• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7929-7934
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• 2014

Background: The primary objective of this study was to assess the proportion of malignancies in ovarian masses during $1^{st}$ January 2002, to $31^{st}$ December 2011 at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. A secondary objective was to evaluate associations with patients' clinical characteristics and ovarian malignancy proportion and subtypes. Materials and Methods: Retrospective descriptive study analyzed data of ovarian masses larger than 3 centimeters in maximal diameter, from the division of Gynecologic Cyto-Pathology at KCMH. SPSS software version 17 (SPSS, Inc, Chicago, IL, USA) was used. Results: A total number of 6,115 patients were included. Among the total ovarian masses studied, 13.7% were malignant. After the age of sixty, the proportion reached almost 40%. It was also above 20% in women younger than 20 years old. During premenarche period, proportion of ovarian malignancies was 50%. Only 1% of ovarian masses were found to be malignant during the pregnancy and post-partum periods. Parity decreased the probability of ovarian malignancy during postmenopausal years. Period of menopause did not have any impact on this probability. During the first two decades of life, germ cell malignancy dominated. As the age increased, the percentage of surface epithelial-stromal malignancy increased with a peak at the fifth decade. In contrast, malignant sex cord-stromal cell tumors occurred at a constant rate in each age group after the thirties. Conclusions: Proportion of ovarian cancers in each age group, menstrual and pregnancy status are similar. However there are differences in the distribution of ovarian subtypes especially for the surface epithelial-stromal category.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.553-563
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• 2011

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of nattokinase (NK) additives on milk production and composition, and blood metabolites in dairy cows. The two kinds of nattokinase with high fibrinolytic activity were produced by two strains of bacteria, Bacillus amyloliquefacines (NK1) and Bacillus subtilis (NK2). Total fifteen Holstein cows (average $1.83{\pm}0.37$ parity; average milk yield $23.2{\pm}3.2$ kg/d) were randomly assigned to three treatments (5 animals per treatment). Cows were fed TMR supplemented with 0g, 100g and 100g for control, NK1 and NK2 treatment, respectively for 4 weeks. Milk yield was significantly higher (p<0.05) for NK1 (22.89 kg/d) than for control (21.07 kg/d) and NK2 (21.36 kg/d). Somatic cell counts in NK treatments were significantly lower than that in control group (58,000 vs. 21,000 and 35,000 cells/ml, control vs. NK1 and NK2). Serum ALT levels in all treatment were similar to the range of 32.00~35.83 IU/L, but AST levels in NK1 (85.67 IU/L) was significantly decreased compared with those in control and NK2 (121.67 and 117.67 IU/L respectively). Serum T-CHO levels in NK1 (145.33 mg/dl) was significantly decreased (p<0.05) compared with that in control (179.00 mg/dl) and NK2 (176.17 mg/dl). This finding showed that NK1 additives could possibly have a positive effect in lactation performance of mid-lactation dairy cows by increasing milk yield, reducing somatic cell count, improving liver function and decreasing cholesterol in blood.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.272-277
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• 2014

This retrospective study evaluated the effect of somatic cell count (SCC) in milk during early lactation on reproductive performance in dairy cows. Data were collected on 774 cows from six dairy farms, including cow parity, dates of previous calving, artificial insemination, pregnancy diagnosis, incidence of postpartum endometritis, reproductive performance (the intervals from calving to first insemination and conception), milk production and SCC. Data on 774 lactations were grouped based on the average first 3 months postpartum linear somatic cell score (SCS) as T1 (< 3.0, n = 521), T2 (3.0 ${\leq}$ and < 4.0, n = 113), and T3 (${\geq}$ 4.0, n = 140) groups. The odds ratio (OR) for the probability of endometritis increased 1.6 (p < 0.05) and 3.2 times (p < 0.0001) in the T2 and T3 groups, respectively, compared with that in the T1 group. The hazard of first insemination by 150 days in milk (DIM) was lower in the T3 group (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.76, p < 0.01) than in the T1 group. First insemination conception rate did not differ among the 3 groups (28.7-34.2%, p > 0.05). The hazard of pregnancy by 365 DIM in the T3 group was lower (HR: 0.75, p < 0.05 respectively) than in the T1 and T2 groups. The SCS during 4 to 7 months postpartum differed (p < 0.0001) among the 3 groups. Farm and cow parity were important risk factors for higher SCS (${\geq}$ 4.0). Multiparous cows were more likely to have a higher SCS (OR: 2.26, p = 0.0005) compared with primiparous cows. In conclusion, higher SCS (${\geq}$ 4.0) during early lactation was associated with decreased reproductive performance of dairy cows.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1801-1810
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• 2016

Recent discovery showing the presence of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the circulation sparked interest in their use as potential biomarkers. Our previous studies showed the diagnostic potential of miR-451 as a serological marker for inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), miR-337-5p and miR-30b for non-inflammatory breast cancer (non-IBC). The aim of this study is to investigate the prognostic values of circulating miRNAs by comparing the amounts of 12 circulating miRNAs in the serum of IBC and non-IBC from Tunisian breast cancer patients, and by determinating whether correlated pairs of miRNAs could provide useful information in the diagnosis of IBC and non-IBC patients. TaqMan qPCR was performed to detect circulating expression of miRNAs in serum of 20 IBC, 20 non-IBC and 20 healthy controls. Nonparametric rank Spearman rho correlation coefficient was used to examine the prognostic value of miRNAs and to assess the correlation profile between miRNAs expression. Further, a large number of miRNAs were highly correlated (rho>0.5) in both patients groups and controls. Also, the correlations profiles were different between IBC, non-IBC and healthy controls indicating important changes in molecular pathways in cancer cells. Our results showed that miR-335 was significantly overexpressed in premenopausal non-IBC patients; miR-24 was significantly overexpressed in non-IBC postmenopausal patients. Patients with previous parity had higher serum of miR-342-5p levels than those without. Furthermore, patients with HER2+ IBC present lower serum levels of miR-15a than patients with HER2-disease. Together, these results underline the potential of miRNAs to function as diagnostic and prognostic markers for IBC and non-IBC, with links to the menopausal state, Her2 status and parity.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.825-835
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• 2020

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of dietary zinc supplementation of Friesian cows on chemical-nutritional and aromatic properties of Caciocavallo cheese after 7 days (C₇) and 120 days (C₁₂₀) of ripening. Methods: Twenty eight Friesian cows, balanced for parity, milk production and days in milk, were randomly assigned to 2 groups. The control group (CG) was fed with a conventional complete diet, while the experimental group (zinc group, ZG) received a daily zinc supplementation of 60 mg for kg of dry complete feed. During the experimental period, the milk yield was monitored and samples of milk and caciocavallo cheese were collected and analyzed for chemical-nutritional composition and aromatic profile. Results: The enrichment of dairy cows diet with zinc, did not influence milk yield and composition, however a marked reduction of somatic cell count was evidenced. Both in milk and cheese the ZG samples were characterized by a lower concentration of satured fatty acids and an increase in oleic, vaccenic and rumenic acids. The aromatic profile of dairy products was also positively affected by dietary zinc intake, with an increase in concentration of carboxylic acids, esters and lactones. Conclusion: The present results suggest a positive role of dietary zinc intake in improving the quality of bovine milk and related cheese, in particular for the increase in concentration of bioactive fatty acids such as rumenic acid. The changes evidenced in cheese through the analysis of the volatile profile, would be consistent with the development of interesting organoleptic properties, although further evaluations should be performed to confirm the consumer acceptability of these changes.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1355-1362
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• 2011

This paper describes a multi-mode LDPC decoder which supports three block lengths(648, 1296, 1944) and four code rates(1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6) of IEEE 802.11n WLAN standard. Our LDPC decoder adopts a block-serial architecture based on min-sum algorithm and layered decoding scheme. A novel way to store check-node values and parity check matrix reduces the sizes of check-node memory and H-ROM. An efficient scheme for check-node memory addressing is used to achieve stall-free read/write operations. The designed LDPC decoder is verified by FPGA implementation, and synthesized with a $0.18-{\mu}m$ CMOS cell library. It has 219,100 gates and 45,036 bits RAM, and the estimated throughput is about 164~212 Mbps at 50 MHz@2.5v.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.1207-1213
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• 2016

Heat stress negatively affects milk quality altering its nutritive value and cheese making properties. This study aimed at assessing the impact of seasonal microclimatic conditions on milk quality of Friesian cows. The study was carried out in a dairy farm from June 2013 to May 2014 at Beni-Suef province, Egypt. Inside the barn daily ambient temperature and relative humidity were recorded and used to calculate the daily maximum temperature-humidity index (mxTHI), which was used as indicator of the degree of heat stress. The study was carried out in three periods according to the temperature-humidity index (THI) recorded: from June 2013 to September 2013 (mxTHI>78), from October 2013 to November 2013 (mxTHI 72-78) and from December 2013 to April 2014 (mxTHI<72). Eighty Friesian lactating dairy cows were monitored in each period. The three groups of cows were balanced for days in milk and parity. Milk quality data referred to somatic cell count, total coliform count (TCC), faecal coliform count (FCC), Escherichia coli count, percentage of E. coli, and Staphylococcus aureus, percentage of fat, protein, lactose, total solid and solid non-fat. Increasing THI was associated with a significant decrease in all milk main components. An increase of TCC, FCC, and E. coli count from mxTHI<72 to mxTHI>78 was observed. In addition, the isolation rate of both S. aureus and E. coli increased when the mxTHI increased. The results of this study show the seriousness of the negative effects of hot conditions on milk composition and mammary gland pathogens. These facts warrant the importance of adopting mitigation strategies to alleviate negative consequences of heat stress in dairy cows and for limiting related economic losses.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.689-697
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• 2015

The tapeworm Taenia solium is an important human zoonotic parasite that causes great economic loss and also endangers public health. At present, an effective vaccine that will prevent infection and chemotherapy without any side effect remains to be developed. In this study, codon usage patterns in the T. solium genome were examined through 8,484 protein-coding genes. Neutrality analysis showed that T. solium had a narrow GC distribution, and a significant correlation was observed between GC12 and GC3. Examination of an NC (ENC vs GC3s)-plot showed a few genes on or close to the expected curve, but the majority of points with low-ENC (the effective number of codons) values were detected below the expected curve, suggesting that mutational bias plays a major role in shaping codon usage. The Parity Rule 2 plot (PR2) analysis showed that GC and AT were not used proportionally. We also identified 26 optimal codons in the T. solium genome, all of which ended with either a G or C residue. These optimal codons in the T. solium genome are likely consistent with tRNAs that are highly expressed in the cell, suggesting that mutational and translational selection forces are probably driving factors of codon usage bias in the T. solium genome.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.2069-2074
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• 2014

Purpose: To appraise the frequency of cervical cytological abnormalities in a population at normal risk via analysing the archive records of cytology for the period of approximately 9,5 years, comparing them with patient demographic charecteristics, and discuss the results for women under age of 35. Materials and Methods: A total of 32,578 cases of Pap smears were retrieved and analysed from our archive included the Pap tests performed between January 2001 and April 2010 at the Early Cancer Screening, Diagnosing and Education Center by the consent of three pathologists via utilizing the Bethesda System Criteria 2001 and the results were compared with some demographical characteristics. Results: Our rate of the cervical cytological abnormality was 1.83%, with ASCUS in 1.18%, LSIL in 0.39, HSIL in 0.16%, AGUS in 0.07%, squamous cell carcinoma in 0.02%, and adenoarcinoma in 0.006%. Cytological abnormalities were detected mostly in those with higher age, lower parity, and premenopausal period whereas the smoking status was without influence. Bacterial vaginosis (5.6%) was the most frequent infectious finding (Candida albicans 2.7%; Actinomyces sp. 1.3%; and Trichomonas vaginalis 0.2%) detected on the smears. The rate of abnormal cervical cytology was 9.5% among the women aged between 30-34. Conclusions: Early detection of the cervical abnormalities by means of the regular cervical cancer screening programmes is useful to attenuate the incidence, mortality, and morbidity of cervical cancer. Our prevalence of the cytological abnormalities was much lower than the one in Western populations in general but very similar to those reported from other Islamic countries that may be explained by the conservative lifestyle and the lower prevalence of HPV in Turkey. A remarkable rate of abnormal cervical cytology of women aged 30-34 was pointed out in the present study.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.588-595
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• 2023

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of heat stress on milk traits in South Korea using comprehensive data (dairy production and climate). The dataset for this study comprised 1,498,232 test-day records for milk yield, fat- and protein-corrected milk, fat yield, protein yield, milk urea nitrogen (MUN), and somatic cell score (SCS) from 215,276 Holstein cows (primiparous: n = 122,087; multiparous: n = 93,189) in 2,419 South Korean dairy herds. Data were collected from July 2017 to April 2020 through the Dairy Cattle Improvement Program, and merged with meteorological data from 600 automatic weather stations through the Korea Meteorological Administration. The segmented regression model was used to estimate the effects of the temperature-humidity index (THI) on milk traits and elucidate the break point (BP) of the THI. To acquire the least-squares mean of milk traits, the generalized linear model was applied using fixed effects (region, calving year, calving month, parity, days in milk, and THI). For all parameters, the BP of THI was observed; in particular, milk production parameters dramatically decreased after a specific BP of THI (p < 0.05). In contrast, MUN and SCS drastically increased when THI exceeded BP in all cows (p < 0.05) and primiparous cows (p < 0.05), respectively. Dairy cows in South Korea exhibited negative effects on milk traits (decrease in milk performance, increase in MUN, and SCS) when the THI exceeded 70; therefore, detailed feeding management is required to prevent heat stress in dairy cows.