The purpose of this study is to observe how balance exercise on an unstable platform and on a stable platform affects balance ability. The subjects were 35 adults in their 20s and were randomly assigned to a stable platform group and an unstable platform group. They performed balance exercise three times per week for six weeks. Balance exercise introduced by previous research was modified and complemented for use in this study. Balance ability of the subjects was measured through center of pressure(COP) area, medial-lateral displacement, and anterior-posterior displacement using a portable balance platform BT4. There was significant difference in the COP area between the unstable platform exercise group and the stable platform exercise group. In comparison in differences between the unstable platform exercise group and the stable platform exercise group after the exercise, there was significant difference in anteriorposterior movement. Therefore, exercise on an unstable platform is more effective than exercise on a stable platform in strengthening balance ability.

It has been established that berberine has strong antimicrobial effects. Little is known however regarding the antimicrobial activity of berberine against endodontic pathogenic bacteria or its cytotoxicity in human oral tissue cells. The antibacterial properties of berberine were tested against 5 strains of Enterococcus faecalis and type strains of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella nigrescens, Prevotella intermedia, and Tannerella forsythia, which are involved in endodontic infections. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated through minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) measurements. The viability of normal human gingival fibroblast (NHGF) cells after exposure to berberine was measured using a methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay. The data showed that berberine has antimicrobial effects against A. actinomycetemcomitans with an MIC and MBC of 12.5 μg/ml and 25 μg/ml, respectively. In the cytotoxicity studies, cell viability was maintained at 66.1% following exposure to 31.3 μg/ml berberine. Overall, these findings suggest that berberine has antimicrobial activity against the tested bacteria. Nevertheless, lower concentrations in combination with other reagents will need to be tested before these in vitro results can be translated to clinical use.

The purpose of this study was to test the effect of Gastrocnemius and Low Back-muscle isotonic exercise on static•dynamic standing balance during the period of 4 weeks. This study was two groups pretest-posttest design. Nineteen subjects who were over 22 years old were randomly assigned to either the experimental group that received the Gastrocnemius muscle exercise(n=9) or the low back muscle exercise(n=10) : The former group performed isotonic exercise(plantar flexion), the latter group performed isotonic exercise(trunk extension) a total of 18 times for three times per week for four weeks. Two groups also performed static and dynamic balance before the exercise and 4weeks after the exercise. The data were analyzed by using the paired t-test and independent t-test. The results were as follows: As compared with change of dynamic balance performance capacity at two groups, a significant difference was shown in the test(p<.05), but not in static balance(p>.05). Also, a significant difference of balance between groups was not shown in the test. In this study indicated that gastrocnemius and low back muscle isotonic exercise will have positive impact on standing balance.

The fact that flip-flops, one of many different types of unstable shoes, are light and relatively easy to put on, accounts for their popularity among people. But because flip-flops rely heavily on the support of a single thong between your first and second toes, they impose a huge amount of pressure onto lower leg. Thus in the following experiment we tried to examine the different effects of flip-flops and running shoes in terms of their effect on muscle activity and fatigue of tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius during walking. In order to measure an electromyogram we used Free EMG system. 10 men and 10 women in running shoes ran on treadmills for 15 minutes at 4.8km/h, 2 days later the same experiment was carried out, but this time, in flip-flops. p value turned out to be greater than .05 and thus there was no considerable difference between the effects of flip-flops and running shoes on muscle activity and fatigue during walking. Therefore we conclude that despite the fact that flip-flops are considered unstable, their effects on muscle activity and fatigue of tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius are negligible.

The purpose of this study to identified the effect of muscle strengthening of ankle joints on postural sway. The subjects of this study were 29 healthy adults aged between 20 and 30 years(male 18, female 11). All subjects received ankle muscle strengthening exercise for 3 times, 3 sessions, 30 minutes per week over 4weeks period. The measured item of muscle strength, postural sway. Data collected from all subjects the result were as follows. The ankle strength showed significant increase(p<.05). One leg stand test with eye close increase in static balance(p<.05), left-right sway distance and anterior-posterior sway distance with eye open and close in static balance(p<.05). The result findings show that strength of the ankle joint muscles is a factor which affects postural sway and the ankle joints are important in static balance.

CD63, a member of tetraspanin membrane protein family, plays pivotal role in cell growth, motility, signal transduction, host-pathogen interactions and cancer. In this work, the cDNA encoding CD63 homologue (TmCD63) was cloned from larvae of coleopteran beetle, Tenebrio molitor. The cDNA is comprised of an open reading frame of 705 bp, encoding putative protein of 235 amino acid residues. In silico analysis shows that the protein has four putative transmembrane domains and one large extracellular loop. The characteristic ‘Cys-Cys-Gly’ motif and ‘Cys188’ residues are highly conserved in the large extracellular loop. Phylogenetic analysis of TmCD63 revealed that they belong to the insect cluster with 50-56% identity. Analysis of spatial expression patterns demonstrated that TmCD63 mRNA is mainly expressed in gut and Malphigian tubules of larvae and the testis of the adult. Developmental expression patterns of CD63 mRNA showed that TmCD63 transcripts are detected in late larval, pupal and adult stages. Interestingly, TmCD63 transcript was upregulated the maximum 4.5 fold in response to DAP-type peptidoglycan during the first 6 h, although other immune elicitors also made significant increase in the transcript level at later time-points. These results suggest that CD63 might contribute to T. molitor immune response against various microbial pathogens.

Apolipophorin III (apoLp-III) is a well-known hemolymph protein having a functional role in lipid transport and immune response of insects. We cloned full-length cDNA encoding putative apoLp-III from larvae of the coleopteran beetle, Tenebrio molitor (TmapoLp-III), by identification of clones corresponding to the partial sequence of TmapoLp-III, subsequently followed with full length sequencing by a clone-by-clone primer walking method. The complete cDNA consists of 890 nucleotides, including an ORF encoding 196 amino acid residues. Excluding a putative signal peptide of the first 20 amino acid residues, the 176-residue mature apoLp-III has a calculated molecular mass of 19,146 Da. Genomic sequence analysis with respect to its cDNA showed that TmapoLp-III was organized into four exons interrupted by three introns. Several immune-related transcription factor binding sites were discovered in the putative 5’-flanking region. BLAST and phylogenetic analysis reveals that TmapoLp-III has high sequence identity (88%) with Tribolium castaneum apoLp-III but shares little sequence homologies (<26%) with other apoLp-IIIs. Homology modeling of Tm apoLp-III shows a bundle of five amphipathic helices, including a short helix 3’. The ‘helix-short helix-helix’ motif was predicted to be implicated in lipid binding interactions, through reversible conformational changes and accommodating the hydrophobic residues to the exterior for stability. Highest level of TmapoLp-III mRNA was detected at late pupal stages, albeit it is expressed in the larval and adult stages at lower levels. The tissue specific expression of the transcripts showed significantly higher numbers in larval fat body and adult integument. In addition, TmapoLp-III mRNA was found to be highly up-regulated in late stages of L. monocytogenes or E. coli challenge. These results indicate that TmapoLp-III may play an important role in innate immune responses against bacterial pathogens in T. molitor.

Jeon-Nam province has the largest number of managed honey bee(Apis cerana) colonies before 2009 years ago, which produce the highest quantity of honey in the Korea; however, almost colony were collapsed by Sacbrood Virus(SBV) in jeon-nam apiaries. We thus conducted a molecular survey of honey bee RNA viruses, Nosema microsporidia, Foul broods and fungal disease(Chalk brood and Stone brood) associated with environmental conditions in apiaries and differential A. cerana hives in Joun-nam province. We found the presence of black queen cell virus (BQCV), Israel Acute Paralysis Virus and Nosema apis. Sacbrood virus(SBV) was detected in the tested samples. Our results demonstrate that honey bee RNA viruses and N. apis are present in joen-nam province apiaries, and some might be related environment conditions(temperature and moisture).

Antibiotic Detection Kit (Combination I), a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) developed for the detection of antibiotic residues in milk, was utilized for the analysis of antibiotic residues in the muscle tissue of olive flounder. After 60-min treatment by dipping in water dosed with ampicillin (200-g/ton water), the residue depletion of ampicillin was investigated in 25 cultured olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). Muscles of fish were sampled on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th day after drug treatment. The concentration of ampicillin in the muscle was determined by LFIA. The absorbance ratio of the sample to the control blank (Bs/Bo) was employed as an index to determine the muscle residues in olive flounder. To investigate the recovery rate, standard solutions were added to muscle samples to give final concentrations in the muscle of 4 and 8 ng/ml. The recovery rates of all spiked samples were > 96% of the spiked value. Ampicillin was detected in the muscle of fish treated with the drug until the 2nd day of the withdrawal period. The present study showed that the LFIA can be easily adopted to predict ampicillin residues in tissue of farmed fishes.

It has been demonstrated in a previous study that carbon nanotube (CNT)/epoxy/basalt composites produce better flexural properties than epoxy/basalt composites. In this study, mode I fracture tests were conducted using CNT/epoxy/basalt composites with and without seawater absorption in order to investigate the effect of the seawater absorption on the mode I fracture toughness (GIC) of the CNT/epoxy/basalt composites. The results demonstrated that the compliance of the seawater-absorbed specimen was larger than that of the dry specimen at the same crack length, while the opposite result was obtained for the fracture load. The GIC value of the seawater-absorbed CNT/epoxy/basalt composites was approximately 20% lower than that of the dry CNT/epoxy/basalt composites.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influences of chronic shoulder pain on the muscle tone in trunk muscles. The study's subjects were 40 men and women in their 30 to 50s, which were divided into two groups. A chronic shoulder pain group consisted of 20 subjects who had been diagnosed with chronic shoulder pain by doctors, and a painless group consisted of 20 subjects who had experienced no such pain. An analysis was performed using electromyography on the muscle tone in the rectus abdominalis, external oblique, internal oblique, and erector spinae muscles under the same conditions between the two groups. The analysis results were as follows. The chronic shoulder pain group exhibited an overall high level of trunk muscle tone than the painless group, along with a statistically significant difference in the rectus abdominalis(p<.05). Moreover, the chronic shoulder pain group showed differences in the trunk muscle tone depending on the affected side. The chronic left shoulder pain group yielded higher levels of muscle tone in the right-side trunk muscles. In particular, the group revealed statistically significant differences in the rectus abdominalis and internal oblique(p<.05). The chronic right shoulder pain group exhibited higher levels of muscle tone in the left-side trunk muscles with a statistically significant difference in the internal oblique(p<.05). The above results suggested that chronic shoulder pain influences increases in the muscle tone in the trunk muscles on the opposite side to the affected shoulder.

The purpose of this study was to investigate spirometric lung pattern, respiratory function and degree of fatigue by lung function tests and fatigue tests of 39 elderly people in a care facility aged 65 and over. The respiratory function tests were used to the Spirovit SP-1 and fatigue tests were used modified Piper fatigue scale(mPFS). Regarding the respiratory function, the FVC was 1.41±0.36ℓ, the FVC % predicted was 69.10±14.98%, the FEV1 was 1.02±0.31ℓ, the FEV1 % predicted was 63.27±16.05%, the FEV1/FVC was 72.77±13.40%, and the fatigue score was 5.83±1.09. As for the spirometric lung pattern, 19 patients had a restrictive pattern(48.7%), followed by 11 with a mixed pattern(28.2%), 5 with an obstructive pattern( 12.8%), and 4 with a normal pattern(10.3%). Regarding the respiratory function and fatigue by spirometric lung pattern, the FVC and the FVC % predicted of patients with a normal pattern or an obstructive pattern were greater than other groups at a statistically significant level. As for the FEV1, that of patients with a normal pattern was significantly higher than others, and for the FEV1 % predicted, that of patients with a normal pattern or a restrictive pattern was significantly higher(p<.001). Fatigue score by patients with a normal pattern was significantly less than patients of other patterns(p<.001). Therefore, pulmonary physical therapy is considered necessary to improve respiratory function and fatigue degradation of elderly in a facility.

Mealworms, Tenebrio molitor (L.) is used as an important animal feed additive for growth promotion and health management, but potentially exposes to fungal infection. In this work, virulence of two species of entomopathogenic fungi against the insect, and the relationship between abiotic features and virulence were investigated. Secondly our consideration was also given to the effect of chemical fungicides on conidial germination for risk control. Between Beauveria bassiana (Bb) and Metarhizium roberstii (Mr) (previously M. anisopliae), Bb isolates had much higher virulence (~100% mortality in 3~4 days after the treatment), rather than Mr isolates in laboratory assays. Next, fungus-treated mealworms were kept at wheat bran at 20, 25, 30 and 35℃ with 3, 6, 9 times of water spray to the feeds for set-up of different humidity conditions. Inoculation of fungi to mealworms was conducted by fungal spray and feeding methods, which resulted in higher virulence in feeding method. In the feeding method, all temperature treatments except 35℃ showed high virulence against mealworms, but any significant relationship between virulence and humidity was not observed. In the chemical fungicide screening, fluazinam (CAS No. 79622-59-6) and mancozeb (8018-01-7) significantly inhibited the germination of Bb and Mr conidia. This work suggest that contamination of wheat bran with fungal pathogens, particularly B. bassiana may induce mycosis of mealworms, but introduction of effective fungicides possibly reduce fungal infection.

To enhance the production efficiency of foreign protein in baculovirus expression system, the effects of polyhedrin fragments were investigated by fusion expression them with the enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP). Recombinant viruses were generated to express EGFP fused with polyhedrin fragments based on the minimal region for self-assembly and the KRKK nuclear localization signal (NLS). The increase of EGFP production by fusion expressions was confirmed through protein and fluorescence intensity analyses. The importance of nuclear localization for enhanced production of EGFP was shown by the mutation of the NLS within the fused polyhedrin fragment. Among the fusion expressed protein in cytoplasm, the most hyper-expression was observed in the fusion of amino acids 32 to 59 of polyhedrin. Polyhedrin fragment fusion expression with classical swine fever virus E2 protein also resulted hyper-enhanced expression of E2 protein. However, the fusion expression of porcine circovirus ORF2 with polyhedrin fragment did not show significant enhance of ORF2 production. These results suggested that the enhancement of foreign protein production when fused with polyhedrin is caused by the enhanced stability of expressed protein.

Various voltage-gated K+ currents were recently described in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. However, the characterization and diversity of voltage-gated K+ currents have not been well studied in trigeminal root ganglion (TRG) neurons, which are similar to the DRG neurons in terms of physiological roles and anatomy. This study was aimed to investigate the characteristics and diversity of voltage-gated K+ currents in acutely isolated TRG neurons of rat using whole cell patch clamp techniques. The first type (type I) had a rapid, transient outward current (IA) with the largest current size having a slow inactivation rate and a sustained delayed rectifier outward current (IK) that was small in size having a fast inactivation rate. The IA currents of this type were mostly blocked by TEA and 4-AP, K channel blockers whereas the IK current was inhibited by TEA but not by 4-AP. The second type had a large IA current with a slow inactivation rate and a medium size-sustained delayed IK current with a slow inactivation rate. In this second type (type II), the sensitivities of the IA or IK current by TEA and 4-AP were similar to those of the type I. The third type (type III) had a medium sized IA current with a fast inactivation rate and a large sustained IK current with the slow inactivation rate. In type III current, TEA decreased both IA and IK but 4-AP only blocked IA current. The fourth type (type IV) had a smallest IA with a fast inactivation rate and a large IK current with a slow inactivation rate. TEA or 4-AP similarly decreased the IA but the IK was only blocked by 4-AP. These findings suggest that at least four different voltage-gated K+ currents in biophysical and pharmacological properties exist in the TRG neurons of rats.

A study of oxidation kinetic of Fe-36Ni alloy has been investigated using thermogravimetric apparatus (TGA) in an attempt to define the basic mechanism over a range of temperature of 400 to and finally to fabricate its powder. The oxidation rate was increased with increasing temperature and oxidation behavior of the alloy followed a parabolic rate law at elevated temperature. Temperature dependence of the reaction rate was determined with Arrhenius-type equation and activation energy was calculated to be 106.49 kJ/mol. Based on the kinetic data and micro-structure examination, oxidation mechanism was revealed that iron ions and electrons might migrate outward along grain boundaries and oxygen anion diffused inward through a spinel structure, .

Poly(vinylidene chloride) (PVDC)-derived nanoporous carbons were prepared by various activation methods: heat-treatment under an inert atmosphere, steam activation, and potassium hydroxide (KOH) activation at 873, 1073, and 1273 K. The pore structures of PVDC-derived nanoporous carbons were characterized by the N2 adsorption technique at 77 K. Heat treatment in an inert atmosphere increased the specific surface area and micropore volume with elevating temperature, while the average micropore width near 0.65 nm was not significantly changed, reflecting the characteristic pore structure of ultramicroporous carbon. Steam activation for PVDC at 873 and 1073 K also yielded ultramicroporosity. On the other hand, the steam activated sample at 1273 K had a wider average micropore width of 1.48 nm, correlating with a supermicropore. The KOH activation increased the micropore volume with elevating temperature, which is accompanied by enlargement of the average micropore width from 0.67 to 1.12 nm. The average pore widths of KOH-activated samples were strongly governed by the activation temperature. We expect that these approaches can be utilized to simply control the porosity of PVDC-derived nanoporous carbons.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the correlation between the stature and the muscle performance ratings and the subjective discomfort rations at performing lower arm's pronation and supination according to change sin the height of working table for more efficient performance at designing a working table and performing a work. For the purpose, this study conducted an experiment targeting 40 people in their 20s, who were classified into 4 groups each group composing 10 people at intervals of 5cm from the standard stature of 166.5cm. The experiment measured the maximum isometric pronation and the supination muscular power, and at measuring the factors, the heights of working tables were set as 800mm, 850mm, and 900mm. From the measurement results, it was found that the stature and the maximum muscular power was correlated. That is, as the experiment groups's average stature is higher, the maximum muscular power was higher. For the correlation between the motion patterns(pronation and supination) and the maximum muscular power, it was seen that the maximum muscular power was higher at performing the pronation than the supination. In the correlation between motion patterns and the subjective discomfort ratings, it was seen that the subjective discomfort rating was higher at performing the supination than the pronation. For the correlation between height adjustment and the subjective discomfort ratings, as the height of working table was lower, the subject discomfort rating was lower. Therefore there was no difference in the maximum muscular power according to the height changes of working table, but it was found that as the working table was higher, the user felt more comfortable.

This study aims to examine the effects of taping of the ankle joint on the static and dynamic balance and gait ability of stroke patients. Twenty-six stroke patients receiving physical therapy at a hospital located in Gyeonggi-do were divided equally into a group that had taping in physical therapy and an ordinary physical therapy group. They exercised for 30 minutes each, 3 times per week for 8 weeks from June to August 2011. Romberg’s eye open and eye closed tests, limits of stability(LOS), forward and back test, timed up and go test(TUG) and 10-meter gait velocity test were performed to evaluate static balance, dynamic balance, and gait ability, respectively, prior to and 8 weeks after the intervention. Differences within each group in relation to the lapse of time were compared by a paired t-test. Differences between the two groups were compared by an independent t-test. Regarding comparison of differences within each group, all tests resulted in significant changes in both groups after the intervention (p<.05). Comparison of differences between the two groups showed that taping in the physical therapy group had significantly better test results than the ordinary physical therapy group in all measured items(p<.05). The after effects of ankle taping on stroke patients are more efficient and effective than ordinary physical therapy alone in improving balance and gait ability.