• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.137-144
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• 2015

Development of the yarn sorting equipment (khonhook) by slide way due to the principle of engineering that cause of workers on the long of motion time. The data was collected from the weaving group Ban Nongkok village, Nakornratchasima Province, THAILAND. According to the study, the step of yarn sorting (konhook) was one of the steps that affect long of motion time. The problem was the inadequate capacity equipment. The objective of research was to study and develop the yarn sorting equipment (konhook). The fabric used in the study was 64 meters in length and 1 meter in width. Researchers studied the processes the yarn sorting (konhook) which it consists of seven sub steps, 1) the thread tube setting, 2) yarn bunching, 3) tying a knot at the end of yarn, 4) looping the yarn into a pillar, 5) sorting the yarn (konhook), 6) crossing pillars and 7) taking out the yarn. Researchers focused on studying yarn sorting process (konhook) by designing and creating a device for yarn sorting (konhook) for reducing yarn sorting (konhook) time by the original method performance indicators. The results found that the developed yarn sorting equipment (konhook) ) by slide way could reduce working time from 7.24 minutes to 6.08 minutes of the original equipment yarn sorting (konhook). This means it could make the process 16.02 % faster. This also helps reducing the distance of workers' movement from 2,234 meters to 8 meters. This is 99.64 % shorter.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.62-69
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• 2015

The Asian cavity-nesting honeybee, Apis cerana (Hymenoptera: Apidae), has been extensively studied for its biogeography and genetic diversity, but the molecules utilized in past studies were mainly ~90 bp long mitochondrial non-coding sequences, located between $tRNA^{Leu}$ and COII. Thus, additional molecular markers may enrich our understanding of the biogeography and genetic diversity of this valuable bee species. In this study, we reviewed the public genome database to find introns of cDNA sequences, with the assumption that these introns may have less evolutionary constraints. The six introns selected were subjected to preliminary tests. Thereafter, two introns, titled White gene and MRJP9 gene, were selected. Sequencing of 552 clones from 184 individual bees showed a total of 222 and 141 sequence types in the White gene and MRJP9 gene introns, respectively. The sequence divergence ranged from 0.6% to 7.9% and from 0.26% to 17.6% in the White gene and the MRJP9 introns, respectively, indicating higher sequence divergence in both introns. Analysis of population genetic diversity for 16 populations originating from Korea, China, Vietnam, and Thailand shows that nucleotide diversity (π) ranges from 0.003117 to 0.025837 and from 0.016541 to 0.052468 in the White gene and MRJP9 introns, respectively. The highest π was found in a Vietnamese population for both intron sequences, whereas the nine Korean populations showed moderate to low sequence divergence. Considering the variability and diversity, these intron sequences can be useful as non-mitochondrial DNA-based molecular markers for future studies of population genetics.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.2327-2331
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• 2015

Purpose: To determine the accuracy of visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) in detecting high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in pre- and post-menopausal women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) and low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) Papanicolaou (Pap) smears. Materials and Methods: Two hundred women (150 pre-menopausal and 50 post-menopausal) with ASC-US and LSIL cytology who attended the colposcopy clinic, Thammasat University Hospital, between March 2013 and August 2014 were included. All women underwent VIA testing and colposcopy by gynecologic oncologists. Diagnostic values of VIA testing including sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for detecting high-grade CIN were determined using the histopathology obtained from colposcopic-directed biopsy as a gold standard. Results: VIA testing was positive in 54/150 (36%) pre-menopausal women and 5/50 (10%) post-menopausal women. Out of 54 pre-menopausal women with positive VIA testing, 15 (27.8%) had high-grade CIN and 39 (72.2%) had either CIN 1 or insignificant pathology. Ten (10.4%), 43 (44.8%) and 43 (44.8%) out of the remaining 96 pre-menopausal women with negative VIA testing had high-grade CIN, CIN 1 and insignificant pathology, respectively. Out of 5 post-menopausal women with positive VIA testing, there were 4 (80%) women with high-grade CIN, and 1 (20%) women with insignificant pathology. Out of 45 VIA-negative post-menopausal women, 42 (93.3%) women had CIN 1 and insignificant pathology, and 3 (6.7%) had high-grade CIN. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of the VIA testing were 59.4%, 76.2%, 32.2% and 90.8%, respectively (60%, 68.8%, 27.8% and 89.6% in pre-menopausal women and 57.1%, 97.7%, 80% and 93.3% in post-menopausal women). Conclusions: VIA testing may be used as a screening tool for detecting high-grade CIN in women with minor cervical cytological abnormalities in a low-resource setting in order to lower the rate of colposcopy referral.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.4727-4732
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• 2015

Background: Folylpolyglutamate synthetase (FPGS), an important enzyme in the folate metabolic pathway, plays a central role in intracellular accumulation of folate and antifolate in several mammalian cell types. Loss of FPGS activity results in decreased cellular levels of antifolates and consequently to polyglutamatable antifolates in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Materials and Methods: During May 1997 and December 2003, 134 children diagnosed with ALL were recruited from one hospital in Thailand. We performed a mutation analysis in the coding regions of the FPGS gene and the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within FPGS in a case-control sample of childhood ALL patients. Mutation screening was conducted by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and subsequently with direct sequencing (n=72). Association analysis between common FPGS variants and ALL risk was done in 98 childhood ALL cases and 95 healthy volunteers recruited as controls. Results: Seven SNPs in the FPGS coding region were identified by mutation analysis, 3 of which (IVS13+55C>T, g.1297T>G, and g.1508C>T) were recognized as novel SNPs. Association analysis revealed 3 of 6 SNPs to confer significant increase in ALL risk these being rs7039798 (p=0.014, OR=2.14), rs1544105 (p=0.010, OR= 2.24), and rs10106 (p=0.026, OR=1.99). Conclusions: These findings suggested that common genetic polymorphisms in the FPGS coding region including rs7039789, rs1544105, and rs10106 are significantly associated with increased ALL risk in Thai children.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.3697-3701
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• 2015

Background: Cholangiocarcinoma (CHCA) is serious public health problem in Thailand, especially in the northeastern and northern regions. CHCA is known as one of the most aggressive malignant tumors associated with local invasion and a high rate of metastasis. A crucial step in the invasion process is the proteolytic degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and basal membranes, for which several studies have shown a critical role played by matrix metalloproteinase-11 (MMP-11). Objective: This study aim to detect MMP-11 expression in CHCA specimens and any correlation with survival time. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of 30 patients with CHCA in Rajvithi hospital, who had undergone immunohistochemical staining of MMP-11. Relationships between clinicopathological data and MMP-11 expression in CHCA specimens were analyzed by the ${\chi}^2$ test or Fisher's exact test. The estimated survival and the survival differences were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test, respectively. Results: MMP-11 expression was found in 15 specimens (50%). The overall mean survival time is 237.0 days (95% CI 135.4-338.5, SD 271.9). Specimens with a positive MMP-11 had an average survival time of 136.7 days (95%CI 50.3-223.1, SD 156.0). Survival differences was signficant for the positive and negative MMP-11(p=0.022), but not well differentiated tumor and moderate to poor differentiated tumor (p=0.755), CA19-9 level of >1,000 and <1,000 (p=0.488), and between advanced and non-advanced staging (p=0.388). Conclusions: The positive MMP-11 expression indicates poor prognosis in CHCA specimens.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.3861-3866
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• 2015

Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the patterns of relapse and survival outcomes in Northern Thai women with recurrent endometrial cancer (EC). Materials and Methods: Medical records were abstracted from EC patients who underwent primary surgery from 1999 to 2012. Data on clinicopathologic variables, sites of first recurrence, time to relapse of disease, and overall survival (OS) was analyzed. Associations between the clinicopathological variables and the rates of disease recurrence were determined. Results: Among 1,204 reviewed records, 42 eligible patients were identified with recurrent disease. The median age was 55 years and the median follow-up time was 26.0 months. The median times to recurrence (TTR) after completion of the initial treatment in the group of local relapse (LR) and distant/combined sites of recurrence (DCSR) was 6.6 (95% CI=4.6 to 8.6 months) and 16.9 months (95% CI=5.6 to 28.2 months), respectively (p=0.36). The 2-year survival and 3-year survival probability in the group of LR was 54.2% (95% CI=27.2 to 81.3%) and 34.7% (95% CI=9.2 to 60.2%), compared to 50.4% (95% CI=41.1 to 59.7%) and 42.1% (95%CI= 24.1 to 60.1%) for those with DCSR. Distant recurrence was the most frequent pattern of relapse. Overall survival was not significantly different in patients with local relapse when compared to those with DCSR (p=0.69). Conclusions: Patients with recurrence of EC after primary treatment had a worse prognosis and clinical aggressiveness. LR and DCSR occurred most during the first three years. The common sites of relapses were vaginal cuff, pelvis, and lungs. No significant clinicopathological predictor for survival outcomes was identified.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6457-6461
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• 2015

MicroRNAs directly and indirectly influence many biological processes such as apoptosis, cell maintenance, and immune responses, impacting on tumor genesis and metastasis. They modulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level and are associated with progression of liver disease. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a cancer which mostly occurs in males. There are many factors affect HCC development, for example, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), co-infection, environmental factors including alcohol, aflatoxin consumption and host-related factors such as age, gender immune response, microRNA and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus is the major factor leading to HCC progression since it causes the liver injury. At present, there are many reports regarding the association of SNPs on miRNAs and the HCC progression. In this research, we investigated the role of miR-149 (rs2292832) and miR-101-1 (rs7536540) with HCC progression in Thai population. The study included 289 Thai subjects including 104 HCC patients, 90 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection (CHB) and 95 healthy control subjects. The allele and genotype of rs2292832 and rs7536540 polymorphisms were determined by TaqMan real-time PCR assay. Our results revealed no significant association between miR-149 (rs2292832) and miR-101-1 (rs7536540) and the risk of HCC in our Thai population. However, this research is the first study of miR-149 (rs2292832) and miR-101-1 (rs7536540) in HCC in Thai populations and the results need to be confirmed with a larger population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6279-6284
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• 2015

Opisthorchis viverrini (OV)-induced cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an important cancer in the Great Mekong region, particularly in Thailand. Limitations of treatment options and the lack of an effective diagnostic tool for early detection of CCA are major concerns for the control of this type of cancer. The aim of the study was to investigate anti-CCA activity of the ethanolic extract of Atractylodes lancea (Thunb.) DC., and the applicability of positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) as a tool for detection and monitoring the progression of CCA in Opisthorchis viverrini (OV)/dimethylnitrosamine (DMN)-induced CCA hamsters. Male Syrian hamsters were used for toxicity tests and anti-CCA activity evaluation. Development of CCA was induced by initial feeding of 50 metacercariae of OV, followed by drinking water containing 12.5 ppm of DMN in hamsters. The ethanolic extract of A. lancea (Thunb.) DC. was administered orally for 30 days. PET-CT was performed every 4 weeks after initiation of CCA using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose ($^{18}F-FDG$). Results from the present study suggest that the ethanolic extract of A. lancea (Thunb.) DC. rhizome exhibited promising anti-CCA activity and safety profile in the OV/DMN-induced hamster model. To successfully apply PET-CT as a tool for early detection of tumor development and progression, modification of radiolabeling approach is required to improve its specificity for CCA cells.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.59-64
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• 2015

This study was conducted to investigate the life history, morphology, and maturation of larval stages and adult worms of Fasciola gigantica in experimental mice. Lymnaea auricularia rubiginosa was used as the intermediate host, and Oryza sativa was used for encystment of the metacercariae, while Mus musculus was used as the definitive host for maturation study. Fresh eggs from the gall bladder of water buffaloes fully developed into embryonated ones and hatched out at days 11-12 after incubation at about $29^{\circ}C$. Free-swimming miracidia rapidly penetrated into the snail host, and gradually developed into the next larval stages; sporocyst, redia, and daughter redia with cercariae. Fully-developed cercariae were separated from the redia and shed from the snails on day 39 post-infection (PI). Free-swimming cercariae were immediately allowed to adhere to rice plants, and capsules were constructed to protect metacercariae on rice plants. Juvenile worms were detected in intestines of mice at days 3 and 6 PI, but they were found in the bile duct from day 9 PI. Juvenile and adult flukes were recovered from 16 mice experimentally infected with metacercariae, with the average recovery rate of 35.8%. Sexually mature adult flukes were recovered from day 42 PI. It could be confirmed that experimentally encysted metacercariae could infect and develop to maturity in the experimental host. The present study reports for the first time the complete life history of F. gigantica by an experimental study in Thailand. The obtained information can be used as a guide for prevention, elimination, and treatment of F. gigantica at environment and in other hosts.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2015

Blastocystis sp. is a common zoonotic intestinal protozoa which has been classified into 17 subtypes (STs). A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and subtype distribution of Blastocystis in villagers living on the Thai-Myanmar border, where the risk of parasitic infection is high. A total of 207 stool samples were collected and DNA was extracted. PCR and sequencing using primers targeting small-subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene were performed. The prevalence of Blastocystis infection was 37.2% (77/207). ST3 (19.8%; 41/207) was the predominant subtype, followed by ST1 (11.6%; 24/207), ST2 (5.3%; 11/207), and ST4 (0.5%; 1/207). A phylogenetic tree was reconstructed using the maximum likelihood (ML) method based on the Hasegawa-Kishino-Yano + G + I model. The percentage of bootstrapped trees in which the associated taxa clustered together was relatively high. Some sequences of Blastocystis positive samples (TK18, 39, 46, 71, and 90) were closely related to animals (pig and cattle) indicating zoonotic risks. Therefore, proper health education in parasitic prevention for the villagers should be promoted to improve their personal hygiene. Further longitudinal studies are required to monitor the prevalence of parasitic infections after providing health education and to investigate Blastocystis ST in animals living in these villages.