• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.388-391
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• 2017

A 8-month-old, spayed female, Domestic shorthair cat lived in a shelter was presented with pelvic limbs ataxia and dysuria. Serum biochemical profile abnormalities were hyperproteinemia and decreased albumin/globulin (A:G) ratio (0.70). Results of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis were mixed cells pleocytosis with predominance neutrophils and an increase in protein concentration. In addition, feline coronavirus was detected by realtime RT-PCR in CSF. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings revealed lesions of the lumbar spinal cord. Based on clinical signs, MR finding, CSF analysis and realtime RT-PCR result in CSF, this case was diagnosed as feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) associated meningomyelitis. Although prednisolone and mycophenolate mofetil were administrated, clinical signs were not resolved and progressed to tetraplegia and coma status. This case presentation describes that feline infectious peritonitis virus could affect the lumbar spinal cord only and cause meningomyelitis with pelvic limbs ataxia without other neurological signs.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.760-766
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• 2014

This paper represents a portable robot for use in the welding process of the double hulls in shipbuilding yards. It has 5 degrees of freedom and 3kg of payload. Its body weight is 17.3 [kg] so that human workers can carry it by hand to the work place. Its body is mainly made of magnesium and aluminum alloys. Since the robot is placed about 25m apart from its controller, EtherCAT is adopted for reliable connection between the robot and controller through a single light cable. RTX real-time kernel and KPA EtherCAT master are used to control the robot on a Windows XP environment. The performance of the developed robot is satisfactory to the requirement in welding tasks of U-type cells in shipbuilding yards.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.191-196
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• 2013

The echinostome metacercariae encysted in Cipangopaludina sp. snails that were purchased from a market in Vientiane Municipality, Lao PDR, were identified as Echinostoma macrorchis (Digenea: Echinostomatidae) through recovery of adult flukes after experimental infection to rats and a cat. The metacercariae were round, $113-128(121){\times}113-125(120){\mu}m$, having a thick cyst wall, a head collar armed with collar spines, and excretory granules. The adult flukes recovered from the rats and cat at day 14 and 30 post-infection, respectively, were elongated, ventrally curved, and $3.9-6.3{\times}0.7-1.1mm$ in size. The head collar was distinct, bearing 43-45 collar spines with 5 angle spines on each side. Two testes were large (as the name implies), tandem, and slightly constricted at the middle, with irregular margins. Eggs were operculated, ovoid to elliptical, and $88-95{\times}56-60{\mu}m$. In scanning electron microscopy, the head collar was prominent, with 43-45 collar spines. Scale-like tegumental spines were densely distributed on the ventral surface between the oral and ventral suckers. Sensory papillae were distributed mainly on the tegument around the 2 suckers. It is confirmed that E. macrorchis is distributed in Lao PDR using Cipangopaludina sp. snails as the second intermediate host.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.57-60
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• 2014

A six-months-old male Korean domestic shorthair cat was presented with fever, tachypnea, anorexia, and weight loss and admitted to Lee Seung Jin Animal Medical Center. During the routine physical examination, clinical signs such as mild dehydration and jaundice in the sclera were present. The complete blood count (CBC) and serum chemistry result showed anemia, thrombocytopenia, neutrophilia, and hyperbilirubinemia. Radiography revealed hepatomegaly and splenomegaly. Blood smear and microscopic examination showed severe hemolysis and anisocytosis. We sent the blood sample to the Neodin Veterinary Laboratory for PCR analysis to conduct a test to find out Ehlichia, feline hemoplasmas (haemobartonella), feline leukemia virus (FeLV), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and anaplasma infection. According to PCR examination, the blood of this cat was positive for feline hemoplasmas (Mycoplasma haemofelis), but negative for other pathogens. The patient was prescribed doxycycline for 4 weeks and prednisolone for 1 week. The free of feline hemoplasmas infection was confirmed by PCR recheck after six months.

• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.468-473
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• 1996

The P38 promoter of minute virus of mice (MVM) is a very weak promoter which is strongly transactivated by viral nonstructural proteins. To analyze the upstream sequence of the P38 promoter which is responsible for the transactivation by nonstructural proteins in MVM, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter plasm ids containing a series of 5' deletion and internal deletion mutants of the P38 promoter were constructed. The wild type and mutant CAT constructs of P38 promoter were cotransfected into murine A92L fibroblast cells with a plasmid expressing viral nonstructural proteins by DEAE-dextran method. Each promoter activity was analyzed by CAT assay. As previously reported (Ahn et al., 1992), the proximal DNA cis-elements required for transactivation of the MVM P38 promoter are GC box and TATA box. However, the analysis of 5' deletion mutants showed that H-l tar like sequence (MVM TAR) which is located between -143 and -122 relative to the transcription initiation site is also required for transactivation of the P38 promoter by nonstructural proteins. Interestingly, even if the MVM TAR was removed by internal deletion, the level of the transactivation is still 70% of wild type level of transactivation. We also found that, in addition to the MVM TAR motif, there are two other motifs which are similar to the MVM TAR sequence. When these TAR like motifs were further deleted, the levels of transactivation were decreased further. Taken together, the MVM TAR sequence and TAR like motifs located upstream of P38 promoter are playing an important role for the transactivation of P38 promoter by nonstructural proteins in minute virus of mice.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.85-96
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• 1996

Adenosine and its analogues are known to possess analgesic effects and to be involved in the opiate-induced antinociception as well. This study was designed to investigate the effects of three adenosine agonists, 5'- (N-cyclopropyl) -carboxamidoadenosine(CPCA), 5'-N-ethylcarboxamidoadeno-sine (NECA) and $N^6-cyclohexyladenosine$ (CHA) on the signal transmission in the spinal cord and also to elucidate mechanisms of their actions in the anesthetized cat. All the tested adenosine agonists(i.v,) exerted inhibitory effects on the responsiveness of the wide dynamic range (WDR) cells, the inhibitory action of CHA, an adenosine $A_1$ receptor agonist, $(80{\mu}g/Kg)$ being most weak. The intravenous CPCA, an adenosine $A_2$ receptor agonist, $(20{\mu}g\;/Kg)$ and NECA, nonspecific adenosine receptor agonist, $(20{\mu}g\;/Kg)$ inhibited the responses of WDR cells to pinch and C fiber stimulation more strongly than those to brush and A fiber stimulation. CPCA (i.v.) also suppressed the responses of WDR cells to thermal stimulus. And all the CPCA-induced inhibitions were caffeine-reversible. When CPCA was directly applied onto the spinal cord or intravenously administered into the spinal cat, on average, about three quarters of the CPCA-induced inhibitory effect was abolished. On the other hand, in the animal with spinal lesions in the ipsilateral dorsolateral area, the CPCA-induced inhibition was comparable to that observed in the spinal cats. In conclusion, this study shows that adenosine agonists strongly suppress the responses of WDR cells to pinch, C fiber stimulation and thermal stimuli mainly through the supraspinal adenosine $A_2-receptors$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.111-122
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• 2014

The provided habitat of many services from natural capital is important. But because most ecosystem services tools qualitatively evaluated biodiversity or habitat quality, this study quantitatively analyzed those aspects using the species distribution model (MaxEnt). This study used location point data of the goat(Naemorhedus caudatus), marten(Martes flavigula), leopard cat(Prionailurus bengalensis), flying squirrel(Pteromys volans aluco) and otter(Lutra lutra) from the 3rd National Ecosystem Survey. Input data utilized DEM, landcover classification maps, Forest-types map and digital topographic maps. This study generated the MaxEnt model, randomly setting 70% of the presences as training data, with the remaining 30% used as test data, and ran five cross-validated replicates for each model. The threshold indicating maximum training sensitivity plus specificity was considered as a more robust approach, so this study used it to conduct the distribution into presence(1)-absence(0) predictions and totalled up a value of 5 times for uncertainty reduction. The test data's ROC curve of endangered mammals was as follows: growing down goat(0.896), otter(0.857), flying squirrel(0.738), marten(0.725), and leopard cat(0.629). This study was divided into two groups based on habitat: the first group consisted of the goat, marten, leopard cat and flying squirrel in the forest; and the second group consisted of the otter in the river. More than 60 percent of endangered mammals' distribution probability were 56.9% in the forest and 12.7% in the river. A future study is needed to conduct other species' distribution modeling exclusive of mammals and to develop a collection method of field survey data.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.577-583
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• 2019

Human cytochrome P450 2C9 is a highly polymorphic enzyme that is required for drug and xenobiotic metabolism. Here, we studied eleven P450 2C9 genetic variants-including three novel variants F69S, L310V, and Q324X-that were clinically identified in Korean patients. P450 2C9 variant enzymes were expressed in Escherichia coli and their bicistronic membrane fractions were prepared The CO-binding spectra were obtained for nine enzyme variants, indicating P450 holoenzymes, but not for the M02 (L90P) variant. The M11 (Q324X) variant could not be expressed due to an early nonsense mutation. LC-MS/MS analysis was performed to measure the catalytic activities of the P450 2C9 variants, using diclofenac as a substrate. Steady-state kinetic analysis revealed that the catalytic efficiency of all nine P450 2C9 variants was lower than that of the wild type P450 2C9 enzyme. The M05 (R150L) and M06 (P279T) variants showed high $k_{cat}$ values; however, their $K_m$ values were also high. As the M01 (F69S), M03 (R124Q), M04 (R125H), M08 (I359L), M09 (I359T), and M10 (A477T) variants exhibited higher $K_m$ and lower $k_{cat}$ values than that of the wild type enzyme, their catalytic efficiency decreased by approximately 50-fold compared to the wild type enzyme. Furthermore, the novel variant M07 (L310V) showed lower $k_{cat}$ and $K_m$ values than the wild type enzyme, which resulted in its decreased (80%) catalytic efficiency. The X-ray crystal structure of P450 2C9 revealed the presence of mutations in the residues surrounding the substrate-binding cavity. Functional characterization of these genetic variants can help understand the pharmacogenetic outcomes.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.420-430
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• 2023

Objective: The purpose of this finite element method (FEM) study was to analyze the biomechanical differences and tooth displacement patterns according to the traction direction, methods, and sites for total distalization of the mandibular dentition using clear aligner treatment (CAT). Methods: A finite element analysis was performed on four FEM models using different traction methods (via a precision cut hook or button) and traction sites (mandibular canine or first premolar). A distalization force of 1.5 N was applied to the traction site by changing the direction from -30 to +30° to the occlusal plane. The initial tooth displacement and von Mises stress on the clear aligners were analyzed. Results: All CAT-based total distalization groups showed an overall trend of clockwise or counterclockwise rotation of the occlusal plane as the force direction varied. Mesiodistal tipping of individual teeth was more prominent than that of bodily movements. The initial displacement pattern of the mandibular teeth was more predominant based on the traction site than on the traction method. The elastic deformation of clear aligners is attributed to unintentional lingual tipping or extrusion of the mandibular anterior teeth. Conclusions: The initial tooth displacement can vary according to different distalization strategies for CAT-based total distalization. Discreet application and biomechanical understanding of traction sites and directions are necessary for appropriate mandibular total distalization.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.679-695
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• 2024

This paper presents a novel technique that combines machine learning (ML) with moth-flame optimization (MFO) methods to predict the axial compressive strength (ACS) of concrete filled double skin steel tubes (CFDST) columns. The proposed model is trained and tested with a dataset containing 125 tests of the CFDST column subjected to compressive loading. Five ML models, including extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), gradient tree boosting (GBT), categorical gradient boosting (CAT), support vector machines (SVM), and decision tree (DT) algorithms, are utilized in this work. The MFO algorithm is applied to find optimal hyperparameters of these ML models and to determine the most effective model in predicting the ACS of CFDST columns. Predictive results given by some performance metrics reveal that the MFO-CAT model provides superior accuracy compared to other considered models. The accuracy of the MFO-CAT model is validated by comparing its predictive results with existing design codes and formulae. Moreover, the significance and contribution of each feature in the dataset are examined by employing the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method. A comprehensive uncertainty quantification on probabilistic characteristics of the ACS of CFDST columns is conducted for the first time to examine the models' responses to variations of input variables in the stochastic environments. Finally, a web-based application is developed to predict ACS of the CFDST column, enabling rapid practical utilization without requesting any programing or machine learning expertise.