• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제44권4호
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• pp.295-302
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• 2006

Liver function tests were peformed in 61 vivax, 54 malariae and 15 ovale malaria patients who were admitted to Bangkok Hospital for Tropical Diseases between 2001 and 2004. The objective of the study was to evaluate changes in hepatic biochemical indices before and after treatment with artemisinin derivatives. On admission and prior to treatment, hepatic dysfunction was found among the 3 groups. Serum liver function tests and physical examinations were peformed weekly during the 28-day follow-up period. Initially elevated serum bilirubin and diminished albumin returned to normal within 2 weeks of treatment. Serum alkaline phosphatase and aminotransferases returned to within normal limits within 3 weeks. We conclude that patients with Plasmodium vivax, P. malariae and p. ovate infections had slightly elevated serum bilirubin, aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase levels, and hypoalbuminemia. These minor abnormalities returned to normal within a few weeks after treatment with therapies based on artemisinin derivatives.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제46권2호
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• pp.65-70
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• 2008

Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is currently promoted as a strategy for treating both uncomplicated and severe falciparum malaria, targeting asexual blood-stage Plasmodium falciparum parasites. However, the effect of ACT on sexual-stage parasites remains controversial. To determine the clearance of sexual-stage P. falciparum parasites from 342 uncomplicated, and 217 severe, adult malaria cases, we reviewed and followed peripheral blood sexualstage parasites for 4 wk after starting ACT. All patients presented with both asexual and sexual stage parasites on admission, and were treated with artesunate-mefloquine as the standard regimen. The results showed that all patients were asymptomatic and negative for asexual forms before discharge from hospital. The percentages of uncomplicated malaria patients positive for gametocytes on days 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 were 41.5, 13.1, 3.8, 2.0, and 2.0%, while the percentages of gametocyte positive severe malaria patients on days 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 were 33.6, 8.2, 2.7, 0.9, and 0.9%, respectively. Although all patients were negative for asexual parasites by day 7 after completion of the artesunate-mefloquine course, gametocytemia persisted in some patients. Thus, a gametocytocidal drug, e.g., primaquine, may be useful in combination with an artesunate-mefloquine regimen to clear gametocytes, so blocking transmission more effectively than artesunate alone, in malaria transmission areas.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• 제41권2호
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• pp.93-97
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• 2016

Purpose: Grain slurry diet are described as food obtained from ground grain paste. They serve as highly nutritious food for both adults and infants in Nigeria because of their immense nutritive and economical value. However, the production of these grain slurry diets is confronted with challenges that have hampered their commercialization. This study examines the trends and constraints of grain slurry food processing in Kaduna State. Methods: A survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire to elicit information from 192 selected processors, including both men and women. The survey was structured in line with the study objectives. The information was collated and synopsized into frequency distribution. Results: These findings revealed that 80% of the respondents processed between 1.0 tons and 13.0 tons of grain slurry per month. More than 90% of the processors processed grain slurry into koko, kunu, agidi, and pito. Accordingly, 80% of the interviewed processors indicated that sieving is one of the major constraints. Furthermore, inadequate modern machinery required to perform this operation makes it highly discouraging. One of the major challenges faced by the grain slurry producers in Nigeria is the lack of processing machinery for most operations (39.1%), followed by the tedious processing nature (27.1%), high labor cost (18.1%), and lack of market (9.4%). The traditional method of grain slurry processing was more popular than using modern equipment, except milling (96.5%), which is the only mechanized unit operation in grain slurry processing. Conclusion: Grain slurry processing and marketing were found to be profitable. However, these limitations could extremely reduce the level of grain slurry production, processing, and economic returns, thereby affecting the general wellbeing of the processors. The study also raised concerns about the safety and hygiene associated with traditionally processed grain slurry diets in the investigated areas.

• STI Policy Review
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• 제4권2호
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• pp.113-135
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• 2013

This paper explores how research excellence is perceived among researchers in Thailand and Japan with an aim to explore whether there are any new indicators that could later be proposed and adopted as criteria of excellence. Based on a questionnaire survey, the findings reflect ideas and viewpoints that could be found among researchers in both countries. Creative researchers are crucial to a strong national research and innovation system. Institutions should provide an environment or incentives based on research performance for their researchers to flourish and be productive. For decades, bibliometrics have been used to evaluate individual research performance for its easy approach and faster speed than a qualitative assessment would warrant. Nonetheless, there have been a number of studies on research performance evaluating systems that point out how a purely bibliometric approach is inadequate in summarizing the quality of the scientific performance. The pressures on researchers today influence their thinking and oppose their creativity. To investigate the perception of research excellence, three key research questions were set in this study: what counts as excellence, how to measure excellence, and how to support excellence. The findings confirm that traditional granting criteria that frames an idea of excellence remain valid, but they also suggest novel criteria be considered and prioritized. This paper argues that the existing evaluating system is insufficient for unleashing the curiosity and creativity of researchers and fostering excellence. In the final section, the paper discusses factors that contribute to scientific creativity that we should not overlook.

• 산업경영시스템학회지
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.137-146
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• 2009

Researches on after-sales quality have centered on home electric appliances, figuring out how factors influencing after-sales service quality are causally related to customer's behavioral intentions, via consumer satisfaction as an intermediary parameter In most cases of after-sales service in home electric appliances, upon customer's request, service agents make a visit to where the appliance is installed, and check the product and do repairs. However, in case of a small portable device such as a cell phone, which people carry around at all times, most of the times customers themselves show up at the after-sales center, and demand a check-up and repairs. The main difference here is that the after-sales services are provided when a product can no longer perform its basic function and customer dissatisfaction is already up. In this case, the basic function of a product corresponds to must-be factor according to Kano model. The goal of our research is to identify critical factors for effective and efficient after-sales service, and how to monitor them on a routine basis. In our research, the quality after-sales service consists of three dimensions, interactive quality, result quality, and physical environment quality. We set up variables for each dimension, which would measure from customer's perspective key determining factors in service delivery process. Instead of focusing on customer satisfaction aspect, we focused on how after-sales service factors contribute to addressing customer complaints. Additionally, our future research would aim to verify how customer's behavioral intentions are affected, as the resolution of consumer complaints becomes more successful when adjustment of relevant quality factors improves after-sales service quality.

• 한국작물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국작물학회 2017년도 9th Asian Crop Science Association conference
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• pp.328-328
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• 2017

Drought is a major limiting factor that reduces rice production and occurs often especially under recent climate change. Plants have the ability to alter their developmental morphology in response to changing environment, which is known as phenotypic plasticity. In our previous studies, we found that one chromosome segment substitution line (CSSL50 derived from Nipponbare and Kasalath crosses) showed no differences in shoot and root growth as compared with the recurrent genotype, Nipponbare under non-stress condition but showed greater growth responses compared with Nipponbare under mild drought stress condition. We hypothesized that reducing root respiration as metabolic cost, which may be largely a consequence of aerenchyma formation would be one of the key mechanisms for root plasticity expression. This study aimed to evaluate the root respiration and aerenchyma formation under various soil moisture conditions among genotypes with different root plasticity. CSSL50 together with Nipponbare and Kasalath were grown under waterlogged conditions (Control) and mild drought stress conditions (20% of soil moisture content) in a plastic pot ($11cm{\times}14cm$, ${\varphi}{\times}H$) and PVC tube ($3cm{\times}30cm$, ${\varphi}{\times}H$). Root respiration rate was measured with infrared gas analyzer (IRGA, GMP343, Vaisala, Finland) with a closed static chamber system. There was no significant difference between genotypes in control for shoot and root growth as well as root respiration rate. In contrast, all the genotypes increased their root respiration rates in response to mild drought stress. However, CSSL50 showed lower root respiration rate than Nipponbare, which was associated by higher root aerenchyma formation that was estimated based on internal gas space (porosity) under mild drought stress conditions. Furthermore, there were significant negative correlations between root length and root respiration rate. These results imply that reducing the metabolic cost (= root respiration rate) is a key mechanism for root plasticity expression, which CSSL50 showed under mild drought.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제45권2호
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• pp.111-114
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• 2007

Chloroquine remains the drug of choice for the treatment of vivax malaria in Thailand. Mixed infections of falciparum and vivax malaria are also common in South-East Asia. Laboratory confirmation of malaria species is not generally available. This study aimed to find alternative regimens for treating both malaria species by using falciparum antimalarial drugs. From June 2004 to May 2005, 98 patients with Plasmodium vivax were randomly treated with either artemether-lumefantrine (n = 47) or chloroquine (n = 51). Both treatments were followed by 15 mg of primaquine over 14 days. Adverse events and clinical and parasitological outcomes were recorded and revealed similar in both groups. The cure rate was 97.4% for the artemether-lumefantrine treated group and 100% for the chloroquine treated group. We concluded that the combination of artemether-lumefantrine and primaquine was well tolerated, as effective as chloroquine and primaquine, and can be an alternative regimen for treatment of vivax malaria especially in the event that a mixed infection of falciparum and vivax malaria could not be ruled out.

• Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility
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• 제24권4호
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• pp.512-527
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• 2018

This review provides a comprehensive overview of brain imaging studies of the brain-gut interaction in functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs). Functional neuroimaging studies during gut stimulation have shown enhanced brain responses in regions related to sensory processing of the homeostatic condition of the gut (homeostatic afferent) and responses to salience stimuli (salience network), as well as increased and decreased brain activity in the emotional response areas and reduced activation in areas associated with the top-down modulation of visceral afferent signals. Altered central regulation of the endocrine and autonomic nervous responses, the key mediators of the brain-gut axis, has been demonstrated. Studies using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging reported abnormal local and global connectivity in the areas related to pain processing and the default mode network (a physiological baseline of brain activity at rest associated with self-awareness and memory) in FGIDs. Structural imaging with brain morphometry and diffusion imaging demonstrated altered gray- and white-matter structures in areas that also showed changes in functional imaging studies, although this requires replication. Molecular imaging by magnetic resonance spectroscopy and positron emission tomography in FGIDs remains relatively sparse. Progress using analytical methods such as machine learning algorithms may shift neuroimaging studies from brain mapping to predicting clinical outcomes. Because several factors contribute to the pathophysiology of FGIDs and because its population is quite heterogeneous, a new model is needed in future studies to assess the importance of the factors and brain functions that are responsible for an optimal homeostatic state.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• 제49권1호
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• pp.27-34
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• 2019

Purpose: The prevalence of supernumerary teeth has been reported to be between 0.1% and 3.8%. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, clinical significance, and associated pathologies of fourth molars based on a retrospective study and a literature review. Materials and Methods: A 5-year retrospective prevalence study was conducted at the Department of Oral Diagnosis and Dentomaxillofacial Radiology of Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan. The study involved extracting data from the digital records of patients from January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2017. The sampling frame included all patients who had panoramic radiographs, cone-beam computed tomography (CT), and multislice CT images during the period under review. Results: A total of 26,721 cases were reviewed and 87 fourth molars were identified. The prevalence of fourth molars in the 5-year study at Okayama was calculated as 0.32%. The mean age of patients with a fourth molar was 30.43 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 1:0.98. The vast majority of cases were in the maxilla (92%) and had normal shapes(89.7%); furthermore, 82.8% of cases were unerupted. Conclusion: The prevalence of fourth molars in the study population was found to be 0.32%, and fourth molars occurred with approximately equal frequency in males and females. Fourth molars were more common in the maxilla and were predominantly unerupted and small.

• Advances in materials Research
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.47-73
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• 2019

Joining of Mg/Ti hybrid structures by welding for automotive and aerospace applications has attracted great attention in recent years due mainly to its potential benefit of energy saving and emission reduction. However, joining them has been hampered with many difficulties due to their physical and metallurgical incompatibilities. Different joining processes have been employed to join Mg/Ti, and in most cases in order to get a metallurgical bonding between them was the use of an intermediate element at the interface or mutual diffusion of alloying elements from the base materials. The formation of a reaction product (in the form of solid solution or intermetallic compound) along the interface between the Mg and Ti is responsible for formation of a metallurgical bond. However, the interfacial bonding achieved and the joints performance depend significantly on the newly formed reaction product(s). Thus, a thorough understanding of the interaction between the selected intermediate elements with the base metals along with the influence of the associated welding parameters are essential. This review is timely as it presents on the current paradigm and progress in welding and joining of Mg/Ti alloys. The factors governing the welding of several important techniques are deliberated along with their joining mechanisms. Some opportunities to improve the welding of Mg/Ti for different welding techniques are also identified.