Poster Session II, July 14th 2010 — Abstracts A study on improving performance in vertical jump motion considering bi-articular muscle function

AbstractThe analysis and clarification of human physical properties in sport and welfare engineering is vital, and the results of these types of studies will contribute to the improvement of physical abilities, the prevention of sports injuries, and the rehabilitation of physical defects.The purpose of this study is to estimate muscle power of lower limbs during vertical jump motion using human musculoskeletal model considering bi-articular muscle function and to evaluate the effect of the muscle power to the jump performance.The musculoskeletal model used in this study includes both antagonistic muscle and bi-articular muscle. Antagonistic muscle is a muscle generates bending and stretching motions with one joint. Bi-articular muscle is a muscle, which attaches at two joints, generates motion with two joints. The property of bi-articular muscle makes a great variety of human motions.In this study, vertical jump motions performed by 5 subjects, who are athletes of our university, are analyzed.Jump performance will be improved to modify output force direction and amplitude generated by muscles of lower limbs. The subjects, whose output force directions were not good for the jump posture, can improve their jump performance by modifying their jump postures. The subjects, whose output force directions were good for the jump posture, can improve their jump performance by training their mono-articular muscles locating on knee joint.Thus, the additional technical advice can be made based on the muscle function beside of the investigation of joint angle, joint force and torque

Solid Phase Biosensors for Arsenic or Cadmium Composed of A trans Factor and cis Element Complex

The presence of toxic metals in drinking water has hazardous effects on human health. This study was conducted to develop GFP-based-metal-binding biosensors for on-site assay of toxic metal ions. GFP-tagged ArsR and CadC proteins bound to a cis element, and lost the capability of binding to it in their As- and Cd-binding conformational states, respectively. Water samples containing toxic metals were incubated on a complex of GFP-tagged ArsR or CadC and cis element which was immobilized on a solid surface. Metal concentrations were quantified with fluorescence intensity of the metal-binding states released from the cis element. Fluorescence intensity obtained with the assay significantly increased with increasing concentrations of toxic metals. Detection limits of 1 μg/L for Cd(II) and 5 μg/L for As(III) in purified water and 10 µg/L for Cd(II) and As(III) in tap water and bottled mineral water were achieved by measurement with a battery-powered portable fluorometer after 15-min and 30-min incubation, respectively. A complex of freeze dried GFP-tagged ArsR or CadC binding to cis element was stable at 4 °C and responded to 5 μg/L As(III) or Cd(II). The solid phase biosensors are sensitive, less time-consuming, portable, and could offer a protocol for on-site evaluation of the toxic metals in drinking water

ESTIMATION OF GROUND REACTION FORCES DURING WALKING

One way to calculate net forces utilizes the Newton-Euler equations where the human body is assumed to consist of solid elements. However, previous research only applied them to open-loop motion in which both legs are off the ground or only one leg is on the ground. It has been problematic to analyse closed-loop motions such as walking in which both feet are on the ground. This study suggested a way to calculate net forces throughout a walking cycle. Furthermore, one walking trial of each subject (3 in total) was conducted to validate with the proposed methods. This study showed that the correlations between force plates and calculated GRF were strong, in particular for the z axis, in the left limb ranged from 0.92 to 0.99, in the right limb from 0.99 to 0.98. Thus, the proposed method was considered to successfully calculate the net forces during walking

Effect of vasodilators in patient with pulmonary hypertension associated with hemolytic anemia

AbstractPulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) has been described to associate with hemolytic anemia in updated clinical classification of pulmonary hypertension. A 56-year-old woman, diagnosed with warm antibody autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), was treated with oral corticosteroids at the Department of Hematology, Osaka University Hospital for 30 years. Her AIHA worsened 3 months before the admission, and she was treated with rituximab and cyclosporine in combination with prednisolone. Soon after she left the hospital, she developed dyspnea on effort and leg edema, therefore she was re-admitted to the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine. Echocardiogram and cardiac catheterization demonstrated PAH associated with AIHA. She was treated with three types of vasodilatory agents, resulting in an improvement in pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance after 6 weeks. A few weeks after she left the hospital, her hemolytic anemia became in remission without intensifying AIHA therapy, and did not worsen for a year of follow-up. Although corticosteroids are the first-line treatment for AIHA, medications for PAH should be considered when the first-line therapy for AIHA failed to improve PAH

Association of paraoxonase 1 gene polymorphism with Intima-Media Thickness (IMT) of the carotid arteries in japanese type 2 diabetic patients

Purpose: We investigated the association between paraoxonase 1 (PON1)-192 genotypes and intimamedia thickness (IMT) of carotid arteries in diabetic patients. Methods: One hundred and fifty-five Japanese type 2 diabetic patients aged from 40 to 79 years were enrolled in this study. Genotypes of the patients were determined using the PCR-RFLP method. The IMT of carotid arteries of the subjects was measured by ultrasound imaging. Results: The PON1 genotypes frequencies were as follows: 18QQ (0.116), 70QR (0.452) and 67RR (0.432). IMT values of the RR group were significantly greater (1.08±0.41 mm, n=67) than those of the Q group, which consisted of patients carrying one or two Q alleles (0.95±0.27 mm, n=88, P=0.023). There were no significant difference in the clinical characteristics between the two groups. Conclusion: The results indicate that the PON1-192RR genotype is associated with intima media thickening of the carotid arteries in diabetic patients

Population Abundance of Potentially Pathogenic Organisms in Intestinal Microbiome of Jungle Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos) Shown with 16S rRNA Gene-Based Microbial Community Analysis

Jungle Crows (Corvus macrorhynchos) prefer human habitats because of their versatility in feeding accompanied with human food consumption. Therefore, it is important from a public health viewpoint to characterize their intestinal microbiota. However, no studies have been involved in molecular characterization of the microbiota based on huge and reliable number of data acquisition. In this study, 16S rRNA gene-based microbial community analysis coupled with the next-generation DNA sequencing techniques was applied to the taxonomic classification of intestinal microbiome for three jungle crows. Clustering of the reads into 130 operational taxonomic units showed that at least 70% of analyzed sequences for each crow were highly homologous to Eimeria sp., which belongs to the protozoan phylum Apicomplexa. The microbiotas of three crows also contained potentially pathogenic bacteria with significant percentages, such as the genera Campylobacter and Brachyspira. Thus, the profiling of a large number of 16S rRNA gene sequences in crow intestinal microbiomes revealed the high-frequency existence or vestige of potentially pathogenic microorganisms