• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.165-175
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• 2016

Objectives: The present study was undertaken to study the maternal risk factors for preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW) with a special emphasis on assessing the proportions of maternal genitourinary and periodontal infections among Indian women and their association with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Methods: A hospital-based prospective study comprising 790 pregnant women visiting the obstetrics clinic for a routine antenatal check-up was undertaken. Once recruited, all study participants underwent clinical and microbiological investigations for genitourinary infections followed by a dental check-up for the presence of periodontitis. The study participants were followed up until their delivery to record the pregnancy outcomes. Infectious and non-infectious risk factors for PTB and LBW were assessed using univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. Independent risk factors for PTB and LBW were reported in terms of adjusted relative risk (ARR) with the 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Rates of PTB and LBW in the study population were 7.6% and 11.4%, respectively. Previous preterm delivery (ARR, 5.37; 95% CI, 1.5 to 19.1), periodontitis (ARR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.1 to 4.9), Oligohydramnios (ARR, 5.23; 95% CI, 2.4 to 11.5), presence of Nugent's intermediate vaginal flora (ARR, 2.75; 95% CI, 1.4 to 5.1), gestational diabetes mellitus (ARR, 2.91; 95% CI, 1.0 to 8.3), and maternal height <1.50 m (ARR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.1 to 4.1) were risk factors for PTB, while periodontitis (ARR, 3.38; 95% CI, 1.6 to 6.9), gestational hypertension (ARR, 3.70; 95% CI, 1.3 to 10.8), maternal height <1.50 m (ARR, 2.66; 95% CI, 1.3 to 5.1) and genital infection during later stages of pregnancy (ARR, 2.79; 95% CI, 1.2 to 6.1) were independent risk factors for LBW. Conclusions: Our study findings underscore the need to consider screening for potential genitourinary and periodontal infections during routine antenatal care in developing countries.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.29-37
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• 2006

The breast cancer has the highest occurrence rate among the female cancers, and as the living style changes, the occurrence is increasing gradually. For the breast cancer test among women, who comprises up to 50% of the total population, the mammography is mainly used as the screening test, and the accuracy control is the most important aspect of the testing. Therefore this research divided the northern part of Kyeongsangbuk-do into 4 regions and investigated the accordance ratio of examination field and light examination field, the total focus using the optical density and compression rate, and the overall maintenance of mammography within the regions. The equipments of 11 hospitals were investigated, and the 7 hospitals passed the standard level of the accordance ratio of examination field. 6 hospitals passed the standard optical density, and 7 hospitals had the passing performance in the compression rate. Fibers, group of specks, and masses within the Mammographic Accreditation Phantom scored 10, being within the standard range. However, only 3 hospitals were equipped with private development processor and illumination. The result reflects the fact that the image quality of breast is not correctly being maintained. Moreover, only 27.27% satisfied all the three categories of compression fitting, accordance ratio of examination field, and phantom image evaluation at the same time. The accuracy control must be maintained more precisely for the accurate diagnosis of breast cancer.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.77-81
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• 2007

Diagnostic performance of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detecting Dirofilaria immitis in dogs was evaluated when no gold standard test was employed. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test kit (SnapTM, IDEXX, USA) with unknown parameters was also employed. The sensitivity and specificity of the PCR from two-population model were estimated by using both maximum likelihood using expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm and Bayesian method, assuming conditional independence between the two tests. A total of 266 samples, 133 samples in each trial, were randomly retrieved from the heartworm database records during the year 2002-2004 in a university animal hospital. These data originated from the test results of military dogs which were brought for routine medical check-up or testing for heartworm infection. When combined 2 trials, sensitivity and specificity of the PCR was 96.4-96.7% and 97.6-98.8% in EM and 94.4-94.8% and 97.1-98% in Bayesian. There were no statistical differences between estimates. This finding indicates that the PCR assay could be useful screening tool for detecting heartworm antigen in dogs. This study was provided further evidences that Bayesian approach is an alternative approach to draw better inference about the performance of a new diagnostic test in case when either gold test is not available.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.160-163
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• 2006

Brown rice contains rice bran and germ with higher nutritional value and dietary fiber content compared with the polished rice. However, brown rice has a limitation of poor digestion. fermented brown rice could be better nutritional source and improve digestibility. Therefore, we tried to select good fermentative microorganisms which have nutritional values with high amylase and protease activities, and probiotic effects. Nineteen micro-organisms, including eight Bacillus strains isolated from Chongkukjang and 11 lactic acid bacteria, were screened for the fermentation ability and enzyme production. The liquid broths containing 2.5%(w/v) of raw brown rice powder as a sole nutritional source were used for culture media. Among the strains tested, all of the Bacillus strains and two lactic acid bacteria (Leuconostoc gelidum and Pediococcus pentosaceus) showed increase in cell population and enzyme activities. The viable cell counts of all the Bacillus strains and two lactic acid bacteria exceeded $10^7 CFU/mL$. The maximal enzyme activities produced by Bacillus sp. Bl, Bacillus sp. B2, Bacillus sp. B11, L. gelidum and P. pentosaceus were 17.85, 17.50, 17.10, 17.10 and 3.24 U/mL for amylase and 22.48, 22.04, 23.76, 12.13, and 3.4 U/mL for pretense, respectively. Therefore, the results of this study demonstrated that the above strains could be potential starters for the fermentation of raw brown rice.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.20
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• pp.9-18
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• 2002

A total of 31 C. chinense lines selected from 2000 screening were tested again for resistance to P. capsid but resistance was not found in tile lines. A total of 26 selections from Korean land races tested 2001 spring were tested again for resistance to P. capsici, KC180, KC230, KC195 and KC194 showed moderate resistance to P. capsid. However, it was apparent on the basis of horticultural characteristics that KC180 and KC230 had been naturally crossed with AC2258 and CM334, respectively. CM334 and AC2248 seed lots that were increased in different years were taken out and tested for resistance to improve their genetic purity because the resistant genetic resources have been showing some off-types in tile population. Off-types began to be found in 1992 seed lots and tile proportion and degree of tile offs was increasing with time up to 2001. Plants true to the type in 1992 seed lots were selected and their inbred seeds were mass produced in a net cage in the greenhouse. AC2258 included in the experiment together was uniform. In 1995 seed lots of CM334, plants with resistance to P. capsici and low or no number of lateral branching at cotyledonary axil, although they were off from tile original CM334, were found and selection was applied to breed lines fixed in tile characters.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.197-202
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• 2019

Jujube tree farms need effective methods of pest control to reduce damage caused by mirid bugs. In this study, we measured the density of mirid bug populations in jujube trees and tested the efficacy of various insecticides. We observed seasonal density patterns, where nymphs were observed from early May to the middle of July; and adults were observed from the end of May to the middle or end of July. Furthermore, we measured the density of two types of mirid bug species, Apolygus spinolae and A. lucorum. Among 45 damaged jujube trees, the dominant species of mirid bugs was A. spinolae (89%). We tested 7 types of insecticides to control mirid bug populations, including pyrifluquinazon, deltamethrin, diazinon, dinotefuran, etofenprox, fenitrothion, and bifenthrin, showing over 80% efficacy. Thus, in this study, we showed that using insecticides was effective for controlling mirid bug populations on jujube trees.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.6
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• pp.627-634
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• 2020

Belitung district in Bangka-Belitung Province, Indonesia with a population of 0.27 million is endemic for Brugia malayi and 5 rounds of mass drug administration (MDA) were completed by 2010. Based on the results of 3 transmission assessment surveys (TAS), the district is declared as achieving elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) in 2017. The findings of an independent survey conducted by the National Institute of Health Research and Development (NIHRD) in the same year showed microfilaria (Mf) prevalence of 1.3% in this district. In 2019, NIHRD conducted microfilaria survey in 2 villages in Belitung district. Screening of 311 and 360 individuals in Lasar and Suak Gual villages showed Mf prevalence of 5.1% and 2.2% with mean Mf density of 120 and 354 mf/ml in the respective villages. Mf prevalence was significantly higher among farmers and fishermen compared to others and the gender specific difference was not significant. The results of a questionnaire based interview showed that 62.4% of the respondents reported to have participated in MDA in Lasar while it was 57.7% in Suak Gual village. About 42% of the Mf positive cases did not participate in MDA. Environmental surveys identified many swampy areas supporting the breeding of Mansonia vector species. Persistence of infection is evident and in the event of successful TAS3 it is necessary to monitor the situation and plan for focal MDA. Appropriate surveillance strategies including xenomonitoring in post-MDA situations need to be developed to prevent resurgence of infection. Possible role of animal reservoirs is discussed.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.41-48
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• 2021

As the rural population continues to decline and aging, the improvement of agricultural productivity is becoming more important. Early prediction of crop quality can play an important role in improving agricultural productivity and profitability. Although many researches have been conducted recently to classify diseases and predict crop yield using CNN based deep learning and transfer learning technology, there are few studies which predict postharvest crop quality early in the planting stage. In this study, a early quality prediction model is proposed for sprout ginseng, which is drawing attention as a healthy functional foods. For this end, we took pictures of ginseng seedlings in the planting stage and cultivated them through hydroponic cultivation. After harvest, quality data were labeled by classifying the quality of ginseng sprout. With this data, we build early quality prediction models using several pre-trained CNN models through transfer learning technology. And we compare the prediction performance such as learning period and accuracy between each model. The results show more than 80% prediction accuracy in all proposed models, especially ResNet152V2 based model shows the highest accuracy. Through this study, it is expected that it will be able to contribute to production and profitability by automating the existing seedling screening works, which primarily rely on manpower.

• Laboratory Medicine Online
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.64-66
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• 2011

Anti-Sd^a is of no clinical significance, because it rarely causes hemolytic transfusion reactions. Even when its presence is suspected during antibody screening test, further identification of the antibody is usually not performed. We experienced a case of anti-Sd^a in 73 yr-old male patient showing mixed field agglutination by microcolumn agglutination. Antibody specificity could not be identified by conventional antibody identification test, and it was proven to be anti-Sd^a by urine neutralization test. In spite of its little clinical significance, it may give incompatible crossmatching results reacting with Sd^a antigen, which occurs at a high frequency in general population. When incompatible crossmatch results arising from anti-Sd^a are suspected, the problem may be solved by using the urine-neutralized serum of in crossmatching test.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.1340-1350
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• 2022

Objective: Luxi Black Head sheep (LBH) is the first crossbreed specialized for meat production and was developed by crossbreeding Black Head Dorper sheep (DP) and Small Tailed Han sheep (STH) in the farming areas of northern China. Research on the genomic variations and selection signatures of LBH caused by continuous artificial selection is of great significance for identifying the genetic mechanisms of important traits of sheep and for the continuous breeding of LBH. Methods: We explored the genetic relationships of LBH, DP, and several Mongolian sheep breeds by constructing phylogenetic tree, principal component analysis and linkage disequilibrium analysis. In addition, we analysed 29 whole genomes of sheep. The genome-wide selection signatures have been scanned with four methods: heterozygosity (H_P), fixation index (F_ST), cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity (XP-EHH) and the nucleotide diversity (𝜃_π) ratio. Results: The genetic relationships analysis showed that LBH appeared to be an independent cluster closer to DP. The candidate signatures of positive selection in sheep genome revealed candidate genes for developmental process (HoxA gene cluster, BCL2L11, TSHR), immunity (CXCL6, CXCL1, SKAP2, PTK6, MST1R), growth (PDGFD, FGF18, SRF, SOCS2), and reproduction (BCAS3, TRIM24, ASTL, FNDC3A). Moreover, two signalling pathways closely related to reproduction, the thyroid hormone signalling pathway and the oxytocin signalling pathway, were detected. Conclusion: The selective sweep analysis of LBH genome revealed candidate genes and signalling pathways associated with developmental process, immunity, growth, and reproduction. Our findings provide a valuable resource for sheep breeding and insight into the mechanisms of artificial selection.