• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.98-103
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• 2014

Purpose: Gallbladder (GB) wall thickening can be found in various conditions unrelated to intrinsic GB disease. We investigated the predisposing etiologies and the outcome of acalculous GB wall thickening in children. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 67 children with acalculous GB wall thickening who had visited our institute from June 2010 to June 2013. GB wall thickening was defined as a GB wall diameter > 3.5 mm on abdominal ultrasound examination or computed tomography. Underlying diseases associated with GB wall thickening, treatment, and outcomes were studied. Results: There were 36 boys and 31 girls (mean age, $8.5{\pm}4.8years$ [range, 7 months-16 years]). Systemic infection in 24 patients (35.8%), acute hepatitis in 18 (26.9%), systemic disease in 11 (16.4%), hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in 4 (6.0%), acute pancreatitis in 3 (4.5%), and specific liver disease in 3 (4.5%) predisposed patients to GB wall thickening. Systemic infections were caused by bacteria in 10 patients (41.7%), viruses in 5 patients (20.8%), and fungi in 2 patients (8.3%). Systemic diseases observed were systemic lupus erythematosus in 2, drug-induced hypersensitivity in 2, congestive heart failure in 2, renal disorder in 2. Sixty-one patients (91.0%) received symptomatic treatments or treatment for underlying diseases. Five patients (7.5%) died from underlying diseases. Cholecystectomy was performed in 3 patients during treatment of the underlying disease. Conclusion: A wide range of extracholecystic conditions cause diffuse GB wall thickening that resolves spontaneously or with treatment of underlying diseases. Surgical treatments should be avoided if there are no definite clinical manifestations of cholecystitis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.93-100
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• 2018

Some small mammals occur as household pests and harbour a number of parasites that could be of public health importance. This study profiled the helminth and protozoan parasites in trapped small mammals within and around human dwelling places (houses) located across 4 major towns (Auchi, Benin, Ekpoma, and Uromi) and environs in Edo state, Nigeria. Six genera (Apodemus sp., Crocidura sp., Mastomys natalensis, Mus musculus, Rattus sp., and Sorex sp.) were identified from 502 trapped small mammals. Overall, M. musculus (71.9%) and Rattus rattus (20.1%) were the most frequently trapped. In total, on examination of blood, gastrointestinal contents, and brain tissues, 12 helminth taxa (Angiostrongylus sp., Aspicularis sp., Capillaria sp., Gongylonema sp., Heterakis spumosa, Hymenolepis diminuta, Hymenolepis nana, Mastophorus muris, Moniliformis moniliformis, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, Strongyloides sp., Trichosomoides sp., and Trichuris sp.), and 6 protozoan parasites (Babesia sp., Trypanosoma lewisi, Plasmodium sp., Eimeria sp., Isospora sp., and Toxoplasma gondii) were isolated. Most prevalent helminths with relatively heavy mean intensity were Strongyloides sp. and Heterakis spumosa, while Plasmodium, Eimeria, and Isospora were the most prevalent protozoan parasites. Generally, intrinsic factors like sex and age had marginal influence on the rate and burden of infection in M. musculus and R. rattus. Although the infection rate and prevalence of zoonotic parasites were low, they were largely recovered in rodents from Ekpoma. This study elucidates the public health implication of the presence of zoonotic parasites in these small mammals.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1996.04a
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• pp.273-273
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• 1996

Recently a novel in vivo approach in dogs, using a regional segmental intestinal perfusion technique, has been developed. The perfusion tube consists of a highly sophisticated multichannel tube with two inflatable occluding balloons, which are placed in 10cm apart. The tube was introduced orally from the stomach through the upper jejunum under the guidance of solid-state pH meter. In the present study, four healthy dogs were infused in the proximal jejunum on two periods. The two perfusion experiments used the same flow rate, 2 $m\ell$/min, and the same perfusion solution to determine the intrasubject variability. The mean (${\pm}$ S. E.) fractions of ranitidine absorbed calculated from the perfusion data were 21.32${\pm}$2.01% (n=3) (1st period), 27.88 ${\pm}$ 17.54% (n=4) (2nd period), respectively. The effective permeabilities (Peffs${\times}$10$\^$4/) of ranitidine were 1.51${\pm}$0.47cm/sec (n=3) (1st period), 1.50 ${\pm}$ 0.31 cm/sec (n=4) (2nd period), respectively. The pH and osmolarity of perfusion solution were 7.50 ${\pm}$ 0.03 and 300 ${\pm}$ 0.06 mOsm/L, There was no significant intrasubject variation. Mixing equilibrium (steady-state) was reached at about 50 min. l-Phenylalanine was absorbed almost completely. Intrinsic intestinal wall permeability of ranitidine showed low permeable characteristics, suggesting permeability-limited absorption. The absorption of 1-phenylalanine, an actively transported nutrient, was not inhibited by ranitidine. The low intestinal membrane permeability is one of the important factors responsible for the variable oral absorption of ranitidine. Supported by FDA Grant FD01462-04 and KOSEF Grant.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.68-74
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• 2017

Objectives It is well known that problem drinking is associated with alterations of brain structures and functions. Brain functions related to alcohol consumption can be determined by the resting state functional connectivity in various resting state networks (RSNs). This study aims to ascertain the alcohol effect on the structures forming predetermined RSNs by assessing their cortical thickness. Methods Twenty-six abstinent male patients with alcohol dependence and the same number of age-matched healthy control were recruited from an inpatient mental hospital and community. All participants underwent a 3T MRI scan. Averaged cortical thickness of areas constituting 7 RSNs were determined by using FreeSurfer with Yeo atlas derived from cortical parcellation estimated by intrinsic functional connectivity. Results There were significant group differences of mean cortical thicknesses (Cohen's d, corrected p) in ventral attention (1.01, < 0.01), dorsal attention (0.93, 0.01), somatomotor (0.90, 0.01), and visual (0.88, 0.02) networks. We could not find significant group differences in the default mode network. There were also significant group differences of gray matter volumes corrected by head size across the all networks. However, there were no group differences of surface area in each network. Conclusions There are differences in degree and pattern of structural recovery after abstinence across areas forming RSNs. Considering the previous observation that group differences of functional connectivity were significant only in networks related to task-positive networks such as dorsal attention and cognitive control networks, we can explain recovery pattern of cognition and emotion related to the default mode network and the mechanisms for craving and relapse associated with task-positive networks.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.699-706
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• 2020

Predictive models in food microbiology are used for predicting microbial growth or death rates using mathematical and statistical tools considering the intrinsic and extrinsic factors of food. This study developed predictive growth models for Bacillus cereus on dried laver Pyropia pseudolinearis stored at different temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25℃). Primary models developed for specific growth rate (SGR), lag time (LT), and maximum population density (MPD) indicated a good fit (R²≥0.98) with the Gompertz equation. The SGR values were 0.03, 0.08, and 0.12, and the LT values were 12.64, 4.01, and 2.17 h, at the storage temperatures of 15, 20, and 25℃, respectively. Secondary models for the same parameters were determined via nonlinear regression as follows: SGR=0.0228-0.0069*T₁+0.0005*T₁²; LT=113.0685-9.6256*T₁+0.2079*T₁²; MPD=1.6630+0.4284*T₁-0.0080*T₁² (where T₁ is the storage temperature). The appropriateness of the secondary models was validated using statistical indices, such as mean squared error (MSE<0.01), bias factor (0.99≤B_f≤1.07), and accuracy factor (1.01≤A_f≤1.14). External validation was performed at three random temperatures, and the results were consistent with each other. Thus, these models may be useful for predicting the growth of B. cereus on dried laver.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.197-202
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• 2013

A novel route to prepare Nd-Fe-B magnetic particles by utilizing both spray drying and reduction/diffusion processes was investigated in this study. Precursors were prepared by spray drying method using the aqueous solutions containing Nd salt, Fe salt and boric acid with stoichiometric ratios. Precursor particles could be obtained with various sizes from 2 to $10{\mu}m$ by controlling concentrations of the solutions and the average size of $2{\mu}m$ of precursors were selected for further steps. After heat treatment of precursors in air, Nd and Fe oxides were formed through desalting procedure, followed by reduction processes in Hydrogen ($H_2$) atmosphere and with Calcium (Ca) granules in Argon (Ar) successively. Moreover, diffusion between Nd and Fe occurred during Ca reduction and $Nd_2Fe_{14}B$ particles were formed. With Ca amount added to particles after $H_2$ reduction, intrinsic coercivity was changed from 1 to 10 kOe. In order to remove and leach CaO and residual Ca, de-ionized water and dilute acid were used. Acidic solutions were more effective to eliminate impurities, but Fe and Nd were dissolved out from the particles. Finally, $Nd_2Fe_{14}B$ magnetic particles were synthesized after washing in de-ionized water with a mean size of $2{\mu}m$ and their maximum energy product showed 9.23 MGOe.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.353-363
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• 1995

The purpose of this study was to investigate the intestinal and nasal absorption enhancement of cefotaxime (CTX) by ion-pairing with counterions and to design an effective oral and intranasal drug delivery system for antibiotics. Counterions for absorption promotion were cationic surfactants [cetylpyridinium chloride (CP), cetrimide (CT) and benzalkonium chloride (BA)]. In the presence of counterions, the apparent partition coefficient of cefotaxime was increased depending on the molar concentration of the counterions. Anion interference was observed for ion-pairing of cefotaxime with counterions because of the counterbalance between an anion and counterions. The present study employed the in situ simultaneous nasal and intestinal perfusion technique in rats. The apparent permeabilities $(P_{app})$ of cefotaxime were $1.43{\pm}0.04{\times}10^{-5}\;cm/sec(mean{\pm}S.E)$ in the nasal cavity and 0 in the jejunum, respectively, which indicated that the intrinsic absorptivity of cefotaxime was greater in the nasal cavity than in the jejunum. When ionupairing formers were used, the decreasing order of apparent cefotaxime permeability $(P_{app},\;10^{-5}\;cm/sec)$, corrected for surface area of absorption, was as followings: $BA\;(7.50{\pm}0.36)\;>\;CT\;(4.92{\pm}0.24)\;>\;CP\;(3.01{\pm}0.17)$ in the jejunum and $BA\;(22.31{\pm}1.36)\;>\;CP\;(18.24{\pm}0.81)\;>\;CT \;(16.22{\pm}1.87)$ in the nasal cavity. The increase in permeability of cefotaxime was about 13-fold in the rat nasal cavity and was marked in the rat jejunum for ion-pairing with counterions as compared to those without ion-pairing. The damages of jejunal and nasal mucosal membrane by counterions were observed within approximately 2hrs after removal of ion-pair of cefotaxime with counterions from the nasal cavity and jejunum. These results suggest that CP can be used as an ion-pairing former in the jejunum and CP and CT can be used as ion-pairing formers in the nasal cavity for cefotaxime, as well as for poorly absorbed drugs with a negative charge due to ionization.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 1994

This study was carried out to clarify the primary hosts of Tetrastichus sp. and its host relationship, development and reproductive capacity. Protopulvinaria mangiferae was parasitized by Aneristus ceroplastae, Microterys flavus, Coccophagus hawaiiensis. All of these primary parasitoid were attecked by the hyperparasite Tetrastichus sp.. Tetrastichus sp. was bound to be a solitary ectoparasite. Eggs were laid on the pupa of the primary host or attached to the inner surface of the integument of the scale insect. Threshold of the development and thermal constants for completion of immature stages were $9.8^{\circ}C$ and 272 day-degrees, respectively. At $25^{\circ}C$ the life span of both sexes without any food or with water were very short as compared with that with honey. After a pre-oviposition periods of about one day they laid on overage 220 eggs each, almost all during the first half of their life. The value of the net reproduction(Ro), the mean length of a generation(T) and the intrinsic rate of natural increase(r) were calculated as 99.6, 32days and 0.142 per female per day respectively.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.38-44
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• 2006

In this paper, a speed sensorless control for an ultrasonic motor (USM) using a neural network (NN) is presented. In the proposed method, rotor speed is estimated by a three-layer NN which adapts nonlinearities associated with load torque and motor temperature into control. The intrinsic properties of a USM, such as high torque for low speeds, high static torque, compact size, etc., offer great advantages for industrial applications. However, the speed property of a USM has strong nonlinear properties associated with motor temperature and load torque, which make accurate speed control difficult. These properties are considered in designing a control method through the application of mathematical models. In these strategies, a detailed speed model of the USM is required which makes actual applications impractical. In the proposed method, a three-layer NN estimates the speed of the USM from the drive frequency, the root mean square value of input voltage and the surface temperature of the USM, where no mechanical speed sensor is needed. The NN speed based estimator enables inclusion of variations in driving conditions due to input signals of the NN involved during the driving state of the USM. The disuse of sensors offers many advantages on both the cost and maintenance front. Moreover, the model free sensorless control method offers practical controller construction within a small number of parameters. To validate the proposed speed sensorless control method for a USM, experiments have been executed under several conditions.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.123-132
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• 2019

This study is to estimate the spatial soil moisture using Terra MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite data and machine learning technique. Using the 3 years (2015~2017) data of MODIS 16 days composite NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and daily Land Surface Temperature (LST), ground measured precipitation and sunshine hour of KMA (Korea Meteorological Administration), the RDA (Rural Development Administration) 10 cm~30 cm average TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry) measured soil moisture at 78 locations was tested. For daily analysis, the missing values of MODIS LST by clouds were interpolated by conditional merging method using KMA surface temperature observation data, and the 16 days NDVI was linearly interpolated to 1 day interval. By applying the RNN-LSTM (Recurrent Neural Network-Long Short Term Memory) artificial neural network model, 70% of the total period was trained and the rest 30% period was verified. The results showed that the coefficient of determination ($R^2$), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency were 0.78, 2.76%, and 0.75 respectively. In average, the clay soil moisture was estimated well comparing with the other soil types of silt, loam, and sand. This is because the clay has the intrinsic physical property for having narrow range of soil moisture variation between field capacity and wilting point.