• ETRI Journal
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• 제26권5호
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• pp.375-383
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• 2004

This paper proposes a common interleaving method associated with independent channel-encoding among transmitter antenna branches in orthogonal frequency and code division multiplexing based on multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) multiplexing to achieve an extremely high throughput such as 1 Gbps using a 100 MHz bandwidth. This paper also investigates the average packet error rate performance as a function of the average received signal energy per bit-to-background noise power spectrum density ratio $(E_b/N_0)$. We found that the loss in the required average received $E_b/N_0$ of the proposed method is only within approximately 0.3 dB in up to a 12-path Rayleigh fading channel, using 16QAM and Turbo coding with a coding rate of 5/6. We also clarify that even for a large fading correlation among antenna branches, 1 Gbps is still possible by increasing the transmission power. Therefore, the proposed method reduces the processing rate to 1/4 in the turbo decoder with only a slight loss in the required average received $E_b/N_0$.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제19권11호
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• pp.1632-1637
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• 2006

We studied the changes in biochemical markers of bone metabolism in growing Thoroughbred horses. Serum osteocalcin (OC), as a marker for bone formation, and carboxy-terminal propeptide of type-I collagen (PICP), as a marker for bone formation, carboxy-terminal telopeptide of type-I collagen (ICTP), as a marker for bone resorption, were determined in nine clinically healthy horses from 3 d to 17 mo of age. The BW and withers height (WH) increased during the study. On the other hand, a rapid reduction in body weight gain (BWG) was observed between 1 mo and 9 mo of age and a rapid reduction in withers height gain was observed between 1 mo and 5 mo of age. The serum markers decreased significantly with increasing age. In particular, dramatic changes in serum markers occurred between 3 d to 1 wk and 5 to 7 mo of age in these horses, which suggests that bone turnover rapidly decreased after birth. On the other hand, the ratio of PICP to ICTP decreased through the experiment. This result suggests that the reduction in bone formation exceeded that of bone resorption. There was a significant correlation between markers and growth parameters, except for the correlation between PICP and BWG on single linear regression analysis. Serum OC and ICTP were affected by the WH in multiple linear regression analysis. These results indicated that the age-related variation in serum biochemical markers of bone metabolism reflected bone growth, but neither BW nor BWG. Therefore, we consider that changes in bone modeling are the major factor affecting the levels of serum biochemical markers by 17 mo of age in horses.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.340-344
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• 2005

In high-income Asian countries like Korea and Japan, per capita rice consumption has declined because of the change in consumer' favorite foods from rice to high-cost quality foods. This has forced farmers to reduce rice production. Although fodder rice could be another option to be cultured by farmers, available information concerning rice grain silage has been limited. In the present study, therefore, the difference in the quality of fodder rice silage prepared from either whole crop or grain at different ripening stages was compared. Various supplements were also added into whole crop and grain silages of fodder rice before ensiling, and thereafter, the palatability of prepared silages was determined by beef cattle. At ear emergence stage, the pH values for both grain and whole crop silages were approximately 4.5. In both grain and whole crop silages, the pH values were significantly increased by progressing ripening stages from milk-ripe stage to yellow-ripe stages, and the increase in pH value for grain silage was faster than that for whole crop silage. In the grain silage, the higher lactic acid (LA) content in grain silage seemed to be, the lower pH value was. Both in grain and whole crop silages, pH was significantly decreased by supplementation with LA bacteria. There were no significant differences in feed intake among any treatment groups.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.27-32
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• 2008

This paper describes a contact atomic force microscope (AFM) that can be used for high-speed precision measurements of microstructured surfaces. The AFM is composed of an air-bearing X stage, an air-bearing spindle with the axis of rotation in the Z direction, and an AFM probe unit. The traversing distance and maximum speed of the X stage are 300 mm and 400 mm/s, respectively. The spindle has the ability to hold a sample in a vacuum chuck with a maximum diameter of 130 mm and has a maximum rotation speed of 300 rpm. The bandwidth of the AFM probe unit in an open loop control circuit is more than 40 kHz. To achieve precision measurements of microstructured surfaces with slopes, a scanning strategy combining constant height measurements with a slope compensation technique is proposed. In this scanning strategy, the Z direction PZT actuator of the AFM probe unit is employed to compensate for the slope of the sample surface while the microstructures are scanned by the AFM probe at a constant height. The precision of such a scanning strategy is demonstrated by obtaining profile measurements of a microstructure surface at a series of scanning speeds ranging from 0.1 to 20.0 mm/s.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제18권6호
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• pp.855-860
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• 2005

This study was designed to test the effects of changes in energy and protein intake levels on the maternal milk amino acid concentrations over the short-term in lactating mares. Three lactating mares were enrolled for the study 7 weeks after parturition. A low-energy and low-protein diet (LEP) was administered during the first week of the study, followed by administration of a high-energy and high-protein diet (HEP), again for a week (day 1 to day 7), and milk was sampled thrice daily at intervals of 8 h during the study period. The mean amino acid concentrations in the maternal milk, except for those of proline, serine and valine, were significantly higher in the HEP feeding period than during the LEP feeding period (p<0.05). The sum of the concentrations of all the amino acids (TAA) in the maternal milk samples during the HEP and LEP feeding periods was 1,644.9${\pm}$26.9 and 1,542.3${\pm}$36.0 mg/100 g, respectively, the difference between the two was not significant. When the ratio of each amino acid concentration to the TAA in the maternal milk was analyzed, there were significant differences between the HEP and LEP feeding periods for all amino acids, except glycine, serine, alanine and histidine. It was found that the concentrations of glutamic acid+glutamine, serine, threonine, arginine and valine were significantly higher (p<0.05) on day 1 than on day 7 during the LEP feeding period, and there were no such differences during the HEP feeding period. In regard to the effects of changes in the energy and protein intake levels in lactating mares, no changes in milk amino acid concentrations were found following administration of HEP for a week, whereas 7 days of administration of LEP was associated with a decrease in the amino acid concentrations.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제15권4호
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• pp.531-536
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• 2002

We investigated the exercise-induced changes in the serum concentration of several minerals in horses. Four welltrained Thoroughbred horses performed exercise for 5 d. The blood hemoglobin (Hb) concentration increased during exercise, recovered to the pre-exercise level immediately after cooling down and did not change again up till the end of experiment. The changes in serum zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) concentrations were similar to those of blood Hb during the experiment. The serum magnesium (Mg), inorganic phosphorus (Pi) and iron (Fe) concentrations also increased during exercise. Though the serum Pi concentration recovered to the pre-exercise level immediately after the cooling down, it decreased further before the end of the experiment. The serum Mg concentration was lower immediately after cooling down than its pre-exercise level but gradually recovered from the temporal reduction. The recovery of the serum Fe concentration was delayed compared to that of other minerals and recovered 2 h after cooling down. The serum calcium (Ca) concentration did not change during exercise but rapidly decreased after cooling down. As a result, it was lower immediately after cooling down than its pre-exercise level. It recovered, however, to the pre-exercise level 2 h after cooling down. The temporal increase in the serum concentrations of all minerals except Ca is considered to result from hemoconcentration induced by exercise and the stable concentration of the serum Ca during exercise is possibly due to its strict regulation of homeostasis. These results indicate that the serum concentration of each mineral responds differently to exercise in horses, which may be due to the difference in metabolism among these minerals.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제17권7호
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• pp.973-979
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• 2004

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the digestible energy intake and energy expenditure in yearling horses on different training protocols (uphill- and level-track exercise training protocols). Twenty-four thoroughbred yearlings (12 males and 12 females, aged 27.0$\pm$0.9 months) were divided into two groups based on their training on two different tracks: the uphill (with a gradient of about 3%) training group (uphill training) and the level training group (level training). The digestible energy (DE) intake and energy expenditure (EE) during exercise were measured in both the groups. It was found that the DE intake in the uphill training and the level training groups was 5.1$\pm$3.1 and 36.9$\pm$4.8 Mcal/day, respectively. The EE during exercise in the two groups was 3.05$\pm$0.51 and 2.07 $\pm$0.56 Mcal, respectively. Thus, there was a significant difference in the EE (p<0.05), but not in the DE intake between the animals of the two training groups. The EE for a given intensity of exercise was greater in the uphill training group than in the level training group, but the DE intake was not affected by the exercise intensity. The DE intake was not generally affected by the intensity of exercise in this study, but a daily negative gain of body weight was observed in the uphill training group, particularly in the females. Thus, the energy requirement may be higher in yearlings undergoing uphill training than in those undergoing level training.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제28권4호
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• pp.321-329
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• 2009

Rapid production of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been implicated in the regulation of innate immunity in plants. A potato calcium-dependent protein kinase (StCDPK5) activates an NADPH oxidase StRBOHA to D by direct phosphorylation of N-terminal regions, and heterologous expression of StCDPK5 and StRBOHs in Nicotiana benthamiana results in oxidative burst. The transgenic potato plants that carry a constitutively active StCDPK5 driven by a pathogen-inducible promoter of the potato showed high resistance to late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans accompanied by HR-like cell death and $H_2O_2$ accumulation in the attacked cells. In contrast, these plants showed high susceptibility to early blight necrotrophic pathogen Alternaria solani, suggesting that oxidative burst confers high resistance to biotrophic pathogen, but high susceptibility to necrotrophic pathogen. NO and ROS synergistically function in defense responses. Two MAPK cascades, MEK2-SIPK and cytokinesis-related MEK1-NTF6, are involved in the induction of NbRBOHB gene in N. benthamiana. On the other hand, NO burst is regulated by the MEK2-SIPK cascade. Conditional activation of SIPK in potato plants induces oxidative and NO bursts, and confers resistance to both biotrophic and necrotrophic pathogens, indicating the plants may have obtained during evolution the signaling pathway which regulates both NO and ROS production to adapt to wide-spectrum pathogens.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제45권1호
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• pp.48-51
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• 2018

We report the case of a 46-year-old Chinese male patient who visited our clinic complaining of infertility. Semen analysis revealed azoospermia, and azoospermia factor c region partial deletion (b1/b3) was detected using Y chromosome microdeletion analysis. Testicular sperm extraction was performed after genetic counseling. The bilateral ductus deferens and a portion of the epididymis were absent, whereas the remaining epididymis was expanded. Motile intratesticular spermatozoa were successfully extracted from the seminiferous tubule. On histopathology, nearly complete spermatogenesis was confirmed in almost every seminiferous tubule. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of b1/b3 deletion with a congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens and almost normal spermatogenesis.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제45권1호
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• pp.44-47
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• 2018

Onco-testicular sperm extraction is used to preserve fertility in patients with bilateral testicular tumors and azoospermia. We report the case of a testicular tumor in the solitary testis of a patient who had previously undergone successful contralateral orchiectomy and whose sperm was preserved by onco-testicular sperm extraction. A 35-year-old patient presented with swelling of his right scrotum that had lasted for 1 month. His medical history included a contralateral orchiectomy during childhood. Ultrasonography revealed a mosaic echoic area in his scrotum, suggesting a testicular tumor. The lesion was palpated within the normal testicular tissue along its edge and semen analysis showed azoospermia. Radical inguinal orchiectomy and onco-testicular sperm extraction were performed simultaneously. Motile spermatozoa were extracted from normal seminiferous tubules under microscopy and were frozen. Eventual intracytoplasmic sperm injection using the frozen spermatozoa is planned. Onco-testicular sperm extraction is an important fertility preservation method in patients with bilateral testicular tumors or a history of a previous contralateral orchiectomy.