• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.367-380
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• 2018

Stems and pods of hyacinth bean cultivated in a farmer's field in Gazipur District, Bangladesh, were found rotted in nearly 5% hyacinth bean plants. A fungus having fluffy mycelium and large sclerotia was isolated from affected tissues. Combined results of morphological, molecular and pathological analyses identified the fungus as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib) de Bary. Inoculating the fungus on healthy hyacinth bean plants and pods reproduced the symptoms previously observed in the field. The three isolates obtained from naturally infected plants were cross inoculated in hyacinth bean, okra and African-American marigold and they were pathogenic to these hosts. The optimum temperature and pH for its growth were $20^{\circ}C$ and pH 5.0, respectively. Sclerotial development was favored at pH 5.0. Sucrose and mannitol were the best carbon sources to support hyphal growth, while glucose was the most favourable for sclerotial development. The hyacinth bean genotypes, HB-82 (Rupban Sheem) and HB-102 were found highly resistant, while HB-94 (Ashina) was moderate resistant to the fungus. Finally, S. sclerotiorum was sensitive to Bavistin, Dithane M-45 and Rovral fungicides and Ca in the form of $CaCl_2$. This observation could possibly aid in eliminating field loss in hyacinth bean caused by an emerging pathogenic fungus S. sclerotiorum.

• BMB Reports
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.251-254
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• 2002

The genetic factors that contribute to the development of coronary artery disease (CAD) are poorly understood. It is likely that multiple genes that act independently or synergistically contribute to the development of CAD and the outcome. Recently, an insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the human angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) gene, a major component of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), was identified. The association of the ACE gene D allele with essential hypertension and CAD has been reported in the African-American, Chinese, and Japanese populations. However, other studies have failed to detect such an association. It has been suggested that these inconsistencies may be due to the difference in backgrounds of the population characteristics. In the present study, we investigated the I/D polymorphism of the ACE gene in 103 subjects of both sexes, consisting of 59 normal controls and 44 patients with hypertension. The allele and genotype frequency were significantly different between the hypertensive and control groups (p < 0.01). Among the three ACE I/D variants, the DD genotype was associated with the highest value of the mean systolic blood pressure [SBP] and mean diastolic blood pressure [DBP] (p = < 0.05) in men, but not in women. In the overall population, the mean SBP and DBP was highest in DD subjects, intermediate in I/D subjects, and the least in II subjects.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3469-3476
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• 2016

Background: The cancer research literature suggests that women, especially premenopausal women, have lower cancer mortality rates than men. However, it is unclear if that is true for populations at all age levels in all countries and what factors affect such sex differences. This paper attempts to fill that gap. Materials and Methods: Sex- and country-specific cancer mortality data were statistically analyzed with particular attention to geographic, social, and economic factors that may affect the sex differences. Results: The sex differences were age and country specific, rather than universal. Premenopausal women actually tend to have a disadvantage compared to men or postmenopausal women. Male cancer mortality appears to be the affecting factor in explaining variations in sex differences. Latitude of residence and literacy rate are the affecting factors in cancer mortality and sex differences. African and Latin American countries tend to have a female disadvantage, while East Asian and Eastern European countries are more likely to have a female advantage. Conclusions: The findings challenge the cancer mortality literature and indicate that the sex differences and their possible causes are more complicated than the current literature suggests. They also highlight the urgency of adapting age- and country- specific health systems and policies to better meet the needs of younger women.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.533-549
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• 2020

Recently, Concrete-filled double skin steel tubular (CFDST) columns have proven an exceptional structural resistance in terms of strength, stiffness, and ductility. However, the resistance of these column members can be severely affected by the type of loading in which bending stresses increase in direct proportion with axial load and eccentricity value. This paper presents a non-linear finite element based modeling approach that studies the behavior of slender CFDST columns under biaxial loading. Finite element models were calibrated based on the outcomes of experimental work done by other researchers. Results from simulations of slender CFDST columns under axial loading eccentric in one direction showed good agreement with the experimental response. The calibrated models are expanded to a total of thirty models that studies the behavior of slender CFDST columns under combined compression and biaxial bending. The influences of parameters that are usually found in practice are taken into consideration in this paper, namely, eccentricity-to-diameter (e/D) ratios, slenderness ratios, diameter-to-thickness (D/t) ratios, and steel contribution ratios. Finally, an analytical study based on current code provisions is conducted. It is concluded that South African national standards (2011) provided the most accurate results contrasted with the Eurocode 4 (2004) and American Institute of Steel Construction (2016) that are found to be conservative. Accordingly, correction factors are proposed to the current design guidelines to provide more satisfactory results.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.402-406
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• 2017

Transit workers constitute a blue-collar occupational group that have elevated smoking rates relative to other sectors of employed adults in the United States. This study analyzed cross-sectional tobacco survey data from 935 workers (60% African American; 37% female) employed at an urban public transit agency in California. Prevalence of current and former smoking was 20.3% and 20.6%, respectively. Younger workers were less likely than older workers to be current or former smokers. Having a complete home smoking ban was associated with decreased likelihood of being a smoker [odds ratio (OR) = 0.04, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.01-0.17], as were neutral views about whether it is easy for a smoker to take a smoking break during their shift (OR = 0.50, 95% CI 0.28-0.88). Current smoking among the sample is > 50% higher than the adult statewide prevalence. Potential points of intervention identified in this study include perceived ease of worksite smoking breaks and establishing home smoking bans. Tailored cessation efforts focusing on older transit workers more likely to smoke are needed to reduce tobacco-related disparities in this workforce.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.189-193
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• 2006

This study was designed to assess the distribution of cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) polymorphism among Korean patients on warfarin therapy. CYP2E1 polymorphism was analyzed at 5' flanking region of CYP2E1 gene using restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Patient characteristics including the measured internal normalized ratio (INR) were also evaluated. Based on the warfarin dose and the bleeding cases, the patients were grouped as the regular dose control, the regular dose bleeding, the low dose control, and the low dose bleeding. Total 96 patients were evaluated for both Pst I and Rsa I loci of the CYP2E1 gene and the results showed that both loci were tightly linked. Thirty-three patients(34.4%) were heterozygotes and 4 patients(4.2%) were homozygote. There was no significant difference in patient characteristics in the dose and bleeding case groups. CYP2E1 polymorphism showed a little difference among the groups but was not statistically significant, however, lower INR value was observed in homozygote genotype groups. It was also revealed that genotype allele frequencies of CYP2E1 in Korean was close to other Asian groups but was significantly different from other Caucasian and African-American populations.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.13-18
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• 2019

Comorbidity isthe simultaneous presence of two chronic diseases or conditions in a patient. As part of a larger research study, the aims of this study were to explore comorbid conditions in intensive care unit (ICU) patients and to compare the comorbidity across different demographic groups, and to determine what comorbid health problems coexisted in the patients with hospital-acquired pressure injury (HAPI). The average number of comorbid conditions was 6.4 with range from 0-20 in the ICU patients. African American patients had significantly more comorbid health problems than other race/ethnicity groups. Asian and Hispanic female patients showed higher comorbidity than male patients across age. The patients with HAPIs had significantly more comorbid health problems than the patients without HAPIs -- the average numbers were almost two-fold. We found comorbid health problems that existed with HAPI in ICU patients. 'Other diseases of lung' and 'Disorders of fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base balance' were most frequently coexisting health problems in the ICU patients with HAPI. Exploratory plots are helpful to discover patterns or hypotheses relevant to clinical management in critical care. Inclusion of patients' comorbid health problems to ICU HAPI risk assessment may be helpful. Identification of patients at a high risk for the development of HAPI and the early preventative interventions can help reduce length of stay as well as costly complications.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.1221-1244
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• 2009

The death scenes are the culmination of both Doris Lessing's "To Room Nineteen" and Toni Morrison's Sula. Lessing's Susan, an intelligent white English woman, gradually loses the meaning of life as awealthy housewife in the patriarchal society and commits suicide as her solution in Room Nineteen of Fred's Hotel. Morrison's Sula, an African-American woman, grows up without having the normal ego under Eva's matriarchy in a black community named the Bottom. Sula, after Nel's marriage, becomes a symbol of evil to her community and drifts down to death in Eva's bed. Reading these two death stories from the perspective of Jung's archetypal psychology, Susan is not able to continue to live a meaningful life because her life energy is cut off from its source which is in the unconscious. According to Jung, the symbol is the medium of the psychic energy from the unconscious to consciousness. In modern society which is represented by intelligence, the religious and mythical symbols are removed by rationalism, which means disconnection of the flow of life energy from the unconscious. Susan's death can be read as a kind of creating symbol to connect the modern people to the source of life energy. Sula's case is the opposite of Susan's. She remains in the unconscious world without having the proper ego in the absurd reality of racial and sexual problems. Sula finally rises again in Nel's awareness, becoming a symbol of the feminine goddess like goddess Inanna.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.235-261
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• 2008

Countee Cullen has never been fully understood as a poet or as a man, for there existed certain ambiguities concerning his earlier life including family background. But a short but enormously important biography written by Shirley Washington, his niece, a daughter of his youngest sister, titled Countee Cullen's Secret Revealed by Miracle Book: A Biography of His Childhood in New Orleans, has at last come to shed some lights on his childhood which has never been disclosed by Cullen himself or anyone else. Now we can safely say that Countee Cullen was a combination of two personalities, James S. Carter, Jr. and Countee Cullen, In other words, he was a good example of a 'dichotomous personality.' Such disclosure of two conflicting personalities gives us a rare chance to re-examine his literary works. We can now put in perspective why in his first collection of poems Color Countee Cullen was so ironic, dark, cynic, and pessimistic about the life and the world. Also, we can understand why Cullen's response to the jazz was so complex and contradictory and in what ways he used artistic technique to conceal his own feelings. Thanks to Washington's biography, we are now able to locate the real cause of his failure to mature as a poet and of his failure to materialize what was promised in the beginning of his literary career.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.705-712
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• 2008

In this study, Jeonju bibimbap, Bulgogi, Japchae, Whangpomuk, Kimchijeyukbokkeum, and Sangseonjeon were selected as examples of take-out style Korean foods, and sensory evaluations on a 9-point hedonic scale were conducted with dining staff at UCLA. 54.5% of the respondents in this study were male and 62.7% were Hispanic/Latino, with the respondents fairly evenly split across age groups in a range of 25-54 years. In the sensory evaluation, the most acceptable items were judged as follows: Bulgogi (8.1)>Japchae (7.5)>Sangseonjeon (7.4)>Jeonjubibimbap=kimchijeyukbokkeum (7.3)>Whangpomuk (6.9). Among the 6 Korean foods (Jeonjubibimbap, Bulgogi, Japchae, Whangpomuk, Kimchijeyukbokkeum and Sangseonjeon), Bulgogi, and Saengseonjeon were the most acceptable items for the female and male respondents, respectively. All of the items were popular with the majority of the responding age groups, with the exception of the 18-24-year groups; in particular, Kimchijeyukbokkeum and Bulgogi scored relatively high on acceptability (7.0) for all respondents. Jeonjubibimbap, Japchae, Whangpomuk, and Saengseonjeon were also found to be acceptable to all respondents except for the African American respondents. We suggest that the Korean foods listed above are applicable items for quick service restaurants in the U.S. market.