• Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.63-68
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• 2001

The objective of this study was to develop a real-time soil moisture meter using RF impedance. The impedance suchas capacitance and resistance (or conductance) was analyzed using parallel cylinder type capacitance probe(C-probe) and Q-meter (HP4342). The capacitance and conductance of soil increased as volumetric water content increased. The 5 MHz of modified Colpitts type crystal oscillator was designed to detect the capacitance change of the C-probe with moist soil. A third order polynomial regression model was proposed to describe the relationship between RF impedance and volumetric water content. The prototype real time moisture meter consisted of the C-probe, sample container, oscillator, frequency counter and related signal processing units. The calibration equation for measurement of volumetric moisture content of soil was developed and validated. The correlation coefficient and root mean square error between measured volumetric water content by oven method and predicted values by prototype moisture meter for unknown soil samples were 0.984 and 0.032$cm^3$$cm\^3$, respectively.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
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• v.30 no.7_8
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• pp.713-718
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• 2003

The CONDENSATION (Conditional Density Propagation) algorithm has a robust tracking performance and suitability for real-time implementation. However, the CONDENSATION tracker has some difficulties with real-time implementation for multiple people tracking since it requires very complicated shape modeling and a large number of samples for precise tracking performance. Further, it shows a poor tracking performance in the case of close or partially occluded people. To overcome these difficulties, we present three improvements: First, we construct effective templates of people´s shapes using the SOM (Self-Organizing Map). Second, we take the discrete HMM (Hidden Markov Modeling) for an accurate dynamical model of the people´s shape transition. Third, we use the competition rule to separate close or partially occluded people effectively. Simulation results shows that the proposed CONDENSATION algorithm can achieve robust and real-time tracking in the image sequences of a crowd of people.

• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.555-562
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• 2005

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are becoming the most common type of markers used in genetic analysis. In the present report a SNP has been chosen to test the applicability of Real Time PCR to discriminate and quantify SNPs alleles on DNA pools. Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ARMS) and Mismatch Amplification Mutation Assay (MAMA) has been applied. Each assay has been pre-validated testing specificity and performances (linearity, PCR efficiency, interference limit, limit of detection, limit of quantification, precision and accuracy). Both the approaches achieve a precise and accurate estimation of the allele frequencies on pooled DNA samples in the range from 5% to 95% and don't require standard curves or calibrators. The lowest measurement that could be significantly distinguished from the background noise has been determined around the 1% for both the approaches, allowing to extend the range of quantifications from 1% to 99%. Furthermore applicability of Real Time PCR assays for general diagnostic purposes is discussed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3657-3661
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• 2012

HBV infection is contagious and may be transmitted vertically or horizontally by blood products and body secretions. Over 50% of Iranian carriers have contracted the infection prenatally, making this the most likely route of transmission of HBV in Iran. This study assesses the resistance to Lamivudine in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection using a new ZNA probe Real Time PCR method. To evaluate the effectiveness of Lamivudine therapy for chronic hepatitis B infection, a study was conducted on 70 patients (63 men and 7women), who had received the drug first line. All patients were tested for the presence of HBsAg and HBeAg, the serum ALT level and the HBV DNA load before and after treatment. In all samples resistance to Lamivudine was tested with the ZNA Probe. Our results showed that ZNA Probe Real Time PCR method could detect wild type,YMDD, and its mutants, tyrosine-isoleucine-aspartate-aspartate and tyrosine-valine-aspartate-Aspartate. Among an estimated seventy patients with chronic hepatitis B infection, 18 (25.7%) were resistant to lamivudine. Only one patient was negative for presence of HBS-Ag (5.6%) and two patients were negative for HBe-Ag (11.1%). Real-time PCR with Zip nucleic acid probes is a sensitive, specific and rapid detection method for mutations in the YMDD motif, which will be essential for monitoring patients undergoing Lamivudine antiviral therapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3669-3673
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• 2012

A role for the xenotropic murine leukemia virus (XMRV) in prostate cancer development has been postulated. To answer questions regarding the prevalence of XMRV in Iranian patients with prostate cancer and its association with the RNASEL R462Q polymorphism, we here investigated a series of cases in Kerman, in the Southeast of Iran, and sought to verify the association with the R462Q using Real Time PCR Method. Prostate tissue specimens of 200 patients with prostate cancer were genotyped for R462Q by real time polymerase chain reaction allelic discrimination and were screened for XMRV proviral DNA by real time polymerase chain reaction specific for the envelope gene. Of 200 patients in this study 8 (4%) cases were positive for XMRV, the QQ allele being the most frequenct regarding the R426Q polymorphism while in negative patients it was the RQ allele. There was significant correlation between high pathological scores and XMRV positive samples. No significant relationship was found between age groups and XMRV results. XMRV was only found in patients with QQ and RQ alleles, not RR. XMRV is detectable in tumor prostate tissue from some patients with prostate cancer, independent of R462Q.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.6-13
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• 2016

Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) has been considered an effective technique to investigate chemical properties of the specimens, especially of biological samples. Despite of this advantageous trait, researchers in this field have had difficulties applying FLIM to their systems because acquiring an image using FLIM consumes too much time. Although analog mean-delay (AMD) method was introduced to enhance the imaging speed of commonly used FLIM based on time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC), a real-time image reconstruction using AMD method has not been implemented due to its data processing obstacles. In this paper, we introduce a real-time image restoration of AMD-FLIM through fast parallel data processing by using Threading Building Blocks (TBB; Intel) and octa-core processor (i7-5960x; Intel). Frame rate of 3.8 frames per second was achieved in $1,024{\times}1,024$ resolution with over 4 million lifetime determinations per second and measurement error within 10%. This image acquisition speed is 184 times faster than that of single-channel TCSPC and 9.2 times faster than that of 8-channel TCSPC (state-of-art photon counting rate of 80 million counts per second) with the same lifetime accuracy of 10% and the same pixel resolution.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.595-598
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• 2006

Semi-quantitative monitoring of Lactobacillus sake and Lactobacillus plantarum, major and minor microorganisms in kimchi, respectively, and Lactobacillus paraplantarum, recently shown to be present in kimchi, was carried out by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Changes in the 3 species during kimchi fermentation were monitored by the threshold cycle ($C_T$) of real-time PCR. As fermentation proceeded at $15^{\circ}C$, the number of L. sake increased dramatically compared to those of L. plantarum and L. paraplantarum. During fermentation at $4^{\circ}C$, the growth rates of the 3 species decreased, but the proportions of L. plantarum and L. paraplantarum in the microbial ecosystem were almost constant. Considering the $C_T$ values of the first samples and the change in the $C_T$ value, the number of L. sake is no doubt greater than those of L. plantarum and L. paraplantarum in the kimchi ecosystem. L. sake seems to be one of the major microorganisms involved in kimchi fermentation, but there is insufficient evidence to suggest that L. plantarum is the primary acidifying bacterium.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2393-2399
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• 2013

Objective: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is considered a hotspot of mutations in various tumors. However, the relationship between microsatellite instability (MSI) and mtDNA copy number alterations in lung cancer has yet to be fully clarifieds. In the current study, we investigated the copy number and MSI of mitochondrial genome in lung carcinomas, as well as their significance for cancer development. Methods: The copy number and MSI of mtDNA in 37 matched lung carcinoma/adjacent histological normal lung tissue samples were examined by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) assays for sequence variation, followed by sequence analysis and fluorogenic 5'-nuclease real-time PCR. Student's t test and linear regression analyses were employed to analyze the association between mtDNA copy number alterations and mitochondrial MSI (mtMSI). Results: The mean copy number of mtDNA in lung carcinoma tissue samples was significantly lower than that of the adjacent histologically normal lung tissue samples (p<0.001). mtMSI was detected in 32.4% (12/37) of lung carcinoma samples. The average copy number of mtDNA in lung carcinoma samples containing mtMSI was significantly lower than that in the other lung carcinoma samples (P<0.05). Conclusions: Results suggest that mtMSI may be an early and important event in the progression of lung carcinogenesis, particularly in association with variation in mtDNA copy number.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.11-24
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• 2011

Working in a research laboratory means exposure to a wide range of hazardous substances. Several studies indicated that laboratory workers, especially working with chemicals, might have an increased risk of certain cancers. However, exposure assessment data in laboratory settings are scarce. This study was performed to examine several approaches for quantitatively assessing the exposure levels to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) among workers in chemistry laboratories. The list of 10 target VOCs, including ethanol, acetone, 2-propanol, dichlormethane, tetrahydrofuran, benzene, toluene, n-hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, was determined through self-administered questionnaire for six chemistry research laboratories in a university, a government-funded research institute, or private labs. From September to December 2008, 84 air samples were collected (15 area samples, 27 personal time weighted samples, 42 personal task-basis short-term samples). Real time monitors with photo ionization detector were placed during the sampling periods. In this study, benzene was observed exceeding the action levels, although all the results were below the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (TLV). From the air sampling results, we concluded that (1) chemicals emitted during experiments could directly affect to neighbor office areas (2) chemical exposures in research laboratories showed a wide range of concentrations depending on research activities (3) area samples tended to underestimate the exposures relative to personal samples. Still, further investigation, is necessary for developing exposure assessment strategies specific to laboratories with unique exposure profiles.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.863-871
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• 2007

Spectroscopic characteristics of river water from four major watersheds in the Ulsan area were measured to examine their potential for estimating water quality parameters. The total 176 river samples were collected from 44 sites of small streams within the watersheds during the year 2006. Spectroscopic characteristics investigated included protein-like fluorescence (FLF) intensity, fulvic-like fluorescence (FLF) intensity, terrestrial humic-like fluorescence (TLF) intensity, UV absorbance at 254 nm, and UV absorbance difference at 220 nm and 254 nm. Protein-like fluorescence intensity showed linear relationships with biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total phosphorous (TP) concentrations of the samples with the correlation of 0.784, 0.779, and 0.733, respectively. Due to the UV absorption characteristics of nitrate at 220 nm, UV absorbance difference at 220 nm and 254 nm was selected to represent total nitrogen (TN) concentration. Exclusion of some samples with PLF intensity higher than 5.0 improved the correlation between the UV absorbance difference and TN as demonstrated by the increase of the correlation coefficient from 0.392 to 0.784. Instead, for the samples with PLF intensity lower than 5.0, the highest correlation of TN was achieved with UV absorbance at 254 nm. The results suggest that PLF intensity could be used as the estimation index for BOD, COD, and TP concentration of river water, and as the primary screening index for the prediction of TN using UV absorbance difference. Some BOD-based water quality levels among the river water were statistically discriminated by the PLF intensity. Low p-values were obtained from the t-tests on the samples with the first level and the second level (p=0.0003) and the samples with the second and the third levels (p=0.0413). Our combined results demonstrated that the selected spectroscopic characteristics of river water could be utilized as a tool for on-site real-time monitoring and/or the primary estimation of water quality.