• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.407-414
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• 2016

Malaria remains a serious public health problem in Shandong Province, China; therefore, it is important to explore the characteristics of the current malaria prevalence situation in the province. In this study, data of malaria cases reported in Shandong during 2012-2014 were analyzed, and Plasmodium species were confirmed by smear microscopy and nested-PCR. A total of 374 malaria cases were reported, 80.8% of which were reported from 6 prefectures. Of all cases, P. falciparum was dominant (81.3%), followed by P. vivax (11.8%); P. ovale and P. malariae together accounted for 6.4% of cases. Notably, for the first time since 2012, no indigenous case had been reported in Shandong Province, a situation that continued through 2014. Total 95.2% of cases were imported from Africa. The ratio of male/female was 92.5:1, and 96.8% of cases occurred in people 20-54 years of age. Farmers or laborers represented 77.5% of cases. No significant trends of monthly pattern were found in the reported cases. All patients were in good condition after treatment, except for 3 who died. These results indicate that imported malaria has increased significantly since 2012 in Shandong Province, especially for P. falciparum, and there is an emergence of species diversity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2433-2437
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• 2013

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent regulator of angiogenesis and thereby involved in the development and progression of solid tumours. Associations between three VEGF gene polymorphisms (-634 G/C, +936 C/T, and +1612 G/A) and breast cancer risk have been extensively studied, but the currently available results are inconclusive. Our aim was to investigate associations between three VEGF gene polymorphisms and breast cancer risk in Chinese Han patients. We performed a hospital-based case-control study including 680 female incident breast cancer patients and 680 female age-matched healthy control subjects. Polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis was performed to detect the three VEGF gene polymorphisms. We observed that women carriers of +936 TT genotypes [odds ratio (OR) =0.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.28, 0.76; P=0.002] or 936 T-allele (OR=0.81, 95% CI= 0.68, 0.98; P=0.03) had a protective effect concerning the disease. Our study suggested that the +1612G/A polymorphism was unlikely to be associated with breast cancer risk. The -634CC genotype was significantly associated with high tumor aggressiveness [large tumor size (OR=2.63, 95% CI=1.15, 6.02; P=0.02) and high histologic grade (OR=1.47, 95% CI= 1.06, 2.03; P=0.02)]. The genotypes were not related with other tumor characteristics such as regional or distant metastasis, stage at diagnosis, or estrogen or progesterone receptor status. Our study revealed that the VEGF -634 G/C and +936 C/T gene polymorphisms may be associated with breast cancer in Chinese Han patients.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.18.1-18.27
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• 2024

Mastitis is one of the most widespread infectious diseases that adversely affects the profitability of the dairy industry worldwide. Accurate diagnosis and identification of pathogens early to cull infected animals and minimize the spread of infection in herds is critical for improving treatment effects and dairy farm welfare. The major pathogens causing mastitis and pathogenesis are assessed first. The most recent and advanced strategies for detecting mastitis, including genomics and proteomics approaches, are then evaluated. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of each technique, potential research directions, and future perspectives are reported. This review provides a theoretical basis to help veterinarians select the most sensitive, specific, and cost-effective approach for detecting bovine mastitis early.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.170-176
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• 2018

Laboratory inspection and diagnosis is a means of investigating and assessing various hazards or the state of research equipment in a laboratory, then taking appropriate safety measures to prevent accidents and injury. In many cases, laboratory inspection and diagnosis carried out by agencies are performed in a perfunctory manner that only barely satisfies the legal requirements. The aim of the present study is to provide clearly established pricing criteria for laboratory inspection and diagnosis, so as to prevent recurrence of laboratory accidents and to establish a safe laboratory environment. In order to clarify previously unclear matters, such as the lower limit for bids submitted by laboratory inspection and diagnosis agencies, technical manpower requirements, and number of laboratories inspected and diagnosed per day, a questionnaire survey was administered to agency personnel. First, when asked what the lower limit for bids submitted by agencies should be in order to improve reliability of inspection and diagnosis results and make up for the shortcomings of the lowest-bidder-wins system, 85.5% of respondents answered that the lower limit for bids should stand at no lower than 90% of the estimated price. The level of technical expertise among the technical personnel committed to laboratory inspection and diagnosis was shown to impact the reliability of results, and questionnaire results indicated a need to vary technical expertise levels depending on the degree of hazard, substances handled, and equipment used in a given laboratory. Level of technical expertise(67.1%) and number of personnel(52.6%) were shown to have a greater impact on reliability of diagnosis than on reliability of inspection. According to the results, it is determined that three persons(specialist, advanced and intermediate) should be committed to inspections, while four persons(professional, specialist, advanced and intermediate) should be committed to diagnoses. The respondents indicated a larger number of laboratories could be inspected than diagnosed per day. This can be attributed to differences in the amount of work each task involves, and the time each task takes. Assuming a six-hour work day not counting transportation, paperwork and rest, it is thought that inspection of up to 36 laboratories will be possible if each laboratory is assigned no more than 10 minutes(34.7%), while up to 24 laboratories could be inspected and diagnosed if each laboratory is assigned 15 to 20 minutes(35.1%).

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.12
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• pp.906-918
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• 2019

MicroRNA-223-3p (miR-223-3p) is one of the potential microRNAs that have been shown to alleviate inflammatory responses in pre-clinical investigations and is highly encased in exosomes derived from bone mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-exosomes). MSC-exosomes are able to function as carriers to deliver microRNAs into cells. Autoimmune hepatitis is one of the challenging liver diseases with no effective treatment other than steroid hormones. Here, we examined whether MSC-exosomes can transfer miR-223-3p to treat autoimmune hepatitis in an experimental model. We found that MSC-exosomes were successfully incorporated with miR-223-3p and delivered miR-223-3p into macrophages. Moreover, there was no toxic effect of exosomes on the macrophages. Furthermore, treatments of either exosomes or exosomes with miR-223-3p successfully attenuated inflammatory responses in the liver of autoimmune hepatitis and inflammatory cytokine release in both the liver and macrophages. The mechanism may be related to the regulation of miR-223-3p level and STAT3 expression in the liver and macrophages. These results suggest that MSC-exosomes can be used to deliver miR-223-3p for the treatment of autoimmune hepatitis.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.spc1
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• pp.65-84
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• 2005

Invasive candidiasis is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Clinical diagnosis is complicated by a lack of specific clinical signs and symptoms of disease. Laboratory diagnosis is also complex because circulating antibodies to Candida species may occur in normal individuals as the result of commensal colonization of mucosal surfaces thereby reducing the usefulness of antibody detection for the diagnosis of this disease. In addition, Candida species antigens are often rapidly cleared from the circulation so that antigen detection tests often lack the desired level of sensitivity. Microbiological confirmation is difficult because blood cultures can be negative in up to 50% of autopsy-proven cases of deep-seated candidiasis or may only become positive late in the infection. Positive cultures from urine or mucosal surfaces do not necessarily indicate invasive disease although can occur during systemic infection. Furthermore, differences in the virulence and in the susceptibility of the various Candida species to antifungal drugs make identification to the species level important for clinical management. Newer molecular biological tests have generated interest but are not yet standardized or readily available in most clinical laboratory settings nor have they been validated in large clinical trials. Laboratory surveillance of at-risk patients could result in earlier initiation of antifungal therapy if sensitive and specific diagnostic tests, which are also cost effective, become available. This review will compare diagnostic tests currently in use as well as those under development by describing their assets and limitations for the diagnosis of invasive candidiasis.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2022

Total joint arthroplasty is a successful joint replacement treatment that improves joint function and overall quality of life and provides pain relief. However, the prevalence of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) has become prevalent with the rise in the incidence of arthroplasty surgery. PJI occurs rarely following arthroplasty however presents with serious complications, including high morbidity. The identification of causative microorganisms is essential for the treatment of PJI. Managing PJI requires complex treatment strategies, including long-term antibacterial treatment, and significant medical costs can be incurred. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Surgical Care Improvement Project guidelines recommend that prophylactic antibiotics such as first-generation cephalosporins be infused completely 1 hour before surgical incision. However, these preventative antibiotics are very limited, therefore risk factors must be identified to diagnosis and treat patients effectively. Moreover, determining antimicrobial susceptibility during artificial joint surgery and choosing the most appropriate treatment strategy following an accurate diagnosis of microbial infections are essential. In the present review, we describe the management, including the etiology, diagnosis, and classification of PJI, and approaches to its diagnosis using the available novel molecular diagnostic methods.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.149-157
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• 2013

Objectives This study was designed to: (1) investigate the clinical feature of tongue diagnosis, (2) make an observation of significant changes in tongue diagnosis according to the patient's physical condition and laboratory result and (3) identify clinical efficacy of tongue diagnosis. Methods 300 patients' tongue diagnosis results were analyzed and the patients were divided to each group according to the physical condition and laboratory result. Then, chi-square test was performed to assess statistical significance between tongue diagnosis results of each group. Results As a result of analyzing the spread of tongue diagnosis according to the patient's physical condition and laboratory result, 18 groups had statistical significance related to specific tongue color and tongue coating. Conclusions Even if there would be possible misinterpretations in one-to-one match between the tongue diagnosis and certain diseases, we identified that tongue diagnosis results were changed somewhat related to patient's physical condition with some tendency and tongue diagnosis could be used for meaningful clinical diagnostic tool.

• KIEE International Transaction on Electrical Machinery and Energy Conversion Systems
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• v.4B no.4
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• pp.206-210
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• 2004

This paper deals with a parameter estimation of the DC-DC converter system for its diagnosis. Especially, we present the results of parameter estimation for the DC-DC converter model by the system identification method. The parameter estimation for the DC-DC converter system aims at the diagnosis of its operating status. For the operating status diagnosis of the DC-DC converter system, we assume that the DC-DC converter system is an equivalent model of the Buck converter and estimate the main parameter for on-line diagnosis. In addition, for verification of an estimated parameter, we compare a bode plot of the estimated system transfer function and measurement results of the HP4194 instrument. It is a control system analyzer for system transfer function measurement. Our results confirm that the main parameter for diagnosis of the DC-DC converter system can be estimated by the system identification method and that the aging status of the system can be predicted by these results on operating status.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.830-839
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• 2017

Support vector machine (SVM) is introduced as an effective fault diagnosis technique based on dissolved gases analysis (DGA) for oil-immersed transformers with maximum generalization ability; however, the applicability of the SVM is highly affected due to the difficulty of selecting the SVM parameters appropriately. Therefore, a novel approach combing SVM with improved imperialist competitive algorithm (IICA) for fault diagnosis of oil-immersed transformers was proposed in the paper. The improved ICA, which is proved to be an effective optimization approach, is employed to optimize the parameters of SVM. Cross validation and normalizations were applied in the training processes of SVM and the trained SVM model with the optimized parameters was established for fault diagnosis of oil-immersed transformers. Three classification benchmark sets were studied based on particle swarm optimization SVM (PSOSVM) and IICASVM with four multiple classification schemes to select the best scheme for transformer fault diagnosis. The results show that the proposed model can obtain higher diagnosis accuracy than other methods. The comparisons confirm that the proposed model is an effective approach for classification problems.