• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.336-340
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• 2023

A dog (2-year old, female, Shih-Tzu) presented with hyperthermia and right-sided facial paralysis characterized by the inability to close the right eye and drooling from the right side of the mouth after H3N2 influenza vaccination [A/Canine/Korea/01/07(H3N2) strain; Caniflu-Max, Bionote, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, ROK]. To determine the cause of the fever and neurological symptoms, physical examination, ophthalmic examination, thoracic and abdominal radiography, abdominal ultrasonography, complete blood counts, serum chemistry values, and electrolyte levels were determined. In addition, Cerebrospinal fluid analysis, antinuclear antibody test, fever of unknown origin polymerase chain reaction (PCR) panel, tick-borne pathogen PCR panel were performed. As a result, hyperthermia, leukocytosis, and elevated C-reactive protein were confirmed. In addition, neurological examination revealed decreased right eyelid reflexes, corneal reflexes, threat response, and facial sensation, it was possible to suspect problems with the trigeminal and facial nerves of the cranial nerve. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a lesion suggestive of myositis in the right muscular lesion at atlanto-occipital junction level on site of vaccine injection. Therefore, right-sided facial paralysis was tentatively determined to be a secondary cause of nerve damage caused by myositis. The patient was treated with immunosuppressants such as prednisolone and mycophenolate mofetil. After 3 months of immunosuppressant therapy, the patient's symptoms improved.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1-11
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• 2006

Purpose: This study compared the effects of non-cold and cold conditions on the viscoelastic properties of tendon structures in vivo. Methods: Seven male subjects perfomed plantar flesion exercise with maximal isokinetic voluntary contraction, which consisted of muscle contraction for 6 see and relaxation for 60 secs, 10 times for 1 set, Totally 10 sets were repeated. Before and after each task, the elongation of the tendon and aponeurosis of the medial gastrocnemius muscle (MG) was directly measured by ultrasonography. (The relationship between the estimated tendon force and tendon elongation.) Tendon cross-sectional area and ankle joint moment arm were obtained from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The tendon force was calculated from the joint moments and the tendon moment arm and stress was obtained by dividing force by cross-sectional areas (CSA). The strain was measured from the displacements normalized to tendon length. Results: After cooling, the tendon force was larger in cold than non-cold. The value of the tendon stiffness of MVC were significantly higher under the cold condition than under the non-cold condition. The maximal strain and stress of $7.4{\pm}0.7%$ and $36.4{\pm}1.8$ MPa in non-cold and $7.8{\pm}8.5%,\;31.8{\pm}1.1$ MPa in cold (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study shows for the first time that the muscle endurance in cooling increases the stiffness and Young's modulus of human tendons. The improvement in muscle endurance with cooling was directly related to muscle and tendon.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.152-158
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• 2023

Staphylococcus aureus (SA) is a common cause of skin and soft tissue infections. Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) toxin-producing strain of SA has been discovered worldwide and is known to cause serious infections. However, reports of neonatal infections caused by PVL-positive SA are rare. Here, we report a case of severe skin and soft tissue infection caused by PVL-positive SA in a 7-day-old neonate. The patient was admitted to the emergency room with a history of fever for one day, tenderness, and sensation of buttocks heating. The infant presented with fever, tachycardia, poor general health, progressive tenderness, and edema of the buttocks on the day of admission. Ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed necrotizing fasciitis involving the skin, soft tissue, and muscles. Specimens drained from the buttock lesions confirmed the presence of PVL-positive methicillin-resistant SA (MRSA), and there was no bacteremia. She recovered after one month of intravenous antibiotics and surgical drainages. One month after discharge, she was rehospitalized for otitis externa and was infected with MRSA again. Considering the PVL-positive strain, the patient was treated with intravenous linezolid and dressing. The patient underwent decolonization therapy in a 0.5% chlorhexidine bath and recovered completely without sequelae. This case suggests that aggressive drainage and antibiotic treatment are essential for PVL-producing MRSA infections, and additional decolonization is needed to prevent recurrence and community spread.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.33-36
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• 2015

Group D streptococci are known to cause newborn septicemia and meningitis, but the Streptococcus bovis group strains rarely cause serious neonatal infections in Korea. Central nervous system (CNS) complications of neonatal S. bovis group infection have rarely been reported. In adults, S. bovis group strains cause bacteremia and endocarditis, and are associated with gastrointestinal malignancy. However, only a few studies have reported meningitis and septicemia in infants. Here, we describe a case of bacteremia and meningitis due to Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. pasteurianus with a delayed CNS complication in an infant. A 28-day-old male infant was admitted to the hospital with a 1-day history of fever. Cultures of blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and urine showed the presence of S. bovis group strain-S. gallolyticus subsp. pasteurianus. He was discharged after 21 days of intravenous ampicillin and cefotaxime administration. Two weeks later, he was readmitted with a fever and short episodes of tonic-clonic movements. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed marked bilateral frontal subdural effusion. He was discharged after 31 days of antibiotic therapy, and no neurological sequelae were observed at the 9-month follow-up. In conclusion, we present a rare case of neonatal S. gallolyticus subsp. pasteurianus infection causing urinary tract infection, septicemia, meningitis, and delayed CNS complications. This case emphasizes the need for physicians to be aware of S. bovis infection in infants.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.545-552
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• 2001

Nondestructive methods such as ultrasonic and magnetic resonance imaging systems have many advantages but still much expensive. And they do not give exact color information and may miss some details. If it is allowed to destruct a biological object to obtain interior and exterior informations, 3D image visualization model from a series of sliced sectional images gives more useful information with relatively low cost. In this paper, a PC based automatic 3D visualization system is presented. The system is composed of three modules. The first module is the handling and image acquisition module. The handling module feeds and slices a cylindrical shape paraffin, which holds a biological object inside the paraffin. And the paraffin is kept being solid by cooling while being handled. The image acquisition modulo captures the sectional image of the object merged into the paraffin consecutively. The second one is the system control and interface module, which controls actuators for feeding, slicing, and image capturing. And the last one is the image processing and visualization module, which processes a series of acquired sectional images and generates a 3D volumetric model. To verify the condition for the uniform slicing, normal directional forces of the cutting edge according to the various cutting angles were measured using a strain gauge and the amount of the sliced chips were weighed and analyzed. Once the 3D model was constructed on the computer, user could manipulate it with various transformation methods such as translation, rotation, and scaling including arbitrary sectional view.

• Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.167-174
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• 2007

Spongy Alphonso mangoes were found to be infected with Staphylococcus bacteria. A Gram positive Staphylococcus strain was isolated from spongy pulp and identified from CABI Bioscience, UK, by partial 16S rDNA sequence analysis and by morphological and biochemical characterization through IMTECH, Chandigarh, India. Although identification by both of these methods indicated the organism belonged to same genus, different species names were given. Changes in total phenolics, reducing, and non-reducing sugars, respiration rate, total carotenoids, peroxidase(POX), and catalase activities were monitored during ripening of these fruits. The climacteric rise in spongy fruits was marked by an increase in respiration rate and a decrease in sugar content. Total phenolics content increased in spongy fruits as compared to ripe non-spongy fruits. Development of corky white tissue in spongy fruits was associated with about a 2.5-fold reduction in total carotenoids and a concomitant increase in lipoxygenase-mediated, $\beta$-carotene co-oxidation. A marked decrease in soluble protein content and about a 1.5-fold increase in POX activity was observed. Maximum POX activity was confined to 50-70%$(NH_4)_2SO_4$ fraction. The intense dark bands visible after POX specific substrate staining of the Native gel indicated a high expression of isoenzymes of POX in spongy fruits. Similarly, changes in levels of catalase activity were also observed in spongy fruits. The results suggest that infection of Alphonso mangoes with Staphylococcus bacteria affects the normal ripening processes of the fruit interfering with the carbohydrate and carotenoid metabolism. Also, the studies indicate the expression of POX and catalase enzymes as a plant defense response to microbial invasion.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.27-32
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• 2008

Bone is a self-assembly material. It is known that the low amplitude and high frequency mechanical stimulus, which is much less amplitude but higher frequency than those induced by the normal activity, can induce new bone formation. The vibrating resonance is employed to elucidate why new bone is formed by this kind of mechanical stimulus. For example, as 30 Hz and $5{\mu}{\epsilon}$ mechanical stimulus is applied at the wall of canaliculus (the tiny tube type pathway of bone fluid flow and the diameter of canaliculus is less than 200nm), the osteocytic cell membrane experiences $1,000{\mu}{\epsilon}$ strain due to the vibrating resonance. Two experiments will follow after this pilot study; (1) observing the MAPK pathway of osteocytes by using in-vitro cell culture and (2) visualizing the actin filament network in the osteocytes by using the imaging technique, such as confocal laser scanning microscope.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.573-579
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• 2008

PBA/PS core-shell polymer nanoparticles were synthesized by two stage emulsion polymerization and hybridized with silica nanoparticle by simple mixing in emulsion state and following precipitation into water/methanol mixture dissolving $Na_2CO_3$. The stress-strain curve revealed that the elastic modulus was increased with increasing molecular weight of polymer and silica weight fraction but decreased with increasing size of core-shell nanoparticle. Especially, there was a rapid increase of elastic modulus with silica blending. As a result, 6 times higher elastic modulus was observed in PBA/PS core-shell baroplastic sample processed at 25$^\circ$C under 13.8 MPa for 5 min by blending with 13.0 wt% of silica nanoparticle.

• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.201-213
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• 2018

BACKGROUND: Children with significant adenotonsillar hypertrophy (ATH) may show right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. We aimed to evaluate RV dysfunction in such children before adenotonsillectomy by evaluating peak longitudinal right atrial (RA) strain (PLRAS) in systole. PLRAS, electrocardiogram (ECG) and conventional echocardiographic parameters were compared to distinguish children with significant ATH with sleep-related breathing disorder (ATH-SRBD) from controls. METHODS: Fifty-six children (23 controls and 33 children with ATH-SRBD without symptoms of heart failure) were retrospectively studied. Preoperative echocardiograms and ECGs of children with ATH-SRBD who underwent adenotonsillectomy were compared to those of controls. Available postoperative ECGs and echocardiograms were also analyzed. RESULTS: Preoperatively, prolonged maximum P-wave duration (Pmax) and P-wave dispersion (PWD), decreased PLRAS, and increased tricuspid annulus E/E' were found in children with ATH-SRBD compared to those of controls. From the receiver operating characteristic curves, PLRAS was not inferior compared to tricuspid annulus E/E', Pmax, and PWD in differentiating children with ATH-SRBD from controls; however, the discriminative abilities of all four parameters were poor. In children who underwent adenotonsillectomy, echocardiograms $1.2{\pm}0.4$ years after adenotonsillectomy showed no difference in postoperative PLRAS and tricuspid annulus E/E' when compared with those of the preoperative period. CONCLUSIONS: Impaired RA deformation was reflected as decreased PLRAS in children with ATH-SRBD before adenotonsillectomy. Decreased PLRAS in these children may indicate subtle RV dysfunction and increased proarrhythmic risk. However, usefulness of PLRAS as an individual parameter in differentiating preoperative children with ATH-SRBD from controls was limited, similar to those of tricuspid annulus E/E', Pmax, and PWD.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.355-363
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• 2023

Purpose: Sonographic elastography can be used to evaluate the hardness of muscle tissue through the application of compression. Strain elastography gauges hardness through the comparison of echo sets before and after compression. This study utilized ultrasonography to measure the thickness and hardness of the masseter muscle in individuals with temporomandibular joint(TMJ) osteoarthritis. Materials and Methods: This study included 40 patients who presented with joint pain and were diagnosed with TMJ osteoarthritis via diagnostic cone-beam computed tomography, along with 40 healthy individuals. The thickness and hardness of each individual's masseter muscle were evaluated both at rest and at maximum bite using ultrasonography. The Mann-Whitney U test and the chi-square test were employed for statistical analysis, with the significance level set at P<0.05. Results: The mean thickness of the resting masseter muscle was 0.91 cm in patients with osteoarthritis, versus 1.00 cm in healthy individuals. The mean thickness of the masseter muscle at maximum bite was 1.28 cm in osteoarthritis patients and 1.36 cm in healthy individuals. The mean masseter elasticity index ratio at maximum bite was 4.51 in patients with osteoarthritis and 3.16 in healthy controls. Significant differences were observed between patients with osteoarthritis and healthy controls in both the masseter muscle thickness and the masseter elasticity index ratio, at rest and at maximum bite (P<0.05). Conclusion: The thickness of the masseter muscle in patients with TMJ osteoarthritis was less than that in healthy controls. Additionally, the hardness of the masseter muscle was greater in patients with TMJ osteoarthritis.