Electromyographic Discrepancy in Paravertebral Muscle Activity Predicts Early Curve Progression of Untreated Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis

Fan Yunli,To Michael Kai-Tsun,Yeung Eric Hiu Kwong,Kuang Guan-Ming,Liang Ruixin,Cheung Jason Pui Yin 대한척추외과학회 2023 Asian Spine Journal Vol.17 No.5

Study Design: This study adopted a prospective cohort study design.Purpose: This study aimed to examine electromyogram (EMG) discrepancy in paravertebral muscle activity and scoliosis progression, determine how vertebral morphology and EMG discrepancy evolve during scoliosis progression, and identify differences in EMG activity between individuals with and without adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).Overview of Literature: Higher EMG activity is observed in the convex side of scoliotic curves, but not in populations without scoliosis, suggesting that higher EMG activity is a causative factor for curve progression.Methods: In this study, 267 matched pairs of AIS and controls were recruited. The participants underwent EMG measurements at their first presentation and did not receive any treatment for 6 months at which point they underwent EMG and radiographs. Early curve progression was defined as >5° in Cobb angle at 6 months. The root mean square of the EMG (rms-EMG) signal was recorded with the participants in sitting and back extension. The rms-EMG ratio at the upper end vertebrae, apical vertebrae (AV), and lower end vertebrae (LEV) of the major curve was calculated.Results: The rms-EMG ratio in the scoliosis cohort was high compared with that in the controls (sitting: 1.2±0.3 vs. 1.0±0.1, <i>p</i><0.01; back extension: 1.1±0.2 vs. 1.0±0.1, <i>p</i><0.01). An AV rms-EMG ratio in back extension, with a cutoff threshold of ≥1.5 in the major thoracic curve and ≥1.3 in the major lumbar curve, was a risk factor for early curve progression after 6 months without treatment (odds ratio, 4.1; 95% confidence interval, 2.8–5.9; <i>p</i><0.01). Increases in side deviation (SD) (distance between the AV and the central sacral line) were related to a higher rms-EMG ratio in LEV of the major thoracic curve (baseline: <i>r_s</i>=0.2, <i>p</i>=0.03; 6 months: <i>r_s</i>=0.3, <i>p</i><0.01).Conclusions: An EMG discrepancy was detected in the scoliosis cohort, which was related to increases in SD in the major thoracic curve. The AV rms-EMG ratio in back extension was correlated with curve progression after 6 months of no treatment.

Letter regarding “Hepatitis B core-related antigen dynamics and risk of subsequent clinical relapses after nucleos(t)ide analog cessation”

Yun-Fan Liaw 대한간학회 2024 Clinical and Molecular Hepatology(대한간학회지) Vol.30 No.2

Comparisons of Age Hardening and Precipitation Behavior in 7075 Alloy Under Single and Double-Stage Aging Treatments

Yun Fan,Xuan Tang,Shaohan Wang,Bin Chen 대한금속·재료학회 2021 METALS AND MATERIALS International Vol.27 No.10

Various sets of heat treatments are applied on 7075 alloy in this study in order to reduce the treatment time and yet stillachieve the similar mechanical property as the traditional T6 tempered alloy. The main parameters like solid solution treatmenttime, single aging temperature, as well as first aging duration in double aging treatment, first aging temperature andsecond aging temperature are studied and valued by hardness test. The double aging treatment at 125 °C for 60 min andthen at 165 °C for 130 min is compared with traditional single aging treatment by using advanced Cs-corrected high-angleannular dark field scanning-transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM). The precipitates and dispersoids found inthose two corresponding samples are mainly Cr-containing large dispersoids, a few η particles and large quantity of fineprecipitates like η′. The similarity of precipitates in them can well support the approximate hardness level of the doubleaged and single aged samples.

Treatment of Immunocompetent Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection : Basis , Opportunities and Challenges

(Yun Fan Liaw) 대한간학회 2001 Clinical and Molecular Hepatology(대한간학회지) Vol.7 No.2(S)

Improving Sub-seasonal Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks with Deep Learning

Yun Fan,Vladimir Krasnoplsky,Li Xu,Jon Gottschalck 한국기상학회 2022 한국기상학회 학술대회 논문집 Vol.2022 No.10

향기제품에 대한 심리적, 기능적 추구혜택이 소비자 구매 후 행동의도에 미치는 영향

조연환(Cho Yun Fan),전인오(Jeon In Oh) 한국물류학회 2017 물류학회지 Vol.27 No.1

향기가 돈이 되는 시대다. 과거 선진국 위주였던 향기 시장은 이제 아시아에서 성장세를 구가하며 향기 소비는 사치가 아닌 일 상이 되는 추세다. 스트레스가 많은 현대 사회에서 향기로 심신을 치유하려는 소비자들의 수요도 향기 시장 성장에 한몫을 하고 있다. 지난 몇 년간 내수경기의 불황에도 불구하고 90년대 초반 150억원 정도 규모였던 향기 산업은 예외적으로 기하급수적인 성장을 하여, 산업통상부에 따르면 현재 국내 시장규모는 연 2조 5000억원으로 매년 10%에 가까운 성장세를 보이고 있으며, 2019년에는 40조원에 육박할 것으로 전망했다. 이처럼 향기 시장이 급성장하며 유통업계 블루오션으로 떠오르고 있으나 현재 향기제품 관련 연구를 찾아보기는 매우 어렵다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 향기제품에 대한 소비자의 요구(needs)와 욕구(wants)를 보여주는 심리적, 기능적 추구혜택이 소비자 구매 후 행동의도에 미치는 영향을 체계적으로 분석하여 향기 시장의 마케팅 촉진 전략에 대한 시사점을 제시하고자 한다. 이러한 목적 달성을 위해 향기제품 소비자를 대상으로 설문 조사를 실시한 후 통계 분석을 통해 영향 관계를 검증한 결과, 심리적 추구혜택과 기능적 추구혜택은 구매 후 행동의도에 모두 영향을 미치고, 소비자 사전지식이 많을수록 구매 후 행동의도를 높이는 조절 작용을 하는 것으로 조사되었다. 결과적으로 향기제품에 대한 소비자 행동의도를 향상시키기 위해서는 심리적, 기능적 추구혜택에 대한 전략이 선행되고 제품지식의 전달이 필요함을 알 수 있다. 본 연구는 국내에서 최초로 시도된 향기제품에 대한 소비자 행동연구로서 의의가 있다고 하겠다. It is an age when fragrance becomes money. In the past, the fragrance market which was mainly led by developed countries, is now growing in Asia and fragrance consumption is becoming daily life not a luxury. In the stressful modern society, the demand of the consumers who want to heal the mind and body with fragrance is also contributing to the fragrance market growth. Despite the economic recession in the past few years, the scale of fragrance industry, which was about 15 billion won in the early 90’s, was exceptionally exponential growth. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the scale of domestic market is now around 2.5 trillion won with showing about 10 percent growth annually, and it is expected to reach 40 trillion won by 2019. As such, the fragrance market is booming and it is emerging as a blue ocean of distribution industry, but research on fragrance products is hard to find. Therefore, this study suggests implication for marketing promotion strategy of fragrance market to systematically analyze the effects of psychological and functional seeking benefits of the consumers’ needs and wants for fragrance products on behavior intention after purchase. In order to achieve this goal, we conducted a questionnaire survey on consumers of fragrance products and then examined the influence relationship through statistical analysis. As a result, the psychological seeking benefit and functional seeking benefit all affect the post - purchase behavior intention, it is investigated that the more prior knowledge consumers have, the more they do control action to improve the behavior intention after purchasing. As a result, it can be seen that the strategy of psychological and functional pursuit benefit is preceded and product knowledge delivery is necessary to improve the consumer’s behavioral intention to fragrance products. This study is meaningful as a consumer behavior research on fragrance products which was first tried in Korea.

Geft is dispensable for the development of the second heart field

( Xiong Wei Fan ),( Ning Hou ),( Kai Ji Fan ),( Jia Jia Yuan ),( Xiao Yang Mo ),( Yun Deng ),( Yong Qi Wan ),( Yan Teng ),( Xiao Yang ),( Xius Han Wu ) 생화학분자생물학회 (구 한국생화학분자생물학회) 2012 BMB Reports Vol.45 No.3

Geft is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor, which can specifically activate Rho family of small GTPase by catalyzing the exchange of bound GDP for GTP. Geft is highly expressed in the excitable tissue as heart and skeletal muscle and plays important roles in many cellular processes, such as cell proliferation, migration, and cell fate decision. However, the in vivo role of Geft remains unknown. Here, we generated a Geft conditional knockout mouse by flanking exons 5-17 of Geft with loxP sites. Cre-mediated deletion of the Geft gene in heart using Mef2c-Cre transgenic mice resulted in a dramatic decrease of Geft expression. Geft knockout mice develop normally and exhibit no discernable phenotype, suggesting Geft is dispensable for the development of the second heart field in mouse. The Geft conditional knockout mouse will be a valuable genetic tool for uncovering the in vivo roles of Geft during development and in adult homeostasis. (BMB reports 2012; 45(3): 153-158)

ZNF552, a novel human KRAB/C2H2 zinc finger protein, inhibits AP-1- and SRE-mediated transcriptional activity

( Yun Deng ),( Bi Sheng Liu ),( Xiong Wei Fan ),( Yue Qun Wang ),( Ming Tang ),( Xiao Yang Mo ),( Yong Qing Li ),( Zao Chu Ying ),( Yong Qi Wan ),( Na Luo ),( Jun Mei Zhou ),( Xiu Shan Wu ),( Wu Zhou 한국생화학분자생물학회 (구 한국생화학회) 2010 BMB Reports Vol.43 No.3

In this study, we report the identification and characterization of a novel C2H2 zinc finger protein, ZNF552, from a human embryonic heart cDNA library. ZNF552 is composed of three exons and two introns and maps to chromosome 19q13.43. The cDNA of ZNF552 is 2.3 kb, encoding 407 amino acids with an amino-terminal KRAB domain and seven carboxyl-terminal C2H2 zinc finger motifs in the nucleus and cytoplasm. Northern blotting analysis indicated that a 2.3 kb transcript specific for ZNF552 was expressed in liver, lung, spleen, testis and kidney, especially with a higher level in the lung and testis in human adult tissues. Reporter gene assays showed that ZNF552 was a transcriptional repressor, and overexpression of ZNF552 in the COS-7 cells inhibited the transcriptional activities of AP-1 and SRE, which could be relieved through RNAi analysis. Deletion studies showed that the KRAB domain of ZNF552 may be involved in this inhibition. [BMB reports 2010; 43(3): 193-198]

Chinese herbal injections in combination with radiotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer: A systematic review and network meta-analysis

Yun-Ru Chen,Ruo-Tong Zhao,Yi-Fang Xu,Yin-Jie Ma,Shao-Bo Hu,Xue-Hui Wang,Bing-Bing Fan,Yan-Ji Zhou,Yu-Bei Huang,Nicola Robinson,Jian-ping Liu,Zhao-Lan Liu 한국한의학연구원 2023 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.12 No.4

Background: Advanced pancreatic cancer (APC) is a fatal disease with limited treatment options. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of different Chinese herbal injections (CHIs) as adjuvants for radiotherapy (RT) in APC and compare their treatment potentials using network meta-analysis. Methods: We systematically searched three English and four Chinese databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from inception to July 25, 2023. The primary outcome was the objective response rate (ORR). Secondary outcomes included Karnofsky performance status (KPS) score, overall survival (OS), and adverse events (AEs). The treatment potentials of different CHIs were ranked using the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA). The Cochrane RoB 2 tool and CINeMA were used for quality assessment and evidence grading. Results: Eighteen RCTs involving 1199 patients were included. Five CHIs were evaluated. Compound Kushen injection (CKI) combined with RT significantly improved ORR compared to RT alone (RR 1.49, 95 % CrI 1.21–1.86). Kanglaite (KLT) plus RT (RR 1.58, 95 % CrI 1.20–2.16) and CKI plus RT (RR 1.49, 95 % CrI 1.16–1.95) were associated with improved KPS score compared to radiation monotherapy, with KLT+RT being the highest rank (SUCRA 72.28 %). Regarding AEs, CKI plus RT was the most favorable in reducing the incidence of leukopenia (SUCRA 90.37 %) and nausea/vomiting (SUCRA 85.79 %). Conclusions: CKI may be the optimal choice of CHIs to combine with RT for APC as it may improve clinical response, quality of life, and reduce AEs. High-quality trials are necessary to establish a robust body of evidence. Protocol registration: PROSPERO, CRD42023396828.

PKM2 Regulates Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Epithelial-mesenchymal Transition and Migration upon EGFR Activation

Fan, Fang-Tian,Shen, Cun-Si,Tao, Li,Tian, Chao,Liu, Zhao-Guo,Zhu, Zhi-Jie,Liu, Yu-Ping,Pei, Chang-Song,Wu, Hong-Yan,Zhang, Lei,Wang, Ai-Yun,Zheng, Shi-Zhong,Huang, Shi-Le,Lu, Yin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.5

Pyruvate kinase isozyme type M2 (PKM2) was first found in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and its expression has been thought to correlate with prognosis. A large number of studies have demonstrated that epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a crucial event in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and associated metastasis, resulting in enhanced malignancy of HCC. However, the roles of PKM2 in HCC EMT and metastasis remain largely unknown. The present study aimed to determine the effects of PKM2 in EGF-induced HCC EMT and elucidate the molecular mechanisms in vitro. Our results showed that EGF promoted EMT in HCC cell lines as evidenced by altered morphology, expression of EMT-associated markers, and enhanced invasion capacity. Furthermore, the present study also revealed that nuclear translocation of PKM2, which is regulated by the ERK pathway, regulated ${\beta}$-catenin-TCF/LEF-1 transcriptional activity and associated EMT in HCC cell lines. These discoveries provide evidence of novel roles of PKM2 in the progression of HCC and potential therapeutic target for advanced cases.