• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.218-224
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• 2019

Objective: This reliability study examined the effects of applying varying induced inward pressures using a transducer placed at 0° neutral ankle position (NEU) and 15° ankle dorsiflexion (DF) on tibialis anterior (TA) muscle thickness using a custom-made device with a force indicator during rehabilitative ultrasound imaging. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Twenty-four healthy subjects were recruited in this study. Two examiners measured the muscle thickness of the TA at 0° NEU and 15° DF in 3 conditions of inward pressures (1.0 N, 2.0 N, and 4.0 N) using a custom-made holder. The muscle thickness was measured three times for each of the conditions arranged in random order. For intra- and inter-rater reliability, the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) with 95% confidence intervals, standard error of measurement, minimal detectable change, and coefficient of variation were analyzed. One-way repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted for investigating changes of TA muscle thickness according to the inward pressures of the transducers. Results: The intra-rater reliability of TA muscle thickness measurement was excellent (ICC_3,1: 0.92-0.96) for all conditions (at both ankle joint angles per varying inward pressure). Likewise, the inter-rater reliability of TA muscle thickness measurement was excellent (ICC_2,1: 0.89-0.97) under same conditions. The mean of TA thickness showed the trend of decreasing significantly with increased inward pressures at all ankle joint angles (p<0.05). Conclusions: Use of this custom-made device with a force indicator is useful to accomplish the high intra- and inter-rater reliability of TA muscle thickness measurement at both ankle joint angles in reducing the measurement error.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.337-341
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• 2004

Morphological and genetic diversity of thirty nine safflower germplasm were collected and evaluated by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method. Stem length and seeding to flowering days of the safflower germplasm showed $26\~117cm\;and\;76\~179$ days of variation respectively. USA originated germplasm showed higher oil content as $39\%$, but that of Japanese showed lower as $26\%$. PCA made three different cluster groups according to some agronomic characteristics of safflower. Korea originated germplasm showed similar cluster group with that of collected from USA in the PCA of stem length. But in the seeding to flowering days, it showed similar cluster pattern with that of collected from Japan rather than USA. In the experiment of RAPD analysis, total five primers showed polymorphism at the several chromosomal loci. Korea, China Japan and South Central Asia originated germplasm were differently classified with USA and South West Asia originated germplasm with lower similarity coefficient value (0.47). Most of Korea originated germplasm were grouped with South Central Asia originated germplasm with higher similarity coefficient value (0.74) conferring similar genetic background between both of them. China and Japan originated germplasm were dendrogramed with Korea originated germplasm at the 0.65 and 0.50 similarity coefficient values respectively. Some common results were expected from both of PCA and RAPD analysis, but lower genetic heritability caused by relative higher portion of environmental variance and environment by genotype interaction at the expression of those of agronomic characteristics made constraint to find any reliable results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2018

Multilayer mirrors are optical elements that can replace single crystal optical elements such as silicon or germanium, and they have artificial diffraction plane of a thickness of several nanometers. We examined the first Bragg angle and the reduction of reflectivity by variation of layer thickness in a W/Si multilayer mirror of small d-spacing. A W/Si multilayer mirror for an incidence angle of $0.55^{\circ}$ and an energy of 17.5 keV was designed and showed a maximum reflectivity of 72.67%. When the thickness of tungsten or silicon layer was simultaneously changed, the first Bragg angle was shifted and the reflectivity was reduced. When there was a change in thickness for one layer of W/Si multilayer, no change in the reflectivity was showed but the unevenness of the envelope was observed. Reduction of reflectivity was also observed at random Gaussian thickness variations. It is possible to predict the tolerance of multilayer mirror by examining the reflectivity degradation according to the thickness change in the W/Si multilayer mirror of small d-spacing.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2020

The spatial variability of geotechnical properties can lead to the uncertainty of settlement for frozen soil foundation around the oil pipeline, and it can affect the stability of permafrost foundation. In this paper, the elastic modulus, cohesion, angle of internal friction and poisson ratio are taken as four independent random fields. A stochastic analysis model for the uncertain settlement characteristic of frozen soil foundation around an oil pipeline is presented. The accuracy of the stochastic analysis model is verified by measured data. Considering the different combinations for the coefficient of variation and scale of fluctuation, the influences of spatial variability of geotechnical properties on uncertain settlement are estimated. The results show that the stochastic effects between elastic modulus, cohesion, angle of internal friction and poisson ratio are obviously different. The deformation parameters have a greater influence on stochastic settlement than the strength parameters. The overall variability of settlement reduces with the increase of horizontal scale of fluctuation and vertical scale of fluctuation. These results can improve our understanding of the influences of spatial variability of geotechnical properties on uncertain settlement and provide a theoretical basis for the reliability analysis of pipeline engineering in permafrost regions.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.1371-1377
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• 2002

During a 5-yr period, 1994-1998, pre-weaning and weaning data were collected on 591 calves produced by mating either straightbred Jersey, straightbred Limousin or $F_1$ (Limousin${\times}$Jersey) bulls to mature purebred Jersey or Limousin cows. Traits recorded included birth and weaning weight, height, length, girth, fat depth and a measure of muscle (ratio of stifle to hip width expressed as a percentage). All traits were analyzed assuming a model with sire and dam random effects that included effects of year and date of birth, sex, breed and year${\times}$sex interaction. Main effects were generally significant with few exceptions. Direct genetic effects were large for weight, height, girth and muscle with a breed trend from purebred Jersey (small) to purebred Limousin (large). At weaning, the maternal effect of the Jersey dam was positive for weight (10.9${\pm}$4.9 kg), girth (3.7${\pm}$1.0 cm) and muscle (6.0${\pm}$0.9%). Heterosis was highly significant and positive only for fat depth (1.5${\pm}$0.2 mm) with the $F_1$ progeny being the fattest, followed by the backcrosses, then purebred Jersey and purebred Limousin. Also, significant (p<0.001) but negative heterosis was observed for weight, girth and muscle. The change in ranking for fat depth relative to other traits is a reflection of the large heterotic effects relative to direct effects on fat depth. Epistatic effects were not significant on any trait at birth or weaning. This study has indicated the possibility of exploiting the positive heterotic and maternal effects for fat depth and muscularity to meet specific meat quality and quantity demand by consumers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.1232-1236
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• 2002

Direct and service sire genetic parameters for total number of pigs born (TNB), number of pigs born alive (NBA), total pig weight at birth (TWB), and average pig birth weight (ABW) were estimated by DF-REML under a multiple trait animal model. Data on 3,078 litters of the Yorkshire from Jan, 1975 to Dec, 1998 at National Livestock Research Institute were obtained. The animal model included fixed contemporary group effects and random additive direct, service sire, and residual effects. Additive genetic relationships among animals were included. A separate relationship matrix for service sires and their sire was also included. Additive direct heritability estimates for TNB, NBA, TWB, and ABW were 0.19, 0.18, 0.25 and 0.39, respectively. Service sire heritability estimates for TNB, NBA, TWB, and ABW were 0.02, 0.01, 0.02 and 0.01, respectively. The genetic and phenotypic correlations of TNB with NBA estimated in this study were 0.81 and 0.81, respectively, and the genetic and phenotypic correlations of TNB with TWB estimated were 0.82 and 0.76, respectively. Results indicate that service sires account for 1 to 2% of the total variation for TNB, NBA, TWB, and ABW. Further investigation is needed to determine whether the service sire effect is primarily genetic or environmental.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.892-896
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• 2004

A genetic examination using 14 structural loci and 7 microsatellite markers was carried out among random samples of Hu sheep (Hu), Tong sheep (Tong) and Yantse River Delta White goat (YRD); The mean heterozygosity (H), mean polymorphism information contents (PIC) and mean effective numbers of alleles (Ne) calculated based on the data from the above two types of genetic markers were compared. The standard genetic distances among the three populations based on two types of gene frequencies were calculated and compared. The results show that the mean heterozygosity (H), mean polymorphism information contents (PIC) and mean effective numbers of alleles (Ne) based on 7 microsatellite markers are greater than those based on the structural loci. The standard genetic distances based on structural loci among the three populations are: 0.0268-0.2487, the standard genetic distances based on microsatellite markers are: 0.2321-1.2313. The study indicates that structural and microsatellite markers reflect the genetic variation of the three populations consistently: Tong>Hu>YRD. The differentiation between related species or interpopulations can be expressed more effectively by microsatellite markers than structural markers. Oar FCB11, MAF33, Oar AE101, Oar FCB128 and OarFCB304 can be used as representative loci for research on genetic differentiation between sheep and goat.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.254-259
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• 2009

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different levels of extracted pigment from Dietzia natronolimnaea biomass as a source of canthaxanthin in comparison with synthetic canthaxanthin on egg yolk pigmentation. The experiment used a completely randomized design (CRD). A total of 63 laying hens, 68 weeks old, were used and the birds were allotted to 7 dietary treatments with each treatment replicated three times with three hens per replicate. Treatments consisted of 3 levels of synthetic canthaxanthin (4, 8 and 16 ppm), 3 levels of extracted pigment from D. natronolimnaea biomass (4, 8 and 16 ppm) and control. Changes in yolk color were determined in 2 eggs taken at random, during the four week experimental period from each replicate. Supplementation of extracted pigment from D. natronolimnaea biomass had a significant effect on the color of egg yolks (p<0.05). Yolk color score of the control group was 6.83 in BASF color fan and the yolk color score of different extracted pigment levels was 11.00, 12.50 and 14.50, respectively. The yolk colors of different levels of synthetic canthaxanthin were 12.00, 14.00 and 15.00, respectively. The effect of pigment supplementation on egg yolk color was better explained by polynomial response curves. The $R_{2}$ indicated that for 3 supplementation levels of each pigment studied, over 90% of the color variation could be explained by the pigment concentration. The egg yolk color after 15 and 30 days of storage was not significantly different, but boiling reduced egg yolk color significantly (p<0.05).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1677-1684
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• 2016

Background: Among the factors reported to determine the quality of life of breast cancer patients are socio-demographic background, clinical stage, type of treatment received, and the duration since diagnosis. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the quality of life (QOL) scores among breast cancer patients at a Malaysian public hospital. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study of breast cancer patients was conducted between March to June 2013. QOL scores were determined using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) and its breast cancer supplementary measure (QLQ-BR23). Both the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 assess items from functional and symptom scales. The QLQ-C30 in addition also measures the Global Health Status (GHS). Systematic random sampling was used to recruit patients. Results: 223 breast cancer patients were recruited with a response rate of 92.1%. The mean age of the patients was 52.4 years (95% CI = 51.0, 53.7, SD=10.3). Majority of respondents are Malays (60.5%), followed by Chinese (19.3%), Indians (18.4%), and others (1.8%). More than 50% of respondents are at stage III and stage IV of malignancy. The mean Global Health Status was 65.7 (SD = 21.4). From the QLQ-C30, the mean score in the functioning scale was highest for 'cognitive functioning' (84.1, SD=18.0), while the mean score in the symptom scale was highest for 'financial difficulties' (40.1, SD=31.6). From the QLQ-BR23, the mean score for functioning scale was highest for 'body image' (80.0, SD=24.6) while the mean score in the symptom scale was highest for 'upset by hair loss' (36.2, SD=29.4). Two significant predictors for Global Health Status were age and employment. The predictors explained 10.6% of the variation of global health status ($R^2=0.106$). Conclusions: Age and employment were found to be significant predictors for Global Health Status (GHS). The Quality of Life among breast cancer patients reflected by the GHS improves as age and employment increases.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.1520-1522
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• 2001

Relationship among Tibetan cashmere goats, Inner Mongolia cashmere goats and Liaoning cashmere goats was studied using the technique of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). One primer and four primer combinations were screened. With the five primers and primer combinations, DNA fragments were amplified from the three breeds. Each breed has 28 samples. According to their RAPD fingerprint maps, the Nei's (1972) standard genetic distance was: 0.0876 between Tibetan cashmere goats and Inner Mongolia cashmere goats, 0.1601 between Tibetan cashmere goats and Liaoning cashmere goats, 0.0803 between the Inner Mongolia cashmere goats and Liaoning cashmere goats. It coincides with their geographic location. The genetic heterogeneity of Tibetan cashmere goats, Inner Mongolia cashmere goats and Liaoning cashmere goats is 0.3266, 0.2622 and 0.2475 respectively. It is also consistent with their development history.