The Use of Task-based Cognitive Tests for Defining Vocational Aptness of Individuals with Disabilities

AbstractObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to demonstrate the use of task-based cognitive tests to detect potential problems in the assessment of work training for vocational rehabilitation.MethodsEleven participants with a normal range of cognitive functioning scores were recruited for this study. Participants were all trainees who participated in a vocational training program. The Rey Complex Figure Test and the Allen Cognitive Level Screen were randomly administered to all participants. Responses to the tests were qualitatively analyzed with matrix and scatter charts.ResultsObservational outcomes derived from the tests indicated that response errors, distortions, and behavioral problems occurred in most participants. These factors may impede occupational performance despite normal cognitive function. These findings suggest that the use of task-based tests may be beneficial for detecting potential problems associated with the work performance of people with disabilities.ConclusionSpecific analysis using the task-based tests may be necessary to complete the decision-making process for vocational aptness. Furthermore, testing should be led by professionals with a higher specialization in this field

A study of Korean shipbuilders' strategy for sustainable growth

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-96).This paper aims to develop potential strategies for Korean shipbuilders for sustainable growth by understanding the characteristics of the shipbuilding industry and the current market situation. Before the financial meltdown in 2008, in the five preceding years, the healthy global economy and the rapid growth of the Chinese economy led to 35% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in shipbuilding orders. Korean shipbuilders' sales and profits increased dramatically and they invested aggressively to meet the global demand. However, because of the financial crisis, the shipbuilding orders in 2009 decreased by 92% compared to 2007. Accordingly, the decrease in new orders will become a serious risk for Korean shipbuilders to manage because it will cause loss of economies of scale and cash deficit, at the same time. Historically, it is true that the profits of Korean shipbuilders generally mirrored the volume of global seaborne trade, which is ultimately driven by global GDP growth. However, even though the world growth rate, as predicted by OECD, turns positive in 2010, the drastic shrinkage in the shipbuilding demand may not easily recover because of oversupply of fleet volume. In this thesis, I will address current status of the shipbuilding market, project a market forecast, and analyze financial information of four major Korean shipbuilders. Considering the current market situation and financial status of Korean shipbuilders, I will suggest for Korean shipbuilders some potential business strategies as follows: focusing on offshore units, exploiting new market demand, and considering business diversification.by Duck Hee Won.S.M

Coprinus comatus Cap Inhibits Adipocyte Differentiation via Regulation of PPARγ and Akt Signaling Pathway

This study assessed the effects of Coprinus comatus cap (CCC) on adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and the effects of CCC on the development of diet-induced obesity in rats. Here, we showed that the CCC has an inhibitory effect on the adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells, resulting in a significant decrease in lipid accumulation through the downregulation of several adipocyte specific-transcription factors, including CCAAT/enhancer binding protein β, C/EBPδ, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). Moreover, treatment with CCC during adipocyte differentiation induced a significant down-regulation of PPARγ and adipogenic target genes, including adipocyte protein 2, lipoprotein lipase, and adiponectin. Interestingly, the CCC treatment of the 3T3-L1 adipocytes suppressed the insulin-stimulated Akt and GSK3β phosphorylation, and these effects were stronger in the presence of an inhibitor of Akt phosphorylation, LY294002, suggesting that CCC inhibited adipocyte differentiation through the down-regulation of Akt signaling. In the animal study, CCC administration significantly reduced the body weight and adipose tissue weight of rats fed a high fat diet (HFD) and attenuated lipid accumulation in the adipose tissues of the HFD-induced obese rats. The size of the adipocyte in the epididymal fat of the CCC fed rats was significantly smaller than in the HFD rats. CCC treatment significantly reduced the total cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the serum of HFD rats. These results strongly indicated that the CCC-mediated decrease in body weight was due to a reduction in adipose tissue mass. The expression level of PPARγ and phospho-Akt was significantly lower in the CCC-treated HFD rats than that in the HFD obesity rats. These results suggested that CCC inhibited adipocyte differentiation by the down-regulation of major transcription factor involved in the adipogenesis pathway including PPARγ through the regulation of the Akt pathway in 3T3-L1 cells and HFD adipose tissue

Annual Wormwood Leaf Inhibits the Adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 and Obesity in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Rats

Annual wormwood (AW) (Artemisia annua L.) has anti-malarial, anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, anti-tumour, and anti-inflammatory activities. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of annual wormwood leaves (AWL) on adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells and high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats. 3T3-L1 adipocytes and HFD-induced obese rats were treated with AWL, and its effect on gene expression was analyzed using RT-PCR and Western blotting experiments. Treatment with AWL effectively prevented triglyceride accumulation during adipogenesis in a dose-dependent manner. Consistently, AWL suppressed the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes into adipocytes through the downregulation of dexamethasone, 3-isobutyl-1- methylxanthine, and insulin (DMI)-induced serine/threonine kinase protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) activation and the expression of adipogenic genes, including the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-alpha (C/EBPalpha) and peroximal proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma). Moreover, the expression of adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein 4 (aP2), which is a known PPARgamma-target gene, was downregulated by AWL treatment. Oral administration of AWL extracts significantly decreased the body weight gain, adipose tissue mass, adipocyte cell size, serum triglyceride (TG), and total cholesterol (TC) levels in HFD-induced obese rats. These results provide novel insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-obesity effects of AWL that are mediated by the downregulation of the expression of major adipogenic transcription factors, C/EBPalpha and PPARgamma and Akt signalling

Serum high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) is closely associated with the clinical and pathologic features of gastric cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) is a newly recognized factor regulating cancer cell tumorigenesis, expansion and invasion. We investigated the correlation between the serum HMGB1 levels and the clinical and pathologic features of gastric cancer and evaluated the validity of HMGB1 as a potential biomarker for the early diagnosis of gastric cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 227 subjects were classified into 5 disease groups according to the 'gastritis-dysplasia-carcinoma' sequence of gastric carcinogenesis and their serum levels of HMGB1 were analyzed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Clinical parameters, International Union Against Cancer (UICC) TNM stage, cancer size, differentiation or lymphatic invasion, vascular or perineural invasion and prognosis were used as analysis variables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The serum HMGB1 levels were significantly different among disease groups (ANOVA, <it>p < 0.05</it>) and HMGB1 levels tended to increase according to the progression of gastric carcinogenesis. Serum HMGB1 levels were significantly associated with depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, tumor size, and poor prognosis (<it>p < 0.05</it>). However, HMGB1 levels were not associated with patient gender or age, differentiation of tumor cells, or lymphatic, vascular and perineural invasion, or the existence of distant metastasis in advanced cancer (<it>p > 0.05</it>). The sensitivity and specificity of serum HMGB1 was 71% and 67% (cut-off value of 5 ng/ml) for the diagnosis of early gastric cancer, and 70% and 64% (cut-off value of 4 ng/ml) for the diagnosis of high-risk lesions, respectively. These values were greater than those for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (30–40% of sensitivity).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>HMGB1 appears to be a useful serological biomarker for early diagnosis as well as evaluating the tumorigenesis, stage, and prognosis of gastric cancer.</p

The in vitro and in vivo efficacy of hen IgY against Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus.

This research article published by J. Microbiol. Biotechnol, 2012The inhibitory effect of IgY against Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus responsible for seafood-borne diseases was investigated in this study. Water-soluble fractions (WSF) of protein containing IgYs were isolated from the egg yolk of hens initially immunized with formalin inactivated V. parahaemolyticus or V. vulnificus. Protein, total and specific IgY contents of the WSF were determined. The inhibitory and protective effects of IgYs on the growth of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus were assayed in liquid medium and in mice. IgYs showed high affinity to their corresponding antigens with high titer from day 28 onwards. Protein contents and total IgY concentrations remained stable throughout the immunization period, whereas specific IgY concentrations increased steadily and reached a plateau at day 49. Specific IgY powder (150 mg/ml) significantly inhibited further multiplication of both V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus in liquid medium as compared with the control IgY. The bacteria count in mice feces was lower in mice pretreated with specific IgYs than in those pretreated with PBS or control IgY. Higher survival of mice was observed in the experimental groups pretreated with either anti-V. parahaemolyticus (75% survival) or anti-V. vulnificus (87% survival) IgYs, compared with those in the control groups pretreated with PBS or nonspecific IgY. All mice in the control groups died within three days after bacteria inoculation; hence, the protective effect of specific IgYs against infection caused by V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus was demonstrated

Production of mouse anti-quail IgY and subsequent labeling with horseradish peroxidase using cyanuric chloride.

This research article published by J. Microbiol. Biotechnol, 2013Polyclonal antibodies labeled with a tracer have been commonly used as secondary antibodies in immunochemical assays to quantify the concentration of antibody-antigen complexes. The majority of these antibodies conjugated with a tracer are commercially available, with the exception of few untouched targets. This study focused on the production and application of mouse anti-quail IgY as an intermediate antibody to link between quail egg yolk IgY and goat anti-mouse IgG-HRP as primary and secondary antibodies, respectively. Subsequently, the produced mouse anti-quail IgY was labeled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and its efficiency on enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was compared with that of commercial rabbit anti-chicken IgY-HRP. As an intermediate antibody, mouse anti-quail IgY was successfully produced with good affinity and sensitivity (1:10,000) to the primary and secondary antibodies. Subsequently, mouse anti-quail IgY was effectively conjugated with HRP enzyme, resulting in a secondary antibody with good sensitivity (1:10,000) to quail anti-V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus IgY. The detection limit was 10(5) CFU/ml for both V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus. The efficiency of the produced conjugate to detect quail IgY on ELISA was comparable to that of the commercial rabbit anti-chicken IgY-HRP, and hence the produced and labeled mouse anti-quail IgY-HRP can be used as a secondary antibody to detect any antibody produced in quail

Maysin and Its Flavonoid Derivative from Centipedegrass Attenuates Amyloid Plaques by Inducting Humoral Immune Response with Th2 Skewed Cytokine Response in the Tg (APPswe, PS1dE9) Alzheimer\u27s Mouse Model

Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) is a slow, progressive neurodegenerative disease and the most common type of dementia in the elderly. The etiology of AD and its underlying mechanism are still not clear. In a previous study, we found that an ethyl acetate extract of Centipedegrass (CG) (i.e., EA-CG) contained 4 types of Maysin derivatives, including Luteolin, Isoorientin, Rhamnosylisoorientin, and Derhamnosylmaysin, and showed protective effects against Amyloid beta (Aβ) by inhibiting oligomeric Aβ in cellular and in vitro models. Here, we examined the preventative effects of EA-CG treatment on the Aβ burden in the Tg (Mo/Hu APPswe PS1dE9) AD mouse model. We have investigated the EA-CG efficacy as novel anti-AD likely preventing amyloid plaques using immunofluorescence staining to visually analyze Aβ40/42 and fibril formation with Thioflavin-S or 6E10 which are the profile of immunoreactivity against epitope Aβ1-16 or neuritic plaque, the quantitation of humoral immune response against Aβ, and the inflammatory cytokine responses (Th1 and Th2) using ELISA and QRT-PCR. To minimize the toxicity of the extracted CG, we addressed the liver toxicity in response to the CG extract treatment in Tg mice using relevant markers, such as aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/ alanine aminotransferase (ALT) measurements in serum. The EA-CG extract significantly reduced the Aβ burden, the concentration of soluble Aβ40/42 protein, and fibril formation in the hippocampus and cortex of the Tg mice treated with EA-CG (50 mg/kg BW/day) for 6 months compared with the Tg mice treated with a normal diet. Additionally, the profile of anti-inflammatory cytokines revealed that the levels of Th2 (interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-10 (IL-10)) cytokines are more significantly increased than Th1 (interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-2(IL-2)) in the sera. These results suggest that the EA-CG fraction induces IL-4/IL-10-dependent anti-inflammatory cytokines (Th2) rather than pro-inflammatory cytokines (Th1), which are driven by IL-2/IFN-γ. With regard to the immune response, EA-CG induced an immunoglobulin IgG and IgM response against the EA-CG treatment in the Tg mice. Furthermore, EA-CG significantly ameliorated the level of soluble Aβ42 and Aβ40. Similarly, we observed that the fibril formation was also decreased by EA-CG treatment in the hippocampus and cortex after quantitative analysis with Thioflavin-S staining in the Tg brain tissues. Taken together, our findings suggested that Maysin and its derivative flavonoid compounds in the EA-CG fraction might be beneficial therapeutic treatments or alternative preventative measures to adjuvant for boosting humoral and cellular include immune response and anti-inflammation which may lead to amyloid plaque accumulation in Alzheimer\u27s patients\u27 brains

Atrophic Gastritis: A Related Factor for Osteoporosis in Elderly Women

Purpose Osteoporosis poses a great threat to the aging society. Hypochlorhydric or achlorhydric conditions are risk factors for osteoporosis. Atrophic gastritis also decreases gastric acid production; however, the role of atrophic gastritis as a related factor for osteoporosis is unclear. We investigated the relationship between atrophic gastritis and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women over 60 years of age. Subjects and Methods A total of 401 postmenopausal women were included in this cross-sectional study, which was conducted during their medical check-ups. Bone mineral densitometry was measured using a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Atrophic gastritis was defined endoscopically if gastric mucosa in the antrum and the body were found to be atrophied and thinned and submucosal vessels could be well visualized. Results: The proportion of people with atrophic gastritis was higher in the osteoporotic group than in the group without osteoporosis. A linear relationship was observed in the proportion of atrophic gastritis according to the categories of normal, osteopenia, and osteoporosis at the lumbar spine (p for trend = 0.039) and femur (p for trend = 0.001). A multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the presence of atrophic gastritis was associated with an increased odds of osteoporosis after adjusting for age, body mass index, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, alcohol consumption, and smoking status (odds ratio 1.89, 95% confidence interval 1.15–3.11). Conclusions: Atrophic gastritis is associated with an increased likelihood of osteoporosis in Korean elderly women