• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.270-278
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• 2017

The electrical muscle stimulator (EMS) based human machine interface (HMI) free to mechanical constraint and muscle fatigue problems are proposed for force feedback in a virtual reality. The device was designed to provide force feedback up to 4.8 N and 2.6 N each to the thumb and forefingers. The main objective of the HMI is to make unnecessary mechanical structures to attach on the hand or fingers. It employs custom EMSs and an interface arranged in the forearm. In this work, major muscle groups such as extensor pollicis brevis (EPB), extensor indicis proprius (EIP), flexor pollicis longus (FPL) and flexor digitorum profundus (FDP) are selected for efficient force feedback and controlled individually. For this, a human muscular-skeletal analysis was performed and verified. The validity of the proposed multi-channel EMS based HMI was evaluated thorough various experiments with ten human subjects, interacting with a virtual environment.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.267-272
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• 2015

Nacre seashell is a natural osteoinductive biomaterial with strong effects on osteoprogenitors, osteoblasts, and osteoclasts during bone tissue formation and morphogenesis. Although nacre has shown, in one study, to induce bridging of new bone across large non-union bone defects in 8 individual human patients, there have been no succeeding human surgical studies to confirm this outstanding potency. But the molecular mechanisms associated with nacre osteoinduction and the influence on bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC's), skeletal stem cells or bone marrow stromal cells remain elusive. In this study we highlight the phenotypic and biochemical effects of Pinctada maxima nacre chips and the global nacre soluble protein matrix (SPM) on primary human bone marrow-derived stromal cells (hBMSCs) in vitro. In static co-culture with nacre chips, the hBMSCs secreted Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) at levels that exceeded bone morphogenetic protein (rhBMP-2) treatment. Concentrated preparation of SPM applied to Stro-1 selected hBMSC's led to rapid ALP secretions, at concentrations exceeding the untreated controls even in osteogenic conditions. Within 21 days the same population of Stro-1 selected hBMSCs proliferated and secreted collagens I-IV, indicating the premature onset of an osteoblast phenotype. The same SPM was found to promote unselected hBMSC differentiation with osteocalcin detected at 7 days, and proliferation increased at 7 days in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, nacre particles and nacre SPM induced the early stages of human bone cell differentiation, indicating that they may be promising soluble factors with osteoinductive capacity in primary human bone cell progenitors such as, hBMSC's.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.55 no.11
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• pp.438-444
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• 2012

Mucolipidosis II (ML II) or inclusion cell disease (I-cell disease) is a rarely occurring autosomal recessive lysosomal enzyme-targeting disease. This disease is usually found to occur in individuals aged between 6 and 12 months, with a clinical phenotype resembling that of Hurler syndrome and radiological findings resembling those of dysostosis multiplex. However, we encountered a rare case of an infant with ML II who presented with prenatal skeletal dysplasia and typical clinical features of severe secondary hyperparathyroidism at birth. A female infant was born at $37^{+1}$ weeks of gestation with a birth weight of 1,690 g (<3rd percentile). Prenatal ultrasonographic findings revealed intrauterine growth retardation and skeletal dysplasia. At birth, the patient had characteristic features of ML II, and skeletal radiographs revealed dysostosis multiplex, similar to rickets. In addition, the patient had high levels of alkaline phosphatase and parathyroid hormone, consistent with severe secondary neonatal hyperparathyroidism. The activities of ${\beta}$-D-hexosaminidase and ${\alpha}$-N-acetylglucosaminidase were moderately decreased in the leukocytes but were 5- to 10-fold higher in the plasma. Examination of a placental biopsy specimen showed foamy vacuolar changes in trophoblasts and syncytiotrophoblasts. The diagnosis of ML II was confirmed via GNPTAB genetic testing, which revealed compound heterozygosity of c.3091C>T (p.Arg1031X) and c.3456_3459dupCAAC (p.Ile1154GlnfsX3), the latter being a novel mutation. The infant was treated with vitamin D supplements but expired because of asphyxia at the age of 2 months.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1649-1656
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• 2015

Gene expression profiling has offered new insights into postmortem molecular changes associated with meat quality. To acquire reliable transcript quantification, high quality RNA is required. The objective of this study was to analyze integrity of RNA isolated from chicken skeletal muscle (pectoralis major) and its capability of serving as the template in quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) as a function of postmortem intervals representing the end-points of evisceration, carcass chilling and aging stages in chicken abattoirs. Chicken breast muscle was dissected from the carcasses (n = 6) immediately after evisceration, and one-third of each sample was instantly snap-frozen and labeled as 20 min postmortem. The remaining muscle was stored on ice until the next rounds of sample collection (1.5 h and 6 h postmortem). The delayed postmortem duration did not significantly affect $A_{260}/A_{280}$ and $A_{260}/A_{230}$ ($p{\geq}0.05$), suggesting no altered purity of total RNA. Apart from a slight decrease in the 28s:18s ribosomal RNA ratio in 1.5 h samples (p<0.05), the value was not statistically different between 20 min and 6 h samples ($p{\geq}0.05$), indicating intact total RNA up to 6 h. Abundance of reference genes encoding beta-actin (ACTB), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT), peptidylprolylisomerase A (PPIA) and TATA box-binding protein (TBP) as well as meat-quality associated genes (insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase isozyme 4 (PDK4), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARD) were investigated using qPCR. Transcript abundances of ACTB, GAPDH, HPRT, and PPIA were significantly different among all postmortem time points (p<0.05). Transcript levels of PDK4 and PPARD were significantly reduced in the 6 h samples (p<0.05). The findings suggest an adverse effect of a prolonged postmortem duration on reliability of transcript quantification in chicken skeletal muscle. For the best RNA quality, chicken skeletal muscle should be immediately collected after evisceration or within 20 min postmortem, and rapidly preserved by deep freezing.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.8
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• pp.119-127
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• 1990

The present study was designed to determine the effect of HCG administration to pregnant rats on the dam and its fetus including the corpora lutea, the body weight of the fetus, the resorption of the fetus and the malformations of the fetus in skeletal development when a single dose of HCG 50 IU or 100IU on day 4.8.12 or 16 of pregnancy. The results were summarized as follows: 1. Administration of HCG had no effect on the corpora lutea. 2. Fetal resorption was observed in animals treated with HCG on days 4.8 or 12, high incidence being treated with HCG on day 4 of pregnancy. 3. Administration of HCG had no effect on the weight of the fetus except decreasing in it treated with HCG on day 4 of pregnancy. 4. Administration of HCG might be able to induce the skeletal variations but was not the skeletal malformations and abnormal ossification of the fetus. The extra 14 ribs was observed in animals treated with HCG on days 8 and 16 of pregnancy, respectively. 5. It is suggested that HCG administration to pregnant rats was able to induce the fetal resorption and might be able to induce skeletal variations in the fetus.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.492-505
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• 2007

Statement of problem: An orthodontic miniscrew implant has been used as a skeletal anchorage for orthodontic treatment. However, any relation among the influence of the cortical bone, morphologic differences of orthodontic miniscrew implants and new bone formation hasn't been made clear yet. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the orthodontic miniscrew implant could work as an intraoral skeletal anchorage immediately and stably for orthodontic treatment after insertion of it. Material and methods: Two types of orthodontic miniscrew implants were used in this experiment; tapered type and straight type. One hundred and sixty eight orthodontic miniscrew implants were inserted into the tibiae of 21 rabbits and sacrificed on 3, 7, 11, 14, 21 and 28days later after insertion of them to study removal torque values and histologic and histomorphometric analyses. Results: The results were as follows. 1. The removal torque values of the tapered type were higher than those of the straight type in all groups(p<0.05). 2. There wasn't any distinguishing differences between the tapered type and the straight type about the new bone formation percentage. 3. The removal torque values for both the tapered type and the straight type were gradually decreased at early stages of the test but started to increase at the 7 days group of the straight type and the 11 days group of the tapered type. 4. New bone formation percentage was increased gradually for both the tapered and the straight types as time passed(p<0.05). 5. It was found that the tapered type showed lower values in the cortical bone about both the maximum equilibratory stress distribution and the maximum principal stress distribution than the straight type in linear finite elements analysis. Conclusion: According to the research, the removal torque values were decreased at 7 days group of the tapered type and 11 days group of the straight type after the insertion of the orthodontic miniscrew implants in tibiae of rabbits. Considering the human bone activity, it is better to apply the orthodontic force $3{\sim}4$ weeks later than to apply it immediately after the insertion of orthodontic miniscrew implants. Considering that general orthodontic force is about $250{\sim}500$ grams, the tapered type can be worked as a stable skeletal anchor age in an orthodontic treatment even if the orthodontic force is applied on it immediately after the insertion of it.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.3357-3362
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• 2013

The human skeleton is the most common organ to be affected by metastatic cancer and bone metastases are a major cause of cancer morbidity. The five most frequent cancers in Malaysia among males includes prostate whereas breast cancer is among those in females, both being associated with skeletal lesions. Bone metastases weaken bone structure, causing a range of symptoms and complications thus developing skeletal-related events (SRE). Patients with SRE may require palliative radiotherapy or surgery to bone for pain, having hypercalcaemia, pathologic fractures, and spinal cord compression. These complications contribute to a decline in patient healthrelated quality of life. The multidimensional assessment of health-related quality of life for those patients is important other than considering a beneficial treatment impact on patient survival, since the side effects of treatment and disease symptoms can significantly impact health-related quality of life. Cancer treatment could contribute to significant financial implications for the healthcare system. Therefore, it is essential to assess the health-related quality of life and treatment cost, among prostate and breast cancer patients in countries like Malaysia to rationalized cost-effective way for budget allocation or utilization of health care resources, hence helping in providing more personalized treatment for cancer patients.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.251-261
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• 2007

A myofiber of skeletal muscle is composed of myofibrils, sarcolemma (plasma membrane), and constameres, which anchor the myofibrils to the sarcolemma. Achvillin is a recently identified F-actin binding muscle protein, co-isolates with dystrophin and caveolin-3 in low-density sarcolemma of striated muscle, and colocalizes with dystrophin at costameres, the specialized adhesion sites in muscle. Archvillin also binds to nebulin and localizes at myofibrillar Z-discs, the lateral boundaries of the sarcomere in muscle. However other roles of archvillin on the dynamics of myofibrillogenesis remain to be defined. The goal of this study is, by using siRNA-mediated gene silencing technique, to investigate the effect of archvillin on the dynamics of myofibrillogenesis in cell culture of a mouse skeletal myogenic cell line (C2C12), where presumptive myoblasts withdraw from the cell cycle, fuse, undergo de novo myofibrillogenesis, and differentiate into mature myotubes. The roles of archvillin in the assembly and maintenance of myofibril and during the progression of myofibrillogenesis induced in skeletal myoblast following gene silencing in the cell culture were investigated. Fluorescence microscopy demonstrated that the distribution of archvillin was changed along the course of myofibril assembly with nebulin, vinculin and F-actin and then located at Z-lines with nebulin. Fluorescence microscopy demonstrated that knockdown of mouse archvillin expression led to an impaired assembly of new myofibrillar clusters and delayed fusion and myofibrillogenesis although the mouse archvillin siRNA did not affect those expressions of archvillin binding proteins, such as nebulin and F-actin. This result is corresponded with that of RT-PCR and western blots. When the perturbed archvillin was rescued by co-transfection with GFP or Red tagged human archvillin construct, the inhibited cell fusion and myotube formation was recovered. By using siRNA technique, archvillin was found to be involved in early stage of myofibrillogenesis. Therefore, the current data suggest the idea that archvillin plays critical roles on cell fusion and dynamic myofibril assembly.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.181-184
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• 2002

Currently, the lack of equipments for the medical practice and education made it impossible for the people in medical institution to carry out suitable experiments for observing human bodies. In this paper, the authors embodied three dimensional images and moving pictures for the human skeletal structure, digestive organs, cardiovascular system and their processes over the internet framework. The three dimensional images and moving picture made it possible for the general people as well as the specialists to observe and obtain informations with regard to the human body. specially, the authors realized a framework for visualizing the human bodies in three dimensional images, via which a detailed and realistic architecture for the human body and its organs tan be obtained. The system developed in this paper can be used in the practice and education of the people engaged in medical fields.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.691-701
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• 2017

The barbell squat is a fundamental physical exercise for strengthening the lower body and core muscles. It is an integral part of training and conditioning programs in sports, rehabilitation, and fitness. In this paper, we proposed a virtual test framework for squat exercises using a Smith machine to simulate joint torques and muscle forces, based on an integrated product-human model and motion synthesis algorithms. We built a muscular skeletal human model with boundary conditions modeling the interactions between the human body and a machine or the ground. To validate the model, EMG, external forces, and squat motions were captured through physical experiments by varying the foot position. A regression-based motion synthesis algorithm was developed based on the captured squat motions to generate a new motion for a given foot position. The proposed approach is expected to reduce the need for physical experiments in the development of training programs.