The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of upper thoracic mobilization on cervical alignment in stroke patients with forward head posture. The subject's of this study were two stroke patients with forward head posture and a cervical curve angle (four-line Cobb's method; FLCM) less than 40°. The intervention, central posterior-anterior (PA) mobilization, was applied to the T1-T4 vertebrae (upper thoracic spine) following the Maitland concept. This mobilization was applied three times per week for four weeks. In the results, the cervical curve angle (FLCM) increased for both subject 1 and 2. However, Jochumsen method score was decreased in subject 1, while it was increased in subject 2. These results demonstrate that upper thoracic mobilization had the positive effect on the cervical curve angle but not on Jochumsen method score. These findings suggest that PA mobilization on the upper thoracic spine could correct cervical curve angle measured by FLMC in stroke patients with FHP.

In Sri Lanka, the shoulder in asphalt pavements has been constructed using the materials transported from borrow pit in the iRoad Project due to the low quality of in-situ soils. After excavating 150~200mm thick and 500mm wide shoulder area, the borrow pit materials are placed and compacted according to specifications. The excavated in-situ soils are dumped in designated location. It is estimated that this process of shoulder construction is not economical due to high material transportation cost and can also induce the environmental issues by disposal of in-situ soils. It can also cause distresses such as surface rutting and edge drop-off in soft shoulder section due to bearing capacity failure and off-tracking of vehicle. The heavy rainfall in Sri Lanka can induce severe erosion problem when using the soft shoulder. To improve the strength and durability of pavement shoulders in the iRoad Project, the soil stabilization will be a good alternative to solve the above mentioned problems. The use of in-situ soils with addition of soil stabilizer enables to reduce the construction cost of shoulder section and mitigate the environment issues. The objective of this task is to review the application of soil stabilization method for soft shoulder construction in the iRoad Project. Firstly, the quantitative analysis of soil strength improvement due to soil stabilization was done for soil samples collected from iRoad construction sites. Two types of soils were selected from iRoad Project sites and prepared for soil stabilization testing by the Road Development Authority. Secondly, the appropriate stabilizer was selected at given soil type based on test results. Three different stabilizers, ST-1, ST-2, and ST-3, produced in Korea were used for estimating soil strength improvements. Finally, the optimum stabilizer content was determined for improving shoulder performance. The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) test was conducted to evaluate the strength of stabilized soil samples in accordance with ASTM D 1633. The use of bottom ash as a stabilizer produced from power plant in Sri Lanka was also reviewed in this task.

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have been generated from mouse and human somatic cells by etopic expression of transcription factors. iPS cells are indistinguishable from ES cells in terms of morphology and stem cell marker expression. Moreover, mouse iPS cells give rise to chimeric mice that are competent for germline transmission. However, mice derived from iPS cells often develop tumors. Furthermore, the low efficiency of iPS cell generation is a big disadvantage for mechanistic studies. Nonviral plasmid‐based vectors are free of many of the drawbacks that constrain viral vectors. The histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic acid (VPA) has been shown to improve the efficiency of mouse and human iPS cell generation, and vitamin C (Vc) accelerates gene expression changes and establishment of the fully reprogrammed state. The MEK inhibitor PD0325901 (Stemgent) has been shown to increase the efficiency of the reprogramming of human primary fibroblasts into iPS cells. In this report, we described the generation of mouse iPS cells devoid of exogenous DNA by the simple transient transfection of a nonviral vector carrying 2A‐peptide‐linked reprogramming factors. We used VPA, Vc, and the MEK inhibitor PD0325901 to increase the reprogramming efficiency. The reprogrammed somatic cells expressed pluripotency markers and formed EBs.

광나무(L. lucidum)는 ursolic acid와 oleanolic acid를 다량 포함하고 있다. 본 연구에서는 광나무 열매, 줄기, 잎 세 부위 추출물의 항주름 효능을 평가하였다. 광나무 추출물은 human skin fibroblasts에서 독성이 없을 뿐만 아니라 MMP-1과 MMP-2의 발현을 감소시키고 COL1A1의 발현을 증가시켰다. 이들 추출물은 모두 농도 의존적으로 COL1A1의 발현을 증가시켰으며 MMP-1과 MMP-2의 발현을 감소시켰다. 광나무 세 부위 추출물 가운데, 열매 부위에 가장 많은 양의 ursolic acid 와 oleanolic acid가 함유되어 있었으며 가장 강한 COL1A1 upregulating 효과와 MMP-1과 MMP-2 downregulating 효과를 나타냈다. 이처럼 항주름 효능을 보이는 광나무 열매 추출물은 기능성 화장품 소재로 개발될 수 있는 가능성이 있다.

The reproductive life-history of molluscs can be divided into gonochorism and hermaphroditism, while hermaphroditism is further classified into simultaneous (synchronous or functional) and sequential (asynchronous) (Heller 1993 Gosling 2004). Approximately 40% of the 5600 mollusc genera are either simultaneous or sequential hermaphrodites. Hermaphroditism occurs in 100% of the Solenogastres, 99% of the Opisthobranchia, 100% of the Pulmonata, 3% of the Prosobranchia and 9% of the Bivalvia. Simultaneous hermaphroditism is the simultaneous release of eggs and sperm by one organism during the same season. Sequential hermaphroditism is the function of an organism first as one sex, then as another (Heller 1993). This study investigated the sex of Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum by verifying changes in sex ratio (F:M) with size and sex reversal stages. Adult one-year-old (11 months; SL 36.75±3.0 mm) R. philippinarum were used for sex reversal identification. Each individual was tagged on its shell prior to being reared in the wild for reproductive analysis, and sex was confirmed using the germ cell aspiration (GCA) method. Sex ratio (F:M) at the commencement of the study (June 2009) was 1:1.23, but changed to 1:0.87 by the end (July 2010). Overall sex reversal rate was 19.0%. Specifically, male to female sex reversal ratio was 21.05%, which was higher than the female to male sex reversal ratio of 12.9%. Based on our results, R. philippinarum has been confirmed to possess a sequentially hermaphroditic life-history.