• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.260-267
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• 2015

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the workshop on the nurses' knowledge about urinary incontinence (UI) self-management, attitudes toward UI, and self-efficacy to plan and implement a UI self-help group program for their clients. Methods: A one-group pretest and posttest design was used to examine changes in knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy following a one-day training workshop. Twenty-seven community health nurses completed a questionnaire before and after the workshop. Before participating in the workshop, the participants were required to take a UI online continuing education program developed by the researchers. During the workshop, the participants took four sessions which consisted of an introduction of a self-help group program, demonstration of a 5-week UI self-management program contents, pelvic floor muscle training and biofeedback practice, and group discussions to plan the implementation in their workplaces. Results: A significant improvement in knowledge of and attitudes toward UI were found (t=3.53, p=.002; t=2.83, p=.009, respectively) after the workshop. Participants also demonstrated improvement in their self-efficacy to plan and operate a UI self-help group program (Z=-2.64, p=.008). Conclusion: The one-day workshop for community health nurses is a feasible strategy to increase their abilities and confidence in operating a UI self-help group program.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.1320-1325
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• 2003

The purpose of present study was to assess the effect of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on the immune responses of laying hens. Three hundred and sixty hens at the age of 60 weeks were randomly assigned to ten diets, which contained no oil (CK), 1%, 3%, 5% fish oil (FO); 2%, 4%, 6% linseed oil (LO) and 2%, 4%, 6% corn oil (CO). After 5 weeks of feeding experimental diets, humoral and cellular immune responses were assayed. Laying hens were injected with Sheep Red Blood Cell (SRBC) and Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) and antibody titers, which were measured on d6, d10, d14 after primary challenge and on d5, d9, d13 after secondary challenge. Concanavalin (ConA) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) -stimulated proliferation of peripheral blood and spleen lymphocytes were assessed by [$^3$H] thymidine incorporation at the week age of 5 and 10, respectively. The results showed that antibody titers in FO-fed and LO-fed laying hens were higher than that in laying hens fed CO. The proliferation response to ConA was lower in laying hens that fed oils rich in n-3 fatty acids than that in laying hens fed CO. Higher level n-3 fatty acids can improve immune functions of laying hens. In conclusion, dietary fat source and level had a significant impact on immune responses of laying hens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.620-625
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• 2005

Correlation of microsatellite heterozygosity with performance or heterosis was reported in wild animal populations and domestic animal populations, but the correlation with heterosis in a crossbreeding F$_1$ pig population remained uncertain. To explore this, we had random selected and mated Yorkshire${\times}$Meishan (F, n = 82) and their reciprocal (G, n = 47) to F$_1$, and used the two straightbreds as control groups (Yorkshire = 34, Meishan = 55), and observed the heterosis of birth weight (BWT), average daily gain (ADG) and feed and meat ratio (FMR). Two Kinds of measurement-individual heterozygosity (IH) and individual mean d$^2$ (lg value, ID) were used as index of heterozygosity and variance from 39 microsatellite marker loci to perform univariate regression analysis against heterosis. We detected significant correlation of IH with BWT in all of F$_1$ (F+G) and in F. We observed significant correlation of ID with ADG in all of F$_1$ (F+G), and with FMR in all of F$_1$ (F+G) and in F. There was significant maternal effect on heterosis, which was indicated by significant difference of means and distribution of heterosis between F and G. This difference was consistent with distributions of IH and ID, and with difference of means in F and G. From this study, it would be suggested that the two kinds of genetic index could be used to explore the genetic basis of heterosis in crossbreeding populations but could not determine which is better.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.905-916
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the influencing factors on the single and recurrent falls in community-dwelling older women. Methods: Seventy eight volunteers aged over 65 were included in the study. The participants experienced at least one fall within the past one year. Data were measured on each participant from May 2007 to September 2007, collected using structured researcher-administered sheets and measuring their physical strengths and analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test and logistic regression analysis. Results: The prevalence of recurrent falls were 53.8%. The level of education(Z = -2.455, p = .014) and the presence of spouse($x^2$ = 4.843, p = .044) showed significant differences between the single-fall group and the recurrent-fall group in the study. Significantly predicting factor on the recurrent falls was the level of education and the variable explained 20.1% of variants in the occurrence of recurrent falls. Conclusion: Although a variety of factors affected the single fall in the elderly women, the level of education and the presence of spouse proved to be the significant factors in their recurrent falls. These factors proven to be significant as the result of this should be reflected in the development of effective programs for preventing the elderly from recurrent falls.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.sup3
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• pp.65-70
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• 2016

Lung cancer is one of the most common malignancies in the world. Its incidence and mortality rates are on the rise in Pakistan. However, epidemiological studies to identify common lung cancer determinants in the Pakistani population have been limited. In this study, data of 440 cases and 323 controls were collected from different hospitals in Peshawar and Islamabad, along with information about socio-demographic factors including age, sex and smoking. Univariate and multi-factorial analyses of socio-demographic factors in association with each other were also performed. Overall survival analysis highlighted that, out of 440 patients in the lung cancer dataset, 204 people were uncensored with a median survival time of 13 months (95% CI=12-18). There were 41 femaleand 399 male patients. Differences were observed between length of survival in the males and females (${\chi}12$ = 6.1; p-value = 0.01). Gender was observed to be significantly related to survival (p-value< 0.01), with better survival in females (hazard ratio=2). Cox regression was extended to adjust for the covariate age (z = 2.5; p-value = 0.02). Survival analysis was also performed on the basis of smoking groups (current smokers, former smokers and never smoked individuals) and smoking duration (smoking duration >10 years, <10 years and never smoked). Smoking duration was significantly associated with survival (p-value < 0.01), with better survival in never smokers in comparison to both smoking for greater or less than 10 years. Strong associations were observed for smoking group with duration greater than 10 years, OR=6.1(3.9-9.5) on univariate and multifactorial analysis OR=11.3(CI=6.8-19.3).

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.766-775
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• 2003

The intermittent spray characteristics of a multi-hole diesel nozzle with a 2-spring nozzle holder were investigated experimentally. Without changing the total orifice exit area, the hole number of the multi-hole nozzle varied from 3 (d$\_$n/=0.42 mm) to 5 (d$\_$n/=0.32 mm). The time-resolved droplet diameters of the spray including the SMD (Saute. mean diameter) and the AMD (arithmetic mean diameter), injected intormittently from the multi-hole nozzles into still ambient ai., were measured by using a 2-D PDPA (phase Doppler particle analyze.). The 5-hole nozzle spray shows the smaller spray cone angle, the decreased SMD distributions and the small difference between the SMD and the AMD, compared with that of the 3-hole nozzle spray. From the SMD distributions with the radial distance, the spray structure can be classified into the three regions : (a) the inner region showing the high SMD distribution , (b) the mixing flow region where the shea. flow structure would be constructed : and (c) the outer region formed through the disintegration processes of the spray inner region and composed of fine droplets. Through the SMD distributions along the spray centerline, it reveals that the SMD decreases rapidly after showing the maximum value in the vicinity of the nozzle tip. The SMD remains the constant value near the Z/d$\_$n/=166 and 156.3 for the 3-hole and 5-hole nozzles, which illustrate that the disintegration processes of the 5-hole nozzle spray proceed more rapidly than that of the 3-hole nozzle spray.

• ALGAE
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 2010

To test the feasibility of using chlorophyll ${\alpha}$ fluorescence to assess the establishment success of seagrass transplants, photosynthetic characteristics of eelgrass Zostera marina transplants were measured using a Diving-pulsed amplitude modulation fluorometer in Jindong Bay on the southern coast of Korea. Maximum quantum yield ($F_v/F_m$), photosynthetic efficiency ($\alpha$), saturating irradiance ($E_k$) and maximum electron transport rate ($ETR_{max}$) of transplants and reference plants in a nearby transplant site were measured using the fluorometer for 5 months. Additionally, shoot morphology, individual shoot weight and productivity of transplants and reference plants were also monitored. Shoot height, leaf weight and productivity of transplants were significantly reduced during the first two or three months after transplantation compared to those of reference plants, and then increased to the levels of reference plants Characteristics of chlorophyll a fluorescence, including $F_v/F_m$, $\alpha$, $E_k$ and $ETR_{max}$ of transplants were also significantly reduced in the initial period, but recovered slightly sooner than shoot morphology or leaf productivity. These results indicated that after transplantation, Z. marina transplant photosynthesis recovered faster than shoot morphology, biomass or productivity. Thus, chlorophyll a fluorescence can be used as an indicator for early assessment of the status of eelgrass transplants without destructive sampling.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.40 no.10
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• pp.851-856
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• 2016

Despite all the recent advances in biodegradable material-based microneedles, the bending and failure (especially buckling) of a biodegradable microneedle during skin tissue insertion remains a major technical hurdle for its large-scale commercialization. A reduction in skin tissue puncture force during microneedle insertion remains an essential issue in successfully developing a biodegradable microneedle. Here, we consider uniaxial and equibiaxial prestrains applied to a skin tissue as mechanophysical stimuli that can reduce the skin tissue puncture force, and investigate the effect of prestrain on the changes in skin tissue puncture force. For a porcine skin tissue similar to that of humans, the skin tissue puncture force of a flat-end microneedle is measured with a z-axis stage equipped with a load cell, which provides a force-time curve during microneedle insertion. The findings of this study lead to a quantitative characterization of the relationship between prestrain and the skin tissue puncture force.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2008

We created a cDNA microarray representing approximately 3,500 pig genes for functional genomic studies. The array elements were selected from 6,494 cDNA clones identified in a large-scale expressed sequence tag (EST) project. These cDNA clones came from normalized and subtracted porcine adipose tissue cDNA libraries. Sequence similarity searches of the 3,426 ESTs represented on the array using BLASTN identified 2,790 (81.4%) as putative human orthologs, with the remainder consisting of "novel" genes or highly divergent orthologs. We used the gene microarray to profile transcripts expressed by adipose tissue of fatty Chinese Xiang pig (XP) and muscley Large White (LW). Microarray analysis of RNA extracted from adipose tissue of fatty XP and muscley LW identified 81 genes that were differently expressed two fold or more. Transcriptional differences of four of these genes, adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (aP2), stearyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 1 (SREBF1) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) were confirmed using SYBR Green quantitative RT-PCR technology. Our results showed that high expression of SCD and SREBF1 may be one of the reasons that larger fat deposits are observed in the XP. In addition, our findings also illustrate the potential power of microarrays for understanding the molecular mechanisms of porcine development, disease resistance, nutrition, fertility and production traits.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.238-245
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• 2009

Pure culture experiments were conducted to assess the bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects of phlorotannins (PT) isolated from Ascophyllum nodosum (brown seaweed) on Escherichia coli O157:H7. In Exp. 1, one non-O157:H7 strain (25922) and three strains of E. coli O157:H7 (3081, EDL933 and E318N) were cultured in M9 medium with PT included at 0 (control), 25, 50 or $100{\mu}g/ml$ (n = 3). Bacterial growth was monitored by $OD_{600}$ at 0, 4, 6, 12 and 24 h, and by dilution plating at 0, 4, 6 and 24 h. All strains were inhibited (p<0.001) by PT to varying degrees. At 50 or $100{\mu}g/ml$, PT prevented growth of all four strains. At $25{\mu}g\;PT/ml$, growth of 25922, 3081, E318N and EDL933 was inhibited for 6, 12 and 24 h, respectively, but 25922 and 3081 resumed growth by 12 and 24 h. Direct plating confirmed bactericidal effects of PT on all four strains at $100{\mu}g/ml$, and on EDL933 and E318N at $50{\mu}g/ml$. In Exp. 2, strains 25922 and 3081 were incubated with no tannins or with $50{\mu}g/ml$ of PT, purified condensed tannins (CT) from Quebracho (Schinopsis balansaei), or purified tannic acid from Rhus semialata (Anacardiaceae) as hydrolysable tannins (HT). Strain 3081 was unaffected by HT or CT, but was completely inhibited (p<0.001) by PT at 4, 6 and 24 h. Strain 25922 was unaffected by HT, slightly inhibited by CT, and almost eradicated by PT at 4 and 6 h. Transmission electron microscopy revealed tannin-mediated alterations to bacterial cell walls. Phlorotannins from A. nodosum exhibit growth-inhibiting and bactericidal effects in vitro against the strains of E. coli O157:H7 investigated. Anti-E. coli efficacy of A. nodosum PT is superior to that of terrestrial tannins purified from Quebracho and from Rhus semialata.