Human foot force informs balance control strategies when standing on a narrow beam.

Despite the abundance of studies on the control of standing balance, insights about the roles of biomechanics and neural control have been limited. Previous work introduced an analysis combining the direction and orientation of foot-ground forces. The "intersection point" of the lines of actions of these forces exhibited a consistent pattern across healthy, young subjects when computed for different frequency components of the center of pressure signal.

An Alternative Method of Assessing d/DHH Secondary-School Students' L2 Language Development.

Little information is available on d/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/DHH) learners' L2 development. Their limited auditory access may discourage them from taking standardized tests, highlighting the need for alternative ways of assessing their L2 development and proficiency. Therefore, this study suggests adopting processability theory, which demonstrates a universal order of L2 development.

Enhancement of preimplantation mouse embryo development with optimized in vitro culture dish via stabilization of medium osmolarity.

Objective: We evaluated the efficacy of the newly developed optimized in vitro culture (OIVC) dish for cultivating preimplantation mouse embryos. This dish minimizes the need for mineral oil and incorporates microwells, providing a stable culture environment and enabling independent monitoring of individual embryos.

Methods: Mouse pronuclear (PN) zygotes and two-cell-stage embryos were collected at 18 and 46 hours after human chorionic gonadotropin injection, respectively.

Mechanical effects of canes on standing posture: beyond perceptual information.

Background: Numerous studies showed that postural balance improves through light touch on a stable surface highlighting the importance of haptic information, seemingly downplaying the mechanical contributions of the support. The present study examined the mechanical effects of canes for assisting balance in healthy individuals challenged by standing on a beam.

Methods: Sixteen participants supported themselves with two canes, one in each hand, and applied minimal, preferred, or maximum force onto the canes.

Gait Entrainment to Torque Pulses From a Hip Exoskeleton Robot.

Robot-aided locomotor rehabilitation has proven challenging. To facilitate progress, it is important to first understand the neuro-mechanical dynamics and control of unimpaired human locomotion. Our previous studies found that human gait entrained to periodic torque pulses at the ankle when the pulse period was close to preferred stride duration.

Reliability and Validity of the Subjective Cognitive Complaints Questionnaire for Parkinson's Disease (SCCQ-PD).

Background And Purpose: Subjective cognitive complaints (SCCs) are gaining attention as a self-perceived symptom for cognitive impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), but there are few suitable tools for assessing SCCs in PD. This study aimed to develop and validate a questionnaire for assessing SCCs in PD, called the Subjective Cognitive Complaints Questionnaire for Parkinson's Disease (SCCQ-PD).

Methods: The SCCQ-PD consists of 12 yes/no questions on subjective cognitive function, and the questionnaire was completed by patients with PD (score-P) and their caregivers (score-C).

Role of mTORC1 activity during early retinal development and lamination in human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived retinal organoids.

Retinal organoids derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) are powerful tools for studying retinal development as they model spatial and temporal differentiation of retinal cell types. Vertebrate retinal development involves a delicate and coordinated process of retinal progenitor cell (RPC) differentiation, and the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) has been reported to play a significant role in this complex process. Herein, using hiPSC-derived retinal organoids, we identify the time-dependent role of mTORC1 in retinal development, specifically in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) differentiation and the retinal lamination process, during the early stages of retinal organoid (RO) development.

Applying Hip Stiffness With an Exoskeleton to Compensate Gait Kinematics.

Neurological disorders and aging induce impaired gait kinematics. Despite recent advances, effective methods using lower-limb exoskeleton robots to restore gait kinematics are as yet limited. In this study, applying virtual stiffness using a hip exoskeleton was investigated as a possible method to guide users to change their gait kinematics.

Association between sleep disturbance and occupational injury among Korean employees.

Background: Occupational injury has been a serious social problem steadily. Sleep disturbance is a risk factor for occupational injury. However, there were few researches studied on the linking between sleep disturbance and occupational injury in general working population of Korea.

Frequency-dependent force direction elucidates neural control of balance.

Background: Maintaining upright posture is an unstable task that requires sophisticated neuro-muscular control. Humans use foot-ground interaction forces, characterized by point of application, magnitude, and direction to manage body accelerations. When analyzing the directions of the ground reaction forces of standing humans in the frequency domain, previous work found a consistent pattern in different frequency bands.

Identifying human postural dynamics and control from unperturbed balance.

Background: Upright standing requires control of an inherently unstable multi-joint human body within a small base of support, despite biological motor and / or sensory noise which challenge balance. Without applying perturbations, system identification methods have been regarded as inadequate, because the relevant internal biological noise processes are not accessible to direct measurement. As a result, unperturbed balance studies have been limited to investigation of behavioral patterns rather than possible underlying control strategies.

What's new on EEG monitoring in the ICU.

Continuous video-EEG (cEEG, lasting hours to several days) is increasingly used in ICU patients, as it is more sensitive than routine video-EEG (rEEG, lasting 20-30 min) to detect seizures or status epilepticus, and allows more frequent changes in therapeutic regimens. However, cEEG is more resource-consuming, and its relationship to outcome compared to repeated rEEG has only been formally assessed very recently in a randomized controlled trial, which did not show any significant difference in terms of long-term mortality or functional outcome. Awaiting more refined trials, it seems therefore that using repeated rEEG in ICU patients may represent a reasonable alternative in resource-limited settings.

Association between employment status and sickness presenteeism among Korean employees: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Sickness presenteeism (SP) indicates "going to work while being ill." The importance of SP has only recently been investigated, and the association between SP and employment status has been inconsistent across studies. Therefore, we conducted this study to explore the association between SP and employment status by using presenteeism propensity (PP), which can reflect the individual decision-making process.

High-Speed 3D Printing of Millimeter-Size Customized Aspheric Imaging Lenses with Sub 7 nm Surface Roughness.

Advancements in three-dimensional (3D) printing technology have the potential to transform the manufacture of customized optical elements, which today relies heavily on time-consuming and costly polishing and grinding processes. However the inherent speed-accuracy trade-off seriously constrains the practical applications of 3D-printing technology in the optical realm. In addressing this issue, here, a new method featuring a significantly faster fabrication speed, at 24.

Postresection Outcomes of Combined Hepatocellular Carcinoma-Cholangiocarcinoma, Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma.

Introduction: Combined hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma (cHCC-CC) is rare. This study investigated the clinicopathological features of cHCC-CC and compared the postresection survival outcomes of cHCC-CC, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHC).

Methods: Between January 2000 and September 2012, 53 patients with cHCC-CC underwent tumor resection, accounting for 1.

Negative regulation of the novel norpA(P24) suppressor, diehard4, in the endo-lysosomal trafficking underlies photoreceptor cell degeneration.

Rhodopsin has been used as a prototype system to investigate G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) internalization and endocytic sorting mechanisms. Failure of rhodopsin recycling upon light activation results in various degenerative retinal diseases. Accumulation of internalized rhodopsin in late endosomes and the impairment of its lysosomal degradation are associated with unregulated cell death that occurs in dystrophies.

Multifunctional epidermal electronics printed directly onto the skin.

Materials and designs are presented for electronics and sensors that can be conformally and robustly integrated onto the surface of the skin. A multifunctional device of this type can record various physiological signals relevant to health and wellness. This class of technology offers capabilities in biocompatible, non-invasive measurement that lie beyond those available with conventional, point-contact electrode interfaces to the skin.

Role of type II protein arginine methyltransferase 5 in the regulation of Circadian Per1 gene.

Circadian clocks are the endogenous oscillators that regulate rhythmic physiological and behavioral changes to correspond to daily light-dark cycles. Molecular dissections have revealed that transcriptional feedback loops of the circadian clock genes drive the molecular oscillation, in which PER/CRY complexes inhibit the transcriptional activity of the CLOCK/BMAL1 heterodimer to constitute a negative feedback loop. In this study, we identified the type II protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) as an interacting molecule of CRY1.

Drosophila arf72A acts as an essential regulator of endoplasmic reticulum quality control and suppresses autosomal-dominant retinopathy.

The eukaryotic endoplasmic reticulum operates multiple quality control mechanisms to ensure that only properly folded proteins are exported to their final destinations via the secretory pathway and those that are not are destroyed via the degradation pathway. However, molecular mechanisms underlying such regulated exportation to these distinct routes are unknown. In this article, we report the role of Drosophila arf72A--the fly homologue of the mammalian Arl1 - in the quality checks of proteins and in the autosomal-dominant retinopathy.

A tunable biquad switched-capacitor amplifier-filter for neural recording.

With the emerging interest in local field potentials (LFPs) as input signals for brain-machine interfaces, there is a need for integrated circuits capable of amplifying spikes and LFPs. A two-stage complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) amplifier-filter has been implemented with 0.18-μm CMOS for simultaneous, multimodal recording of extracellular unit spikes and LFPs.

Spatiotemporal regulation of fibroblast growth factor signal blocking for endoderm formation in Xenopus laevis.

We have previously shown that the inhibition of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling induced endodermal gene expression in the animal cap and caused the expansion of the endodermal mass in Xenopus embryos. However, we still do not know whether or not the alteration of FGF signaling controls embryonic cell fate, or when FGF signal blocking is required for endoderm formation in Xenopus. Here, we show that FGF signal blocking in embryonic cells causes their descendants to move into the endodermal region and to express endodermal genes.

The cis-regulatory logic of the mammalian photoreceptor transcriptional network.

The photoreceptor cells of the retina are subject to a greater number of genetic diseases than any other cell type in the human body. The majority of more than 120 cloned human blindness genes are highly expressed in photoreceptors. In order to establish an integrative framework in which to understand these diseases, we have undertaken an experimental and computational analysis of the network controlled by the mammalian photoreceptor transcription factors, Crx, Nrl, and Nr2e3.

Platelet-agglutinating protein p37 from a patient with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura has characteristics similar to prethrombin 2.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is characterized by widespread platelet thrombi in arterioles and capillaries. Unusually large or multimeric von Willebrand factor, as well as one or more platelet-agglutinating factors, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of TTP. But, the actual mechanisms of platelet agglutination have not been satisfactorily explained.