• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.363-367
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• 2013

The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in birds has epidemiological significance because birds are indeed considered as a good indicator of environmental contamination by T. gondii oocysts. In this study, the prevalence of T. gondii in 313 house sparrows in Lanzhou, northwestern China was assayed by the modified agglutination test (MAT). Antibodies to T. gondii were positive in 39 (12.46%) of 313 samples (MAT titer ${\geq}$ 1:5). Tissues of heart, brain, and lung from the 39 seropositive house sparrows were tested for T. gondii DNA, 11 of which were found to be positive for the T. gondii B1 gene by PCR amplification. These positive DNA samples were typed at 9 genetic markers, including 8 nuclear loci, i.e., SAG1, 5'- and 3'-SAG2, alternative SAG2, SAG3, GRA6, L358, PK1, c22-8 and an apicoplast locus Apico. Of them, 4 isolates were genotyped with complete data for all loci, and 2 genotypes (Type II variants; ToxoDB #3 and a new genotype) were identified. These results showed that there is a potential risk for human infection with T. gondii in this region. To our knowledge, this is the first report of T. gondii seroprevalence in house sparrows in China.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.239-246
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• 2017

Strains of Toxoplasma gondii in Brazil are highly genetically diverse compared to strains from North America and Europe. Dogs are epidemiologically important because they act as sentinels for T. gondii infections in humans and are good indicators of environmental contamination. The aim of this study was to isolate and genetically characterize T. gondii strains from tissues of naturally infected Brazilian dogs. For this study, 21 blood samples were collected from dogs at the Zoonosis Control Centers of $Ilh{\acute{e}}us$ and Itabuna cities, Bahia, Brazil. The sera were examined for T. gondii antibodies using the indirect hemagglutination test. Brains and hearts of seropositive dogs were bioassayed in mice to isolate and characterize T. gondii parasites by PCR-RFLP using 10 genetic markers (SAG1, newSAG2, SAG3, BTUB, c22-8, c29-2, GRA6, PK1, APICO, and L358). However, T. gondii was isolated from only 4 (57.1%) dogs, designated TgDgBr6, 13, 17, and 21. All strains were virulent, causing clinical changes (rough hair coat, lethargy, and abdominal distention) and the death of all mice within 8-20 days after inoculation. Genetic analysis of these 4 T. gondii isolates revealed 4 distinct genotypes with different clonal lineage combinations (types I, II, and III) and 2 atypical alleles. Using PCR-RFLP with several markers, this study contributes to evaluations of the genetic diversity of strains circulating in Brazil.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.249-256
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• 1999

A total of 198 sera from stray cats was assayed against Toxoplasma gondii antigen by western blot. Out of 198 sera assayed, 26 sera (13.1％) showed typical blot patterns against T gondii. When spotted by ELISA absorbance and indirect latex agglutination lest (ILAT) titer, all 26 cases were distributed over the cut-off value of ELISA whereas 24 cases (92.3％) were in the positive range of 1:32 or higher and 2 cases in negative range by ILAT. Among western blot negative 172 sera, 162 cases were negative in both ILAT and ELISA while 10 cases were reactive falsely such that three cases were ILAT positive with 1:32 titer and 9 cases were ELISA positive (2 cases overlapped). These 10 cases reacted peculiarly without typical binding pattern in Western blot. Sandwich-ELISA was performed with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) of Tg563 (30 kDa, SAG 1), Tg505 (22 kDa, SAG2), Tg605 (43 kDa, SAG3), Tg556 (28 kDa, GRA2), Tg737 (32 kDa, GRA6). Tg695 (66 kDa, ROP2), Tg786 (42 kDa, ROP6), and Tg621 (32 kDa, anonymous but cytosolic) clone, respectively. All western blot-positive cases were in the positive range and negative cases in the negative range clearly. Among the 10 false reactive cases, 3 cases were in the positive range with one or more mAbs. All mAbs used in this study were confirmed to be specific to T. gondii infection as a standardized sandwich-ELISA to differentiate it from other pathogens.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.259-263
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• 2015

The increasing prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in the human population in the Republic of Korea (= Korea) is due to various reasons such as an increase in meat consumption. However, the importance of cats in transmitting T. gondii infection through oocysts to humans has seldom been assessed. A total of 300 fecal samples of stray cats captured around Seoul from June to August 2013 were examined for T. gondii B1 gene (indicating the presence of oocysts) using nested-PCR. Fourteen (4.7%) of 300 cats examined were positive for B1 gene. Female cats (7.5%) showed a higher prevalence than male cats (1.4%). Cats younger than 3 months (5.5%) showed a higher prevalence than cats (1.5%) older than 3 months. For laboratory passage of the positive samples, the fecal suspension (0.2 ml) of B1 gene positive cats was orally inoculated into experimental mice. Brain tissues of the mice were obtained after 40 days and examined for the presence of tissue cysts. Two isolates were successfully passaged (designated KNIH-1 and KNIH-2) and were molecularly analyzed using the SAG5D and SAG5E gene sequences. The SAG5D and SAG5E gene sequences showed high homologies with the ME49 strain (less virulent strain). The results indicated the importance of stray cats in transmitting T. gondii to humans in Korea, as revealed by detection of B1 gene in fecal samples. T. gondii isolates from cats were successfully passaged in the laboratory for the first time in Korea.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.181-189
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• 2008

GaAs film growth process from trimethylgallium(TMGa) and tertiary-butylarsine(TBAs) using a horizontal MOCVD reactor was numerically studied to explain the experimental result that the decreasing surface reaction rate as the increasing partial pressure of group III species. Using the non-linear model based on the Langmuir isotherm which considers the adsorption and desorption of molecules, film deposition over the entire reactor scale was predicted by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with the aid of the parameters obtained from the selective area growth (SAG) technique. CFD Results using the non-linear surface reaction model with the parameters determined from the SAG experiments predicted too high film growth rate compared to the measured values at the downstream region where the temperature was decreased abruptly. The pairs of ($k_s^n$, K) from the numerical simulations was $(2.52{\times}10K^{-6}mol/m^2/s,\;1.6{\times}10^5m^3/mol)$, whereas the experimentally determined was $(3.58{\times}10^{-5}mol/m^2/s,\;6.9{\times}10^5m^3/mol)$.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2006.07a
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• pp.460-461
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• 2006

Computer Loads can be found in all of modern society. The switching mode power supplies used in personal computers are major sources of harmonic currents. Harmonic currents can cause lots of harmonic problems such as disruption in computer performance. A series resonant filter is very effective in harmonic reduction for personal computer loads. Voltage sags are short duration reductions in rms voltage. The main causes of voltage sags are faults, motor starting, and transformer energizing. Personal computers are another example of devices sensitive to voltage sags. A serious voltage sag at the terminals way lead mis-operation of the equipment. This paper presents an in depth analysis to evaluate the effect of harmonics reduction based on the IEC 61000-3-2 and the effect of voltage sag using ITI curve by applying a series resonant filter for personal computer loads.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.283-286
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• 2001

본 논문은 전력 품질개선장치인 DVR(Dynamic Voltage Restorer)시스템의 제어알고리즘 개발에 관한 것이다. DVR은 배전전계통에 직렬변압기를 통해 설치되어 전원의 순간전압강하(Voltage sag)를 보상하는 장치이며 전력변환장치 직렬변압기 에너지저장장치, 충전장치, 보호장치등으로 구성된다. 지락사고, 비선형부하의 순간투입, 뇌서지등 여러 요인에 의해 3상전원에서 발생하는 다양한 형태의 전압sag 보상이 가능한 제어알고리즘 모델을 제시하고 컴퓨터시뮬레이션을 통해 기본성능을 확인한 후 소형 DVR을 제작해 시험하였으며 이시험결과를 실 용량 DVR시제품의 설계에 이용하였다.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.375-392
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• 2005

Cable supported structures offer an elegant and economical solution for bridging over long spans with resultant low material content and ease of construction. In this paper, a model of shallow cable supported footbridge with reverse profiled pre-tensioned cables is treated and its load deformation characteristics under different quasi-static loads are investigated. Effects of important parameters such as cable sag and pre-tension are also studied. Numerical results performed on a 3D model show that structural stiffness of this bridge (model) depends not only on the cable sag and cross sectional areas of the cables, but also on the pre-tension in the reverse profiled cables. The tension in the top supporting cables can be adjusted to a high level by the pre-tension in the reverse profiled bottom cables, with the total horizontal force in the bridge structure remaining reasonably constant. It is also evident that pre-tensioned horizontally profiled cables can greatly increase the lateral horizontal stiffness and suppress the lateral horizontal deflection induced by eccentric vertical loads.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2002.11b
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• pp.3-5
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• 2002

The fourier transform yields good information on the frequency content of the transient, but the time at which a particular disturbance in the signal occurred is lost. Unlike the fourier transform, the wavelet transform provides a time information in addition to the frequency information. So the wavelet transform is more efficient in detecting power quality disturbances. In this paper, we use the wavelet transform for detecting the voltage sag.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.56 no.11
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• pp.1947-1954
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• 2007

This paper describes the development of a high-performance single-phase line-interactive Dynamic voltage Restorer, which is composed of an H-bridge inverter and super-capacitors. The operational feasibility was verified through computer simulations with PSCAD/EMTDC software, and experimental works with 3kVA prototype. The developed system can compensates the input voltage sag and interruption within 2ms, in which the maximum allowable duration of voltage interruption is 1.5 seconds. It can be effectively used to compensate the voltage interruption in the sensitive load, such as computer, communication equipment, automation equipment, and medical equipment. The developed system has a simple structure to be easily implemented with commercially available components and to be highly reliable in operation.