• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.21.1-21.7
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• 2019

Background: Lactococcus garvieae is one of the most important risk factors in the rainbow trout culture. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify and detect strains isolated from rainbow trout suspected of having Lactococcus garvieae using biochemical characteristics and PCR and determination of the degree of severity of isolated strains. Methods: In this study, the cause of lactococcosis in selected rainbow trout farms in Kohkilooieh and Boyerahmad province was assayed. Gram-positive and catalase-negative bacterial isolates were first obtained from selected trout fish farms using conventional biochemical tests and PCR assay. The 10-day LD₅₀ method (concentration causing 50% mortality in 10 days) was used to determine the severity of the isolated bacteria. Results: One bacterial isolate was detected from all sampled fish which confirmed as Lactococcus garvieae using a specific PCR assay based on the 16S rDNA gene by producing a single band of 1107 bp. Analysis of the rate of mortality showed that the 10-day LD₅₀ was 4.6 × 10⁵ CFU/fish. The results of this study showed that isolated bacteria had high severity for rainbow trout. The presence of bacteria in internal organs of suspected fish showed a severe systemic infection in challenged fish. Antibiogram assay also indicated that the isolated Lactococcus garvieae were resistant to some mostly used antibiotics in rainbow trout. Conclusions: According to current research, it can be concluded that the condition of lactococcosis in the studied area is not suitable, and despite the presence of disease, there is no proper action to control and prevent the disease. Unfortunately, isolated bacteria from the studied area have a very high severity compared to bacteria isolated from other regions of the country or other countries. Therefore, further investigation is needed to determine the cause of this difference and possibly in the design of the vaccine.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.807-813
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• 2016

Triple-negative breast cancers constitute about 15% of all cases, but despite their higher response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the tumors are very aggressive and associated with a poor prognosis as well as a higher risk of early recurrence. This study was retrospectively performed on 101 patients with stage II and III invasive breast cancer who received 6-8 cycles of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. Out of the total, 23 were in the triple negative breast cancer subgroup. Nuclear Ki-67 expression in both the large cohort group (n=101) and triple negative breast cancer subgroup (n=23) and its relation to the pathological response were evaluated. The purpose of the study was to identify the predictive value of nuclear protein Ki-67 expression among patients with invasive breast cancers, involving the triple negative breast cancer subgroup, treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in correlation to the rate of pathological complete response. The proliferation marker Ki-67 expression was highest in the triple negative breast cancer subgroup. No appreciable difference in the rate of Ki-67 expression in triple negative breast cancer subgroup using either a cutoff of 14% or 35%. Triple negative breast cancer subgroup showed lower rates of pathological complete response. Achievement of pathological complete response was significantly correlated with smaller tumor size and higher Ki-67 expression. The majority of triple negative breast cancer cases achieved pathological partial response. The study concluded that Ki-67 is a useful tool to predict chemosensitivity in the setting of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for invasive breast cancer but not for the triple negative breast cancer subgroup.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.851-856
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• 2016

Background: Breast cancer is a major health problem among women around the world. Recent developments in screening and treatment have greatly improved the prognosis of patients with breast cancer in developed countries. However, in developing countries breast cancer mortality remains high.Breast cancer awareness is a first and important step in reducing breast cancer mortality. The development of a validated instrument to measure breast cancer awareness is crucial for the understanding and implementation of suitable health education programs to facilitate early deletion and minimize mortality. Objective: The objective of this study was to develop an instrument for the assessment of breast cancer awareness in Thai women. Materials and Methods: This methodological study was conducted in two stages: (1) literature searches and semi-structured interviews were conducted to generate items of the breast cancer awareness scale (B-CAS) which were subsequently examined for content and face validity, and (2) an exploration of the factor structure of the resulting instrument and an examination of its reliability. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire in Thai women aged 20-64 in August, 2015. Results: A total of 219 women (response rate 97.4 %) participated in this validation study. The B-CAS contains five domains with 53 items on breast cancer awareness: 1) knowledge of risk factors, 2) knowledge of signs and symptoms, 3) attitude to breast cancer prevention, 4) barriers of breast screening, and 5) health behavior related to breast cancer awareness. Items with a content validity index < 0.80 were excluded, and factor structure for the remaining items reflected the hypothesized five factor model. The scales based on all retained items was shown to have strongly internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's ${\alpha}=0.86$). Conclusions: The B-CAS provides good psychometric properties to assess breast cancer awareness in women. It can be used to examine breast cancer awareness in Thai women and it could lead to the development and evaluation of suitable educational interventions for raising breast cancer awareness. Future research should focus on further validating the B-CAS including an assessment of construct and criterion-based validity.

• Journal of the Korean Arthroscopy Society
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.127-131
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• 1999

Avulsion fractures of the intercondylar eminence of the tibia are not uncommon. In the displaced avulsion fracture, anatomical reduction and firm fixation of fracture fragments are needed but the most of the conventional operative techniques including arthroscopic technique are relatively complex and need. The results were not always satisfactory due to the risk of postoperative complications such as wound infection, premature epiphyseal closure and loss of fixation after early motion etc. So we describe a simple and safe modified method of arthroscopic reduction and fixation for avulsion fractures of the intercondylar eminence of the tibia. In our thirteen cases, we achieved anatomical reduction and secure fixation using cannulated screw through the three arthroscopic portals (anterolateral, medial mid-patellar and central). Postoperatively, immediate limited range of motion of the knee and partial weight bearing were possible. Additional use of the washer afforded safe fixation of comminuted avulsion fracture. The advantage of this technique includes its technical simplicity, easy removal of hardware, ability to treat comminuted type IV fracture with washer, no additional skin incision, no damage to growing plate in growth children and less morbidity.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.10
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• pp.1076-1081
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• 2005

Purpose : Insulin resistance is the most important risk factor linked to the development of impaired glucose tolerance(IGT), diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases in childhood and adolescent obesity, The purpose of this study was to see whether insulin resistance of obese adolescent is higher than that of obese children. and to analyze gender difference and affecting factors of insulin resistance. Methods : Of the 9,837 school children from 5 to 16 tears old, 92 obese children and 187 adolescent, underwent a two-hour oral glucose tolerance test and plasma glucose, insulin, lipid profiles, leptin and high sensitive C-reactive protein(hs-CRP) were measure. Results : Plasma insulin levels of female were higher compared to those of males during oral glucose tolerance test(P<0.05). Four(4.3%) in obese children and twenty five(13.3%) in obese adolescents met the criteria of IGT. Female, leptin, adiponectin and triglyceride concentrations were strongly correlated with homeostatic model assessment insulin-resistance(HOMA-IR) by multiple linear regression analysis(P<0.05). Conclusion : Obese adolescents might have higher insulin concentrations compared to obese children and obese girls higher insulin concentrations than obese boys. Obese boys and children with impaired glucose tolerance have higher insulin concentrations than those with normal glucose tolerance. HOMA-IR was significantly correlated with female, plasma leptin, adiponectin and triglyceride concentrations.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.10-21
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• 2001

Background : The Clostridium difficile is the most important identifiable cause of nosocomial infectious diarrhea and colitis, which lengthens hospital stay. Recently incidence of C. difficile has been increasing in an university hospital, and an intervention for prevention and control of C. difficile associated diarrhea (CDAD) was in prompt need. Methods : Subjects were the patients in the neurosurgical intensive care unit(NCU) where C. difficile was most frequently isolated. To increase participation of various departments, we used the CQI method, because management of CDAD requires a wholistic approach including control of antibiotics, barrier precaution and environmental cleaning and disinfection. Duration of the CQI activities was 9 months from April to December 1999. Results : The identified problems were misuse and overuse of antibiotics, lack of consciousness of medical personnels and the possibility of transmission from the contaminated environment and tube feeding. Education for proper use of antibiotics and management of C. difficile infection, use of precaution stickers, supplement of handwashing equipments, emphasis on environmental disinfection, and the change of the process of tube feeding were done. The CDAD rate in NCU was significantly decreased after the CQI program (8.6 case per 1,000 patient days from January to April 1999 vs 4.8 from May to December 1999). The distribution of neurosurgical wards including NCU among the total number of isolated C. difficile from the clinical specimens dropped from 49.4% in January to April to 33,7% in May to December. The average hospital stay of the neurosurgical department changed from 19.6 days to 15.2 days. Also, the effect of the CQI activities for C. difficile may have affected the incidence of vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE). Duration and dosage of certain antibiotics used in the NS department were decreased. The distribution of neurosurgical department in the number of VRE isolated patients declined from 18.4% to 11.1%. Conclusion : Infection control of resistant organisms such as C. difficile is likely to be successful when management of environmental contamination an collaborative efforts of decreasing the patients' risk factors such as antibiotics management and decreasing the length of hospital stay come simultaneously. For this work, related departments need to actively participate in the entire process under a common target through discussions for identifying problems and bringing up solutions. In this respect, making use of a CQI team is an efficient method of infection control for gathering participation and cooperation of related departments.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.593-602
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• 2020

Power cables installed in domestic factories or underground can cause accidents depending on the manufacturing process, installation, and environmental conditions during use. When an accident occurs in a power cable, it can cause enormous economic loss and social confusion. Hence, the importance of preventive management of the cable through diagnosis is increasing to prevent it. Therefore, in this paper, a diagnostic sample cable was produced by simulating a part that could be a problem due to the installation, manufacturing defects, or deterioration of cables that can occur in the field. Dielectric loss Tangent (tan 𝛿; TD), and Partial Discharge(PD) tests were performed. Partial discharge and AC (60Hz) withstand voltage equipment using High-Frequency Current Transformer (HFCT) were applied After applying a VLF (Very Low Frequency) power supply with a frequency of 0.1Hz was applied. As a result, B and C phase defect samples at a 2.0U₀ voltage through the VLF could measure the internal partial discharge in the A-phase normal sample cable from the noise at a 0.5U₀ to 2.0U₀ voltage. In addition, the 1.5U₀ voltage was measured through the AC (60Hz) withstand voltage equipment of the commercial frequency to verify its effectiveness. Partial discharge in the run-off state was measured at a voltage of 1.0U₀, and there was a risk when installing the equipment. AC power equipment showed a difficulty of movement by volume or weight. The diagnostic method, through the VLF of the quadrant state, revealed its safety and effectiveness.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.30-43
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• 2012

Patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis are at risk for protein-energy malnutrition because of nutrient losses during dialysis. This study determined the nutritional status of patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Forty-four patients receiving CAPD were divided into two groups according to dialysis period. We investigated the nutritional status of the patients by measuring anthropometric and biochemical parameters, as well as food intake, self-appetite, dietary habits, a subjective global assessment, and a total nutritional status assessment. Group I subjects (7 males, 13 females) had received dialysis for < 2 years, whereas the group II subjects (18 males, 6 females) received dialysis for ${\geq}$ 2 years. Energy intake with added dextrose in the dialysate per kg of body weight was $30.3{\pm}5.8$ kcal in group I and $29.0{\pm}8.1$ kcal in group II. The average protein intake per kg of weight was $1.0{\pm}0.3$ g in group I and $1.0{\pm}0.4$ g in group II, which were less than the recommended protein intake for patients undergoing CAPD (1.2-1.5 g/kg). Mean serum albumin level was significantly lower in group II than that in group I (p < 0.05). A recent self-appetite score was significantly higher in group II than that in group I (p < 0.01). The dietary habits score was significantly lower in group II than that in group I (p < 0.05). The subjective global assessment was significantly higher in group I (85.0%) than that in group II (54.2%) under normal nutrition status (p < 0.05). The dialysis period was significantly and negatively correlated with the subjective global assessment (r = -0.502, p < 0.01) and the total nutritional status assessment (r = -0.575, p < 0.01). These results demonstrated that patients undergoing CAPD for ${\geq}$ 2 years had worse nutritional status than those who had been undergoing dialysis for < 2 years. Good nutritional status can predict the long-term survival of patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis. Additionally, the exact evaluation of nutritional status before 2 years will be important to maintain long-term dialysis therapy in patients undergoing CAPD.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.724-729
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• 2017

The crashworthiness of the fuel tank of a rotorcraft is verified through the crash impact test. The crash impact test has a high risk of failure due to the application of an excessive load, which can seriously affect the overall development schedule of the aircraft. Therefore, a lot of effort has been made to minimize the possibility of failure in the actual test by carrying out a numerical analysis of the crash impact test of the fuel tank in the initial design stage. Recently, an external auxiliary fuel tank was added to increase the cruising distance. In this study, the numerical analysis results of the crash impact test based on several different shapes of the external auxiliary fuel tank are presented, in order to evaluate its crashworthiness. For the numerical analysis, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), which is one of the fluid-structure coupled analysis methods, is applied and the test conditions prescribed by US military standards are reflected in the analysis conditions. In addition, the material property data previously obtained by the specimen test of the actual fuel tank is applied to the numerical analysis. As a result, the equivalent stress of the fuel tank material itself and the metal fitting is provided and the possibility of acquiring data for designing the crash-worthiness of the external auxiliary fuel tank is evaluated by examining the behavior and working load of the internal mounted components.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.333-344
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• 2017

This research analyzes Seoul station, a typical transfer station complex, focusing on the evaluation of its barrier free design suitable for vulnerable persons such as senior citizens. The analysis was conducted to assess its compliance with the "barrier-free" design standard for those with physical or other disabilities. This paper proposes a list of items to evaluate for transfer station complexes with a barrier-free design. The results showed that the overall connections and internal and sanitation facilities of (Seoul station/the design?)were excellent. However, because of the lack of transfer and guidance facilities, vulnerable persons felt uncomfortable when searching for information about transferring from one means of transport to another. Furthermore, there was an extremely high risk of accidents when they transferred to the bus station. Therefore, it is necessary to arrange the transfer information facilities, in order to improve their readability and visibility. Once this is done, vulnerable people will be able to use this station more safely and conveniently.