• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.533-540
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• 2017

Schistosoma mansoni is highly endemic in Tanzania and affects all age groups at different degrees. However, its control approach does not include adult individuals who are equally at risk and infected. To justify the inclusion of adult individuals in MDA programs in Tanzania, the present study focused on determining the prevalence of S. mansoni infection and its related morbidities among adult individuals. This was a cross sectional study conducted among 412 adult individuals aged 18-89 years living in selected villages of Rorya and Butiama districts located along the shoreline of the Lake Victoria. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic and socio-economic information of participants. Ultrasonographic examinations were conducted for all study participants using the Niamey protocol. A single stool sample was obtained from all study participants and examined for S. mansoni using the Kato-Katz technique. The study revealed a high prevalence of S. mansoni (56.3%), and the majority of infected individuals had a light intensity of infection. Ultrasonographic findings revealed that 22.4% of adult individuals had periportal fibrosis (PPF) (grade C-F), with 18.4% having grade C and D and 4% having grade E and F. Males had the highest prevalence of PPF (31.7% vs 10.8%, P<0.001). Organomegaly was common with 28.5% and 29.6% having splenomegaly and hepatomegaly, respectively. S. mansoni infection and its related morbidities included PPF, hepatomegaly, and splenomegaly were common among adult individuals. To reduce the level of transmission of S. mansoni infection, planned mass drug administration campaigns should include adult individuals living in these villages.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.192-200
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• 2013

Objectives: To measure the prevalence of behavioural risk factors for obesity among urban adolescent school children in Chennai, India. Methods: This study was performed as a cross-sectional study using a World Health Organization-designed Global School-based Student Health Survey questionnaire (modified for India) among adolescent school children studying in 30 randomly selected secondary and higher secondary schools in Chennai city. 1842 adolescents studying in the VIII to XII standards were randomly selected for the study. Results: In the present study, 40.7% of the students ate fruit one or more times per day and 74.5% of the students ate vegetables one or more times per day. Nearly 20% of the students ate fast food items on 4 to 7 days during the previous week. Among the students, 30.4% watched television for more than two hours per day. Nearly 68% of the girls and 22% of the boys did not participate in outdoor sports activities. When the pattern of physical activity of the students was assessed, it was observed that 15.6% were inactive, 43.4% were minimally active, and the remaining 41.0% belonged to the category of health enhancing physical activity. Among the students, 6.2% were overweight and 5.2% were obese. Conclusions: The prevalence of risk factors for obesity was quite high among the adolescents. This study also showed that a great proportion of overweight/obese adolescents had a correct perception of their body weight and they were making efforts to modify risk factors such as television viewing, computer use, a sedentary lifestyle, and unhealthy dietary habits.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.264-271
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• 2023

Objectives: Hanging is a common method of attempted suicide. This study investigated the epidemiological profile of attempted and completed suicides by hanging in southern Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 1167 suicide attempts by hanging between 2011 and 2019. All data related to suicide attempts by hanging were collected from the Fars Suicide Surveillance System. The trends in suicide cases and the mean age of attempted and completed suicides were plotted. The chi-square test was used to identify suicide-related factors. Crude rates of incidence, mortality, and standardized fatality during the study period were calculated. Finally, logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of death in individuals who attempted suicide. Results: The mean age of those who attempted suicide was 33.21±16.82 years; the majority were male (80.5%). The rate of attempted and completed suicide by hanging were 3.50 and 2.79 per 100 000 people, respectively. The case-fatality rate was calculated as 79.34%. The results of our study indicated an increasing trend in suicide attempts by hanging. The likelihood of death was 2.28 times higher in individuals with a previous history of suicide attempts and 1.85 times higher in those with a psychological disorder. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest an increasing trend in attempted and completed suicide by hanging, especially among individuals with a history of suicide attempts and psychological disorders. It is necessary to take action to reduce the rate of suicide attempts and identify the underlying causes of suicide attempts by hanging.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.299-305
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• 2010

In general, the flexible forming die that has been used in the flexible forming process has the identical punch size; hence, its flexibility is relatively low because the range of allowable curvature radii is limited due to the uniform punch tip radius. Hence, a conceptual design of a sectional flexible die is presented for enhancing the flexibility of the forming process. Two punches of different sizes are used to configure the arbitrary forming surface. For a forming region with a relatively large curvature radius, a large punch array block is used; on the other hand, for the forming regions with small curvature radii, a small punch block is used. The cross-sectional profiles are compared with the target shape for evaluating the effectiveness of the process. Consequently, it is confirmed that the sectional flexible die can be used along with a combination of punch blocks of different sizes for manufacturing objective surfaces of complex shapes.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2002

Purpose: To evaluate the degree of accuracy of DentaScan reformatted images of the maxillary sinus and periapical, periodontal lesions and to clarify the usefulness of the reconstructed 3-dimensional images to the dental clinical aspects. Materials and Methods: 33 sides of maxillae of the hemi-sectioned Korean heads were used in this study. Periapical radiographs, computed tomography and DentaScan reformatted cross-sectional images were taken for the radiographic evaluation of the peiapical and peiodontal lesions of the maxillary teeth and inferior wall of maxillary sinus. Results : Compared the degree of accuracy and findings of dental and periapical pathoses on the intraoral radiographs and DentaScan reformatted images with the cross-sectioned specimens, the DentaScan reformatted cross-sectional images were more accurate and more effective than the intraoral radiography with a viewpoint of the detection of dental and periapical pathoses. Conclusion: Comparing the lesions of specimens with intraoral radiographies and DentaScan reformatted images, the dental and periodontal pathoses and topographical structures were more clearly observed in the DentaScan reformatted images, providing the possibility of more applications of reformatted images to clinical dentistry.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.203-209
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• 2012

In this paper, cross-sectional stiffnesses, static stresses, and dynamic natural frequencies are analyzed to examine the structural performance of wind turbine composite blades. The material properties of composite materials are based on room-temperature and radiation curing processes. The cross-sectional stiffnesses of composite blades are calculated by applying a beam theory with solid-profile cross sections. The wind turbine blades are modeled with a finite element program, and static analyses are carried out to check the maximum displacement and stress of the blades. In addition, dynamic analyses are performed to predict the rotating natural frequencies of the composite blades including the effects of centrifugal force. By comparing these analysis results, mainly owing to the material properties of composite materials, an improvement in the structural performance of the blades according to the curing process is investigated.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.84-93
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• 2018

Purpose: This study evaluated the apical root canal system of maxillary second molars, in which conventional endodontic treatment had failed. Materials and Methods: One hundred eighteen extracted endodontically failed maxillary second molars were examined to investigate the root canal morphology using clinical photographs. High-resolution cross-sectional images at the 3mm level from the root apices were taken to evaluate the anatomic variations and canal cleanliness. The incidence of anatomic variations and canals containing debris were evaluated statistically. Results: One (0.85%) maxillary second molar had four separate roots, while 52 (44.07%) had three separate roots. The remaining 65 (55.08%) showed 6 different types of fusion in their roots. As the number of fused roots increased from none to three, the incidence of isthmuses in the cross-sectional images increased significantly from 43.40% to 76.92% in 2-root fusion and 88.46% in 3-root fusion. In addition, the occurrence of less-cleansed canals increased from 22.64% to 38.46% and 53.85%, respectively (p<0.05). Sixty four teeth (54.24%) had 3 canals while 38(32.2%) had additional canals; most of them were located in the MB roots (81.58%). Seventy six (64.41%) had isthmuses in the apical region and 58 out of 76 were located in MB roots. Condlusions: Logistic analysis indicated that the less division of roots was associated significantly with the occurrence of insufficient cleaning during endodontic treatment (OR=1.765, p<0.05), while the presence of an additional canal showed no association.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.277-281
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• 2009

Practical difficulties for preparing a good crosssectional specimen of GaN-based materials for transmission electron microscopy have arisen due to large difference of mechanical properties between hard ceramic substrate and soft GaN-layered materials. Uneven polishing, sudden cracking, delamination, and selective sputtering during the conventional wedge polishing technique are often encountered as experimental hindrances. The preparation technique based on Strecker's method can be applied to overcome these difficulties, which eventually leads to mechanically stable TEM samples independent of the mechanical properties of materials. The basic idea is to use hard ceramic dummy filler for embedding the sample of interest into the dummy frame. In this study, we applied this technique into preparing cross-sectional TEM specimen of the GaN-based materials with mechanical instability and demonstrated usefulness of this hard dummy filler method in which the possible modifications of the sample of interest during the preparation must be avoidable. In addition, practical precautions during the preparation were discussed.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.153-160
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• 2020

Columns are one of the most critical parts of a structural system subjected to earthquake excitations. In this regard, extensive experimental studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) wrapping on the seismic performance of reinforced concrete (RC) columns. Among them, many studies focused on the behavior of circular or square RC columns strengthened with CFRP or GFRP sheets. Since the cross-sectional shape affects confinement by FRP wrapping, its strengthening effect and final damage pattern may differ with shapes. In this study, a series of cyclic tests was conducted to investigate the seismic behavior of rectangular reinforced concrete columns strengthened with basalt-based fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) sheets and composite fiber panels. The result shows that the effect of strengthening is not significant, and it implies a little increase of confinement by BFRP sheets and composite fiber panels, which is considered partly due to the cross-sectional shape of the columns.

• Journal of Urban Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.19-24
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• 2022

Conventional RC beams for crossing small and medium-sized rivers do not have a cross-sectional area, so the floating debris is accumulated and disasters such as damage to bridges occur. To improve this, the PSC method was invented. However, this also had problems such as transverse curvature, increase in dead weight due to cross-sectional shape, and negative moment generated during serialization, so it was necessary to develop a new type of girder. Therefore, it was intended to propose a LIT(Leton Interaction Thrust) girder bridge that is safer and has better performance than the conventional PSC girder with improved section efficiency. Unlike existing girder bridges, the LIT girder has the feature that the change in the strands of the entire girder occurs only in the vertical direction when the first tension is applied because the tendon arrangement is symmetrical by applying the raised portion. In addition, slab continuation generates a secondary moment that is advantageous to the continuous point, effectively controlling the negative moment and preventing the corrosion of the tendon. The dimensions of the cross section were determined, and the arrangement of the strands was designed to conduct structural analysis and detailed analysis. As a result of the structural analysis, the stress of the girder showed results within the allowable compressive stress, and the deflection showed the result within the allowable deflection. showed results. In addition, a detailed analysis was performed to examine the stress distribution around the girder body and the anchorage area and the stress distribution of the embossed portion, and as a result, the stress of the girder body due to the tension force showed a stable level.