• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.9
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• pp.640-648
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• 2022

CD133, also known as prominin-1, was first identified as a biomarker of mammalian cancer and neural stem cells. Previous studies have shown that the prominin-like (promL) gene, an orthologue of mammalian CD133 in Drosophila, plays a role in glucose and lipid metabolism, body growth, and longevity. Because locomotion is required for food sourcing and ultimately the regulation of metabolism, we examined the function of promL in Drosophila locomotion. Both promL mutants and pan-neuronal promL inhibition flies displayed reduced spontaneous locomotor activity. As dopamine is known to modulate locomotion, we also examined the effects of promL inhibition on the dopamine concentration and mRNA expression levels of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and DOPA decarboxylase (Ddc), the enzymes responsible for dopamine biosynthesis, in the heads of flies. Compared with those in control flies, the levels of dopamine and the mRNAs encoding TH and Ddc were lower in promL mutant and pan-neuronal promL inhibition flies. In addition, an immunostaining analysis revealed that, compared with control flies, promL mutant and pan-neuronal promL inhibition flies had lower levels of the TH protein in protocerebral anterior medial (PAM) neurons, a subset of dopaminergic neurons. Inhibition of promL in these PAM neurons reduced the locomotor activity of the flies. Overall, these findings indicate that promL expressed in PAM dopaminergic neurons regulates locomotion by controlling dopamine synthesis in Drosophila.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.332-338
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of postural control and locomotion on improvement of two point discrimination (TPD), stereognosis (ST) through somatosensory training (SST) on the upper limb (UL). Methods: The subjects were 20 hemiplegia patients who have problems with unilateral neglect after stroke. The patients were divided into two groups, the experimental group (EG) and the control group (CG). In the EG, SST for TPD, ST was performed 18 times, three times a week for six weeks, together with physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT). In the CG conventional PT and OT without SST was performed for six weeks. Several assessment tools were used in comparison of groups; two point discrimination test (TPDT) on forearm (F), thenar (T), hypothenar (TH), thumb tip (TH-T), index finger tip (IN-T), stereognosis test (ST), postural assessment scale for stroke (PASS), and clinical test of sensory interaction on balance (CTSIB) and timed up and go test (TUG). Results: In the CG, conventional PT and OT resulted in statistically improved TPDT (F), ST, PASS, and TUG. In the EG, SST resulted in statistically improved TPDT (F, T, HT, TH-T, IN-T), ST, PASS, and TUG. TPDT-T, ST, and CTSIB with length of displacement with eye open (LDEO) also showed significant improvement between the groups. Conclusion: In both groups TPDT ST, PASS and TUG, and SST had effects on the UL and TPDT, ST and static postural control had greater effects compared with the PG. Therefore, we could assume that TPD and ST are very important in performing human activities including postural control and locomotion.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.1638-1644
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• 2002

A novel locomotion using the pneumatic impulsive actuator was proposed for robotic colonoscope. This locomotion showed good moving performance in the environment of rigid pipe, however, the displacement per one impact(step displacement) is greatly reduced due to the low stiffness and high damping characteristics of the colon. Therefore, the modeling technique based on spring and damping system is studied to predict the step displacement and some parametric studies are carried out to investigate main parameters that influence the step displacement of locomotion. Based on simulation result, a new locomotion to control the resistance force is suggested and fabricated. Through the experiment on the colon, the usefulness of modeling technique is confirmed and successful improvement of moving characteristics is achieved.

• BMB Reports
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.393-402
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• 2021

In animals, proper locomotion is crucial to find mates and foods and avoid predators or dangers. Multiple sensory systems detect external and internal cues and integrate them to modulate motor outputs. Proprioception is the internal sense of body position, and proprioceptive control of locomotion is essential to generate and maintain precise patterns of movement or gaits. This proprioceptive feedback system is conserved in many animal species and is mediated by stretch-sensitive receptors called proprioceptors. Recent studies have identified multiple proprioceptive neurons and proprioceptors and their roles in the locomotion of various model organisms. In this review we describe molecular and neuronal mechanisms underlying proprioceptive feedback systems in C. elegans, Drosophila, and mice.

• 대한약리학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.123.1-123.1
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• 2006

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.654-661
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• 2015

Stairs are the most popular obstacles in buildings and factories. To enlarge the application areas of a field robotic platform, stair-climbing is very important mission. One important reason why a stair-climbing is difficult is that stairs are various in sizes. To achieve autonomous climbing of various-sized stairs, dynamic modeling is essential. In this research, an inverse dynamic modeling is performed to enable an autonomous stair climbing. Stair-climbing robotic platform with flip locomotion, named FilpBot, is analyzed. The FlipBot platform has advantages of robust stair-climbing of various sizes with constant speed, but the autonomous operation is not yet capable. Based on external constraints and the postures of the robot, inverse dynamic models are derived. The models are switched by the constraints and postures to analyze the continuous motion during stair-climbing. The constraints are changed according to the stair size, therefore the analysis results are different each other. The results of the inverse dynamic modeling are going to be used in motor design and autonomous control of the robotic platform.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.683-693
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• 2010

In this paper, we propose a new parallel mechanism for the legs of biped robots and the control of the robot's locomotion. A leg consists of two 3-DOF parallel platforms linked serially: one is an orientation platform for a thigh and the other is the 3-DOF asymmetric parallel platform for the shank. The desired locomotion trajectory is generated on the basis of the Gravity-Compensated Inverted Pendulum Mode (GCIPM) in the sagittal direction and the Linear Inverted Pendulum Mode (LIPM) in the lateral direction, respectively. In order to simulate the ground reaction force, a 6-DOF elastic pad model is used underneath each of the soles. The performance and effectiveness of the proposed parallel mechanism and locomotion control are shown by the results of computer simulations of a 12-DOF parallel biped robot using $SimMechanics^{(R)}$.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.214-218
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• 2011

Diets based on carbohydrates increase rapidly the blood glucose level due to the fast conversion of carbohydrates to glucose. High glucose diets have been known to induce many lifestyle diseases. Here, we demonstrated that high glucose diet shortened the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans through apoptosis induction. Control adult groups without glucose diet lived for 30 days, whereas animals fed 10 mg/L of D-glucose lived only for 20 days. The reduction of lifespan by glucose diet showed a dose-dependent profile in the concentration range of glucose from 1 to 20 mg/L. Aging effect of high glucose diet was examined by measurement of response time for locomotion after stimulating movement of the animals by touching. Glucose diet decreased the locomotion capacity of the animals during mid-adulthood. High glucose diets also induced ectopic apoptosis in the body of C. elegans, which is a potent mechanism that can explain the shortened lifespan and aging. Apoptotic cell corpses stained with SYTO 12 were found in the worms fed 10 mg/L of glucose. Mutation of core apoptotic regulatory genes, CED-3 and CED-4, inhibited the reduction of viability induced by high glucose diet, which indicates that these regulators were required for glucose-induced apoptosis or lifespan shortening. Thus, we conclude that high glucose diets have potential for inducing ectopic apoptosis in the body, resulting in a shortened lifespan accompanied with loss of locomotion capacity.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.661-666
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• 2009

Modular snake-like robots, which consist of series of modules, are robust for failure and have flexible locomotions for environment. However, they are difficult to control and few efficient and various locomotions are introduced yet. In this paper, GA based phase generation and trajectory generation approaches are implemented and compared for locomotion of snake-like robots and extended for analysis for selections of partial modules. In addition, modeling and simulation environments are implemented in Webots simulator and above GA based experiments for locomotion are executed for KMC snake-like robot.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.435-440
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• 2007

Fish-mimetic robots or fish-mimetic propulsors have been developed or under construction. A mechanical system cannot have the same functions as bio-organic systems. Thus, the hydrodynamic characteristics of fish locomotion should be well understood in order to develop and control a feasible intelligent fish-mimetic robot with its optimal motion pattern known. In this paper, a mackerel-mimetic robot fish is fabricated in order to understand the hydrodynamic characteristics of fish locomotion. A simplified unsteady flow theory is also applied to the hydrodynamic analysis of the motion of the anterior part of the robotic fish. The normal and axial forces of the fish are measured by changing the amplitude and frequencies of fanning motion. It is found that the present theoretical results agree with the measured data.