49 cases) and curability was 73.4% (36/49 cases). There were 16 (80%), 1 (7%), 0 (0%) cases of benign primary disease and 4 (20%), 14 (93%), 14 (100%) cases of malignant primary disease in each group, respectively. The mean duration from primary disease to stump cancer was 21.7 years (10~40 years) in group I, 3.4 years (4 months~9 years 2 months) in group II and 3.4 years (1 year~7 years 5 months) in group III. The 5 year-survival rate was 45.1% in group I, 63.5% in group II and 0% in group III. But there was no statistic differences in 5 year-survival rates between stump cancer (33.0%) and primary cancer of the upper one third (30.9%). CONCLUSION: The condition of the primary disease, tumor location, duration of cancer development and tumor stage had statistical differences between the three groups. In the case of benign disease, the patients belonged in the high-risk group for the new development of gastric cancer following 20 years. Early detection of cancer in the remnant stomach by periodic follow up is important, especially in high-risk groups, and application of aggressive surgical treatment will improve patient survival.