• Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.188-195
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• 2012

This paper presents a new mode of expressing a 3D assembly work for creating a 3D CG animation without judgment by human from minimal required information. In the field of manufacturing, there are favorable movements in the utilization of 3D CAD for 3D simulation to shorten lead time for product development and pre-production. But simulating an assembly work has troubles to need huge quantity of manually input data. This paper discusses what minimal necessary information for creating 3D CG animations of assembly works is, focusing on the features of assembly works. Furthermore, a new mode of expressing a 3D assembly work is proposed as "state/change transition diagrams" (SCTD), which express arbitrary scenes in an assembly work as "state" and describe a sequential assembly work with "state" and "change", and the outline of its stepwise generation algorithm is also described. SCTD can be converted to a 3D CG animation of an assembly work without judgment by human. This paper focuses on the creating 3D CG animation of assembly works which workers use only their both hands.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.172-175
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• 2003

The regression equations of dry weight of planktonic biomass upon physico-chemical characteristics of fifteen ponds in three replicates under the influence of artificial feed, broiler manure, buffalo manure, N:P:K (25:25:0) and a control pond was obtained after one year of experimental period by using stepwise regression method. Water samples from each of the ponds were analyzed daily. However, the average values were calculated on the basis of 15 day intervals designated as fortnight. In artificial feed supplemented pond the regression of average nitrates on dry weight of planktonic biomass accounted for 71.7% of the variation in biomass. In broiler manure fertilization pond the regression of total nitrogen on dry weight of planktonic biomass held it responsible for more than 74.6% of variation in biomass. In buffalo's manure fertilized pond more than 82% of the variations in biomass were due to total nitrogen. In case of N:P:K (25:25:0) treated pond 66% of the variation in the dry weight of planktonic biomass was due to average nitrates. The control pond showed the dependence of biomass on light penetration. This equation explained more than 62 percent of variation in biomass. Other variables also showed some contribution towards variation in biomass under all the treatments in these regression studies.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.74-81
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• 2007

A series of photoreactive mesogens based on chalcone were prepared and their morphological behavior and reactivity were studied according to a variable number of alkyloxy tail carbons. The linear ester compounds 3a-h comprised two chalcone units connected to a benzene ring through ester linkages. All linear ester compounds showed enantiotropic liquid crystalline phases. The X-ray diffractograms for the mesophases of compounds 3a-h showed a set of reflections in the small-angle region which consisted of more than three sharp diffraction peaks with d spacings in the ratio of 1:1/2:1/3, confirming the well defined smectic A structures of the compounds. Compounds 3a-h were considered to be bifunctional monomers due to the presence of two photoreactive chalcone groups. Upon UV irradiation, its polymerization proceeded through the [2+2] addition reaction between chalcone units in a stepwise manner. An image pattern was obtained by the photopolymerization of the liquid crystal of the compound (3h) with decyloxy tails through a photomask. The irradiated part became dark while the masked part remained birefringent under polarized optical microscopy, which was ascribed to the production via the UV irradiation of a polymer or a dimer having cyclobutane rings by [2+2] addition, which thereby disrupted the alignment of the molecules.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.217-231
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• 2011

T cell exhaustion develops under conditions of antigen-persistence caused by infection with various chronic pathogens, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and myco-bacterium tuberculosis (TB), or by the development of cancer. T cell exhaustion is characterized by stepwise and progressive loss of T cell function, which is probably the main reason for the failed immunological control of chronic pathogens and cancers. Recent observations have detailed some of the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence the severity of T cell exhaustion. Duration and magnitude of antigenic activation of T cells might be associated with up-regulation of inhibitory receptors, which is a major intrinsic factor of T cell exhaustion. Extrinsic factors might include the production of suppressive cytokines, T cell priming by either non-professional antigenpresenting cells (APCs) or tolerogenic dendritic cells (DCs), and alteration of regulatory T (Treg) cells. Further investigation of the cellular and molecular processes behind the development of T cell exhaustion can reveal therapeutic targets and strategies for the treatment of chronic infections and cancers. Here, we report the properties and the mechanisms of T cell exhaustion in a chronic environment.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1397-1401
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• 2005

Bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) is a signaling homodimeric molecule that acts as a morphogen to influence cell fate in a concentration-dependent manner. The limited supply of a pure preparation of BMP-4, due to very low level of their expression in vivo, makes it difficult not only to study the biological activities of BMPs, but also to use them as a clinical tool. For a large-scale production of BMP-4, human BMP-4 cDNA was expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells by a recently development vector system, which confers position-independent stable expression of the foreign genes. The CHO cell line expressing recombinant human BMP-4 (rhBMP-4) at the level of $7\;{\mu}g/ml$ could be obtained after stepwise selection with methotrexate. This level of expression is about 70 times higher than those previously reported. The partially processed form of BMP-4 as well as mature form could be detected, when the aliquots of culture media were analyzed by Western blot. The glycosylation pattern and biological activity of the rhBMP-4 were determined by glycosidase treatment and the induction rate of alkaline phosphatase in mouse osteoblastic cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.1993-2005
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• 2019

Thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD) is characterized by higher biogas production rates as a result of assumedly faster microbial metabolic conversion rates compared to mesophilic AD. It was hypothesized that the thermophilic microbiome with its lower diversity than the mesophilic one is more susceptible to disturbances introduced by alterations in the operating factors, as an example, the supply of nitrogen-rich feedstock such as poultry manure (PM). Laboratory scaled TAD experiments using cattle slurry and increasing amounts of PM were carried out to investigate the (in-) stability of the process performance caused by the accumulation of ammonium and ammonia with special emphasis on the microbial community structure and its dynamic variation. The results revealed that the moderate PM addition, i.e., 25% (vol/vol based on volatile substances) PM, resulted in a reorganization of the microbial community structure which was still working sufficiently. With 50% PM application, the microbial community was further stepwise re-organized and was able to compensate for the high cytotoxic ammonia contents only for a short time resulting in consequent process disturbance and final process failure. This study demonstrated the ability of the acclimated thermophilic microbial community to tolerate a certain amount of nitrogen-rich substrate.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.944-948
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• 2002

The aim of this study was to estimate heritability and repeatability for the number of embryos and transferable embryos collected per flush in Holstein population in Hokkaido, Japan. Data consisted of 306 MOET (Multiple Ovulation and Embryo Transfer) treatments on 224 Holstein cows from 1997 to 2000. Variance components for these traits were estimated using the REML procedure. The model included only non-genetic factors that were significant at the 0.05 level, through using generalized linear models, maximum likelihood methods, and stepwise regression procedure as fixed effects and sire and residual for heritabilities, donor and residual for repeatabilities as random effects. The factor identified as important in determining the results was the donor''s estrous condition after superovulation. Heritabilities for the number of embryos and transferable embryos collected per flush were 0.14 and 0.09, respectively. The corresponding repeatabilities were 0.43 and 0.32, respectively. These results show that it was difficult to genetically improve these traits, thus, environmental and physical factors affecting the donor must be improved. These results also show that it is necessary to take the donor''s estrous condition after superovulation and repeatabilities for the number of embryos and transferable embryos collected per flush into account when the genetic gains and inbreeding rates for MOET breeding schemes are predicted by a computer simulation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.1029-1036
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• 2016

This study investigated the degree to which instrumental measurements explain the variation in pork loin tenderness as assessed by the sensory evaluation of trained panelists. Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBS) had a significant relationship with the sensory tenderness variables, such as softness, initial tenderness, chewiness, and rate of breakdown. In a regression analysis, WBS could account variations in these sensory variables, though only to a limited proportion of variation. On the other hand, three parameters from texture profile analysis (TPA)-hardness, gumminess, and chewiness-were significantly correlated with all sensory evaluation variables. In particular, from the result of stepwise regression analysis, TPA hardness alone explained over 15% of variation in all sensory evaluation variables, with the exception of perceptible residue. Based on these results, TPA analysis was found to be better than WBS measurement, with the TPA parameter hardness likely to prove particularly useful, in terms of predicting pork loin tenderness as rated by trained panelists. However, sensory evaluation should be conducted to investigate practical pork tenderness perceived by consumer, because both instrumental measurements could explain only a small portion (less than 20%) of the variability in sensory evaluation.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.311-316
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• 2006

Enzymatic ethanolysis of fish oil with immobilized lipase was investigated for reducing the free fatty acid contents and enhancing the function of fish oil. Ethanolysis reactions were carried out in erlenmeyer flask (25ml) containing a mixture of squid viscera oil and 99.9% ethanol using 1% (based on w/w squid viscera oil) immobilized lipase. The reaction mixtures were incubated at $50^{\circ}C$ and shaken at 100rpm. Ethanol was added into the mixture by stepwise addition method of Shinmada[9]. Measurement of free fatty acid molar amounts was studied by Acid Value. Tendency of oil variation during transesterification was studied by TLC method. Enzymatic ethanolysis composed diglyceride, monoglyceride and fatty acid ethyl ester with reducing free fatty acid contents. Also, selective ethanolysis by Lipozyme TL-IM and Lipozyme RM-IM mostly did not react at the sn-2 position of squid viscera oil. Lipozyme RM-IM was more suitable enzyme to reduce the free fatty acid contents by ethanolysis than Lipozyme TL-IM. Squid viscera oil was transformed into suitable properties (5 in Acid Value) for functional fish oil production.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.147-151
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• 2014

Background: Agriculture ranks among the most dangerous trades worldwide. There is, however, still a lack of knowledge on nonfatal injuries in agriculture. The aim of this study was to describe the nature and occurrence of nonfatal injuries in farmers in two counties in central Norway. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to 7,004 farmers in Norway. We asked for information about the respondents and the farm, whether the farmer had had work-related injuries on the farm during the past 12 months, and details about the incidence and seriousness of the injury. Results: A total of 2,699 respondents gave a response rate of 42%. Of the respondents, 249 (9.2%) reported one or more work-related injuries. The most usual cause of injury involved an animal, and >75% of these happened inside the outbuilding. Among these, 17.5% had a consequence of sick leave or a more serious result. When all the accidents were analyzed by stepwise logistic regression, only the variables: works alone, has >3,500 stipulated working hours at the farm, and the type of production were statistical significant explanatory variables for having an injury. Conclusion: Incorporating safety aspects to a greater extend in the design and construction of outbuildings would make a substantial contribution to injury prevention in agriculture.