• Title/Summary/Keyword: Contrast ratio

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Calculation of the Quality Additional Rate of Clinical Laboratory Test and Review of Application Criteria (임상병리검사 질 가산율 산출 및 적용기준의 검토)

  • Yang, Byoung Seon;Park, Sang Muk;Bae, Hyung Joon;Kim, Won Shik;Park, Hun Hee;Lim, Yong;Kim, Yoon Sik;Choi, Se Mook;Bae, Do Hee;Park, Ji Ae
    • Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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    • v.52 no.3
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    • pp.261-270
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    • 2020
  • This study reviewed the quality addition rate, calculation, and application criteria needed to identify the possibility of additional medical technologists in the field for new certification and professional manpower to provide a superior laboratory. The six institutions that participated in the study were the size of large hospitals with more than 1,000 beds, with an average of five full-time laboratory physicians (also called clinical pathologists) and an average of 53 medical technologists, with 10.6 per laboratory physician. An analysis of the time required for each activity category of medical technologists revealed decreasing behavior during the analysis. In contrast, the ratio of the comprehensive pre-analysis activities was high due to the strengthening of laboratory operations and quality control. During the analysis, the proportion of biochemistry tests was high, and post-analysis of most of the results was performed. Hence, improving the quality of sample testing requires significant time, and appropriate personnel are required. In conclusion, the recruitment of medical technologists is also a key component to improving the sample quality, and corresponding personnel regulations are necessary.

Failure Behaviour and Shear Strength Equations of Reinforced Concrete Deep Beams (철근콘크리트 깊은 보의 파괴거동과 전단강도 산정식)

Studies on Vegetation for Ecological Restoration of Salt Marshes in Saemangeum Reclaimed Land - Population Formation Strategies of Halophytes - (새만금 간척지일대 염습지 생태복원을 위한 식생학적 연구 -염생식물의 개체군 형성 전략-)

  • Kim, Chang-Hwan
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.463-471
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    • 2009
  • A study on vegetation in the Mangyeong River and Dongjin River basins and the surrounding regions of the Saemangeum Reclaimed Land was conducted in a series of efforts to determine the expected ecological changes in the salt marshes, to restore their vegetation, to explore the restoring force of halophyte, to examine the community mechanism and, ultimately, to rehabilitate marshy land vegetation along the lakeside, coastal dune and salt marshes of the Saemangeum Project Area. The findings of the study may be summed up as follows: Five species such as Suaeda japonica, Salicornia herbacea, Atriplex gmelini, Aster tripolium and Suaeda asparagoides that are mostly distributed in the estuary of the Saemangeum Reclaimed Land were analyzed to examine the mechanism of halophyte to maintain their community. To find out the strategies of plants for survival and the cause of forming community structure, a research was made as for appearance ratio of biomass, root lengths and germination. With regard to biomasses of halophyte, the biomass of Suaeda japonica increases rapidly, while Salicornia herbacea adopts a strategy of unstable growth pattern by which the biomass increases slowly in parallel with its slow speed of growth since initial appearance of young sapling. In contrast, Suaeda asparagoides, Atriplex gmelini and Aster tripolium choose to adapt themselves to environment promptly by being transformed into life form of annual or biennial plant, a pattern that is presumed to be favorable and stable for survival in the later stage of growth. In short, there is a sharp distinction among the 5 species: i.e. Suaeda japonica that begins to grow fast in the length of surface and underground section but slows down from the mid-stage on; Salicornia herbacea that grows slowly in the beginning step but starts to step up from the middle onward; Atriplex gmelini and Aster tripolium growing slowly in the initial stage but fast later on; and Suaeda asparagoides that turns from the constant growth in the beginning to rapid growth in the later period. The outcomes of the analysis into status of growth and influencing factors of Suaeda japonica in the sowing field that is most widely prevalent in the Saemangeum Reclaimed Land as a sort of ecological pioneer in the salt marshes showed that the average size of grass lands, density and number of individuals increase in the natural sowing field as well as in the plowing field regardless of their physical as well as physico-chemical features of the soil as the season progresses from June to October of a year.

Investigation of Lateral Resistance of Short Pile by Large-Scale Load Tests (실물 재하시험을 통한 짧은말뚝의 횡방향 저항거동 평가)

  • Lee, Su-Hyung;Choi, Yeong-Tae;Lee, Il-Wha;Yoo, Min-Taek
    • Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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    • v.33 no.8
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    • pp.5-16
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    • 2017
  • When a lateral load is applied to a short pile whose embedded depth is relatively smaller than its diameter, an overturning failure occurs. To investigate the behavior of laterally loaded short piles, several model tests in laboratory scales had been carried out, however the behavior of large moment carrying piles for electric poles, traffic sign and road lamp, etc. have not been revealed yet. This paper deals with the real-scale load tests for 750 mm diameter short piles. To simulate the actual loading condition, very large moment was mobilized by applying lateral loads to the location 8 m away from the pile head. Three load tests changing the pile embedded lengths to 2.0 m, 2.5 m, and 3.0 m were carried out. The test piles overturned abruptly with very small displacement and rotation before the failures. These brittle failures are in contrast with the ductile failures shown in the former model tests with the relatively smaller moment to lateral load ratio. Comparisons of the test results with three existing methods for the estimation of the ultimate lateral capacity show that the method assuming the rotation point at pile tip matches well when the embedded depth is small, however, as the embedded depth increases the other two methods assuming the inversion of soil pressure with respect to rotation points in pile length match better.

Effects of Replacing Lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) Hay with Fresh Citrus Pulp on Ruminal Fermentation and Ewe Performance

  • Sparkes, J.L.;Chaves, A.V.;Fung, Y.T.E.;van Ekris, I.;Bush, R.D.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.23 no.2
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    • pp.197-204
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    • 2010
  • Two studies were conducted to determine the effects of replacing 30% (% in diet DM) of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) hay with citrus pulp in Merino ewe diets: i) an in vitro study which measured ruminal fermentation; and ii) an in vivo study in which twelve Merino ewes pre- and post-lambing were fed experimental diets in a cross-over design over 120 days to evaluate effects on ewe performance (i.e. DM intake, average daily gain (ADG) and wool growth). In both the in vitro and in vivo studies, the control treatment consisted of lucerne (91.3% in diet DM), lupins (8.3% in diet DM) and phosphate (0.42% in diet DM), while the citrus pulp treatment consisted of lucerne (57.7% in diet DM), lupins (9.5% in diet DM), phosphate (0.48% in diet DM) and fresh citrus pulp (32.3% in diet DM). Data were analysed using the mixed model procedure of SAS. In the in vitro study, gas production, total volatile fatty acid (VFA) yield, proportion of propionic acid to total VFA and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) were higher (p<0.02) in the citrus pulp treatment compared to the control treatment. In contrast, in vitro ammonia production, pH and the acetate to propionate ratio were lower (p<0.03) for the citrus pulp treatment compared to the control treatment. In the in vivo study, DM intake of ewes fed the citrus pulp diet was lower than their control ewe counterparts throughout both the pre- and post-lambing periods (928.9 vs. 1,115.0 g/d pre-; 1,285.0 vs. 1,620.3 g/d post-lambing, p<0.01), however ADG was similar (p = 0.12). Wool growth parameters and lamb performance did not differ (p>0.32) between treatments. In summary, the in vitro study demonstrated that the replacement of 30% of a lucerne diet with fresh citrus pulp improved total VFA yield, increased total gas production and improved IVDMD, while decreasing the production of ammonia, acetic acid and rumen pH. In addition, the in vivo study demonstrated that the replacement of 30% of a lucerne diet with fresh citrus pulp pre- and post-lambing decreased intake but did not affect ewe performance in terms of ADG and wool growth. These findings, of course, would be of significant interest to sheep producers endeavouring to control cost of feed ingredients whilst maintaining productivity.

Effect of Alcohol Fermented Feed on Lactating Performance, Blood Metabolites, Milk Fatty Acid Profile and Cholesterol Content in Holstein Lactating Cows

  • Li, X.Z.;Park, B.K.;Yan, C.G.;Choi, J.G.;Ahn, J.S.;Shin, J.S.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.25 no.11
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    • pp.1546-1552
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    • 2012
  • A feeding experiment with 40 lactating Holstein cows and 4 dietary treatments was conducted to investigate supplementation with different levels of alcohol fermented feed to the TMR on lactating performance, blood metabolites, milk fatty acid profile and cholesterol concentration of blood and milk. Forty Holstein lactating cows ($106{\pm}24$ d post-partum; mean${\pm}$SD) were distributed into four groups and randomly assigned to one of four treatments with each containing 10 cows per treatment. The treatment supplemented with TMR (DM basis) as the control (CON), and CON mixed with alcohol-fermented feeds (AFF) at a level of 5%, 10% and 15% of the TMR as T1, T2 and T3, respectively. Dry matter intake and milk yield were not affected by supplementation of AFF. An increased 4% FCM in the milk occurred in cows fed T3 diet compared with CON, while T1 and T2 diets decreased 4% FCM in a dose dependent manner. Supplementation of AFF increased the concentration of albumin, total protein (TP), ammonia, and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol in serum compared with CON. In contrast, supplementation with AFF clearly decreased concentration of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and total cholesterol (TC) compare with CON. AFF supplementation increased the proportion of C18:1n9 and C18:2n6 compared to CON. A decrease in the concentration of saturated fatty acid (SFA) for T1, T2 and T3 resulted in an increased unsaturated fatty acid (USFA) to SFA ratio compared to CON. Concentration of cholesterol in milk fat was reduced in proportion to the supplemental level of AFF. Feeding a diet supplemented with a moderate level AFF to lactating cows could be a way to alter the feed efficiency and fatty acid profile of milk by increasing potentially human consumer healthy fatty acid without detrimental effects on feed intake and milk production. A substantially decreased cholesterol proportion in milk induced by supplementation AFF suggests that alcohol fermented feed may improve milk cholesterol levels without any negative effects in lactating cows.

An Updated Meta-analysis Between the Association of XRCC1 Arg399Gln Polymorphism and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk

  • Zhang, Xiao-Lian;Lu, Yu;Yang, Shi;Peng, Qi-Liu;Wang, Jian;Xie, Li;Deng, Yan;He, Yu;Li, Tai-Jie;Qin, Xue;Li, Shan
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.7
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    • pp.3273-3278
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    • 2014
  • Background: Various studies have evaluated the relationship between X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1) Arg399Gln polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk, but the conclusions have been inconsistent and underpowered. The purpose of this updated meta-analysis was to examine whether XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism confers susceptibility to HCC. Methods: Eligible studies extracted from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, VIP (chinese) and CNKI (chinese) up to November 2013 were included in the study. Pooled odds ratio (OR) together with their 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated to evaluate XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism and HCC risk. Results: Finally, 21 studies with 4,170 cases and 5,030 controls were involved in our meta-analysis. The results demonstrated that there was significant association between Arg399Gln polymorphism and HCC risk under two contrast models in overall populations (AG vs GG: OR=1.265, 95%CI=1.036-1.545, p=0.021; AA+AG vs GG: OR=1.240, 95%CI=1.021-1.506, p=0.030). In subgroup analyses, significant association was found in Asians (A vs G: OR=1.175, 95%CI=1.013-1.362, p=0.033; AG vs GG: OR=1.317, 95%CI=1.070-1.622, p=0.009; AA+AG vs GG: OR=1.289, 95%CI=1.055-1.575, p=0.013) and Caucasians (A vs G: OR=0.591, 95%CI=0.361-0.966, p=0.036; AA+AG vs GG: OR=0.468, 95%CI=0.234-0.934, p=0.031). Conclusions: The results suggest that XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism may increase HCC risk especially among Asians. However, XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism might act as a protective role against HCC among Caucasians.

Effect of Thyroid Hormones on the Redox Balance of Broiler Chickens

  • Lin, H.;Decuypere, E.;Buyse, J.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.21 no.6
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    • pp.794-800
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    • 2008
  • In the present study, two trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of hyper- and hypothyroid status on the redox balance of broiler chickens. In Trial 1, 3 groups of broiler chickens were randomly subjected to one of the three treatments: subcutaneous administration of triiodothyronine (T3, $150{\mu}g/kg$ BW), methimazole (MMI, 150 mg/kg BW), or saline. The blood, liver and heart were sampled at 3 h after injection. In Trial 2, three groups of 20 broiler chickens were randomly fed with one of the three diets: control, dietary supplementation of T3 (1.5 mg/kg diet) or MMI (1 g/kg diet) for 7 days. In trial 1, the plasma concentrations of T3 and T3 to thyronine ratio (T3/T4) were significantly increased by T3 injection. Plasma levels of thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS) tended to be increased (p = 0.067) by both T3 and MMI treatments while the ferric reduced/antioxidant capacity (FRAP) was increased only by MMI treatment. Acute T3 treatment had no significant effect on the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the concentrations of FRAP and TBARS in either liver or heart tissue. In contrast, the hepatic activities of SOD were decreased (p<0.05) while the cardiac levels of FRAP were significantly increased (p<0.0001) by MMI treatment. In chronic treatments, the rectal temperature of chickens was significantly decreased (p<0.05) by MMI treatment. The circulating T3 levels were significantly increased (p<0.05) by long-term T3 treatment, and showed a trend to decrease in MMI treatment. The plasma concentrations of TBARS were significantly (p<0.05) increased by MMI treatment. All the redox parameters measured in either liver or heart were not significantly altered by either long-term T3 or MMI treatment except that the hepatic SOD activities were significantly augmented by T3 treatment. The result showed that neither acute nor long-term elevation of circulating T3 levels induced lipid peroxidation in broiler chickens. The enhanced enzymatic antioxidant system (SOD in cardiac tissue) may be involved in the protection of the bird to increased oxidative challenge. The responses of redox balance to changed thyroid state seem to be tissue specific.

Potential Source of PM10, PM2.5, and OC and EC in Seoul During Spring 2016 (2016년 봄철 서울의 PM10, PM2.5 및 OC와 EC 배출원 기여도 추정)

  • Ham, Jeeyoung;Lee, Hae Jung;Cha, Joo Wan;Ryoo, Sang-Boom
    • Atmosphere
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    • v.27 no.1
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    • pp.41-54
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    • 2017
  • Organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in $PM_{2.5}$ were measured using Sunset OC/EC Field Analyzer at Seoul Hwangsa Monitoring Center from March to April, 2016. The mean concentrations of OC and EC during the entire period were $4.4{\pm}2.0{\mu}gC\;m^{-3}$ and $1.4{\pm}0.6{\mu}gC\;m^{-3}$, respectively. OC/EC ratio was $3.4{\pm}1.0$. The average concentrations of $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ were $57.4{\pm}25.9$ and $39.7{\pm}19.8{\mu}g\;m^{-3}$, respectively, which were detected by an optical particle counter. The OC and EC peaks were observed in the morning, which were impacted by vehicle emission, however, their diurnal variations were not noticeable. This is determined to be contributed by the long-range transported OC or secondary formation via photochemical reaction by volatile organic compounds at afternoon. A conditional probability function (CPF) model was used to identify the local source of pollution. High concentrations of $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ were observed from the westerly wind, regardless of wind speed. When wind velocity was high, a mixing plume of dust and pollution during long-range transport from China in spring was observed. In contrast, pollution in low wind velocity was from local source, regardless of direction. To know the effect of long-range transport on pollution, a concentration weighted trajectory (CWT) model was analyzed based on a potential source contribution function (PSCF) model in which 75 percentiles high concentration was picked out for CWT analysis. $PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$, OC, and EC were dominantly contributed from China in spring, and EC results were similar in both PSCF and CWT. In conclusion, Seoul air quality in spring was mainly affected by a mixture of local pollution and anthropogenic pollutants originated in China than the Asian dust.

Studies on the Semicarbazone Formation of Mono substituted Benzaldehydes (일치환 Bezaldehyde 의 Semicarbazone 생성 반응에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Yong-In;Kim, Chang-Mean
    • Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.93-105
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    • 1990
  • Semicarbazone formation of nine monosubstituted benzaldehydes was studied kinetically in 20% methanol buffer solution at 15, 25, 35, and $45^{circ}C$. The rate of p-nitrobenzaldehyde semicarbazone formation is 2.7 times as fast as that of benzaldehyde, while p-hvdroxybenzaldehyde is 3.6 times as slow as that of benzaldehyde. Activation energies for p-chlorobenzaldehyde, benzaldehyde, p-methylbenzaldehyde, p-methoxybenzaldshyde, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, and p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde semicarbazone formation are calculated as 5.80, 6.19, 6.57, 7.06, 8.03, and 6.46 kcal/mol respectively. It is concluded from the effect of ionic strength that the reaction is affected by not ions but neutral molecules involving hydrogen bonding between oxygen atom of carbonyl group and hydrogen atom of acid-catalyst, and concerted attack of the necleophilic reagent, free base on carbonyl compound. Also, the effect of solvent composition is small in 20% and 50% methanol (and ethanol) aqueous solutions. The ${\rho}-{\sigma}$ plots for the rates of semicarbazone formation at pH 7.1 show a linear ${\rho}-{\sigma}$ relationship (${\rho}=0.14l$, in contrast to that at pH 2.75 and pH 5.4 corresponding to ${\rho}-{\sigma}$ correlations reparted by Jencks. The rate of semicarbazone formation at pH 5.4 show a relationship which is convex upward, resulting in a break in the curve but at pH 2.75, slight difference from a linear relationship. As a result of studying citric acid catalysis, second-order rate constants increase linearly with citric acid concentration and show a 2 times increase as the catalyst concentration is varied from 0.025 to 0.1 mol/1 at pH 2,9, but slight increase at pH 5.3. The rate-determining step is addition below pH 5 but is dehydration between pH 5 and 7. Conclusively, the rate-determining step of the reaction changes from dehydration to addition in respect to hydrogen ion activity near pH 5. The ortho: para rate ratio of the hydroxybenzaldehydes for semicarbazone formation is about 17 at $15^{\circ}C$. It is concluded that the results constitute strong evidence in favor of greater stabilization of p- than o-hydroxybenzaldehyde by substituent which donate electrons by resonance and is due to hydrogen bonding between the carbon-bound hydrogen of the-CHO group and the oxygen atom of the substituent.