The objective of this study was to investigate the dynamic neural mobilization program on the changes in muscle activity and nerve conduction velocity (NVC) in stroke patients. The participants were sampled and randomly divided into experimental group I (n=12) who underwent arm neural mobilization and experimental group II (n=13) who underwent arm dynamic neural mobilization. As the pretest, peripheral NVC of the radial, median, and ulnar nerves were measured using the Viking Quest; the biceps brachii, brachioradialis, flexor carpi radialis, and extensor carpi radialis activities were measured with sEMG. Each intervention program consisted of 10 trials per set and three sets per session. The intervention programs were performed once daily for four weeks (four days/week). Posttest measurements were taken equally as the pretest measurements. Significant differences in peripheral NVC in all sections of the radial and median nerves and wristbelow elbow and below elbow-above elbow areas of the ulnar nerve, as well as in muscle activity of all muscles except the biceps brachii. These findings indicate that dynamic neural mobilization was effective in increasing peripheral NVC and altering the muscle activity.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are promising cell source because of their unique self-renewal and pluripotency. Although hESC-derived cardiac cells are currently generated worldwide, cryopreservation of these cells is still limited due to low rate of post-thaw survival. Cryopreservation of hESC-derived cardiac cells is critical in that their long-term storage can accelerate their use in regenerative medicine. However, to date, there are few reports on efficient cryopreservation and post-thaw survival of hESC-derived cardiac cells. In this study, we evaluated the effects of ginsenoside, which is known to improve survival of rat embryonic cardiomyocytes against myocardial ischemia injury in diabetic rats (Wu et al., 2011), on the survival of hESC-derived cardiac cells after thawing. We induced differentiation into cardiac cells using our previously reported method (Kim et al., 2011). Differentiated, pre-beating stage cardiac cells were cryopreserved using either mass cryopreservation or vitrification. To evaluate the effects of ginsenoside (Re, Rb), we compared three sets: pre- and post-thaw treatment, pre- or post-thaw treatment only. The survival of post-thaw cardiac cells were evaluated using Trypan-blue and Annexin V staining. In addition, the three groups were treated with ROCK inhibitor Y-27632, and compared with non-treatment groups. The effect of ginsenoside was significant in post-thaw treatment group, i.e, thawed cells expressed cardiac specific genes and showed specific functionality such as spontaneous beating. Taken together, we demonstrated favorable effects of ginsenoside on the survival of hESC-derived cardiac cells after cryopreservation and thawing. These results suggest a possible application of well-known cardioprotectant ginsenoside in cell-based tissue engineering using hESC-derived cardiac cells.

“Undoobyeo” is a japonica rice cultivar (Oryza sativa L.) developed by the rice breeding team in the National Crop Experiment Station, RDA, Suwon, Korea in 1998. Undoobyeo was derived from a cross between Odaebyeo and Jinbu 13 made during 1989/'90 winter

Korean Rice Breeding Information Management System (KRBIMS) is a database and its management system that provides integrated management of the information on rice breeding generation from the crossing parents to the released varieties. It is also a decisi