Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Y S Choy

Publications and source records attributed to Y S Choy.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Nano-mechanics of bone and bioactive bone cement interfaces in a load-bearing model.

Many bioactive bone cements were developed for total hip replacement and found to bond with bone directly. However, the mechanical properties at the bone/bone cement interface under load bearing are not fully understood. In this study, a bioactive bone cement, which consists of strontium-containing hydroxyapatite (Sr-HA) powder and bisphenol-alpha-glycidyl dimethacrylate (Bis-GMA)-based resin, was evaluated in rabbit hip replacement for 6 months, and the mechanical properties of interfaces of cancellous bone/Sr-HA cement and cortical bone/Sr-HA cement were investigated by nanoindentation. The results showed that Young's modulus (17.6+/-4.2 GPa) and hardness (987.6+/-329.2 MPa) at interface between cancellous bone and Sr-HA cement were significantly higher than those at the cancellous bone (12.7+/-1.7 GPa; 632.7+/-108.4 MPa) and Sr-HA cement (5.2+/-0.5 GPa; 265.5+/-39.2 MPa); whereas Young's modulus (6.3+/-2.8 GPa) and hardness (417.4+/-164.5 MPa) at interface between cortical bone and Sr-HA cement were significantly lower than those at cortical bone (12.9+/-2.2 GPa; 887.9+/-162.0 MPa), but significantly higher than Sr-HA cement (3.6+/-0.3 GPa; 239.1+/-30.4 MPa). The results of the mechanical properties of the interfaces were supported by the histological observation and chemical composition. Osseointegration of Sr-HA cement with cancellous bone was observed. An apatite layer with high content of calcium and phosphorus was found between cancellous bone and Sr-HA cement. However, no such apatite layer was observed at the interface between cortical bone and Sr-HA cement. And the contents of calcium and phosphorus of the interface were lower than those of cortical bone. The mechanical properties indicated that these two interfaces were diffused interfaces, and cancellous bone or cortical bone was grown into Sr-HA cement 6 months after the implantation.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Measurement of in-duct acoustic properties by using a single microphone with fixed position.

Acoustic properties of sound absorption materials and other acoustic structures can be measured in an impedance tube using the well-established two-microphone method to resolve the two traveling wave components of a standing wave pattern. The accuracy of such measurements depends crucially on the calibration of the two microphones placed in close proximity. To eliminate such calibration, the one-microphone method [Chu, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 80, 555-560 (1986)] uses the same microphone to probe at two positions sequentially using the voltage driving the loudspeaker as a reference signal. A variant of this method is introduced in this study in which the microphone is fixed at one position while a rigid end plate moves between two positions to resolve the standing wave. The sound source is installed as a side branch, and its driving signal is also used as a reference in the two-step measurement. Close agreement is found with the established two-microphone method, and factors which might affect the accuracy of the new technique are discussed. As a demonstration of the robustness of the method, a low-budget electret microphone is used and the result also matches well with those obtained by the two-microphone method with high-quality condenser type microphones.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Drum silencer with shallow cavity filled with helium.

The motivation of this study is twofold: (a) to produce a flow-through silencer with zero pressure loss for pressure-critical applications, and (b) to tackle low frequency noise with limited sideway space using cavities filled with helium. The work represents a further development of our recently conceived device of a drum-like silencer with conventional air cavity [Huang, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 112, 2014-2025 (2002); Choy and Huang, ibid. 112, 2026-2035 (2002)]. Theoretical predictions are validated by experimental data. The new silencer consists of two highly tensioned membranes lining part of a duct, and each membrane is backed by a cavity filled with helium. For a typical configuration of a duct with height h, membrane length L = 7h, cavity depth h = 0.2h, and tension T = 0.52rho0c0(2)h2, where rho0 and c0 are the ambient density and speed of sound in air, respectively, the transmission loss has a continuous stop band of TL > 6.35 dB for frequency 0.03c0/h to 0.064c0/h, which is much better than traditional duct lining. In addition to the mechanisms at work for drum silencers with air cavity, the low density of helium reduces the masslike reactance of the cavity on the second in vacuo mode of membrane vibration. The reduction greatly enhances the membrane response at this mode, which is found to be critical for achieving a broadband performance in the low-frequency regime.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Morbidity in Alagille syndrome in 6 Malaysian children.

We retrospectively studied the records of 6 Malaysian children who were diagnosed with Alagille Syndrome (AGS) according to this criteria from January 1999 to January 2001, at the Institute of Paediatrics, Kuala Lumpur Hospital. Four patients (66%) had a positive family history. Thirteen individuals (6 patients and 7 relatives) were diagnosed with AGS in these 5 families. Only 6/13 (46%) of them presented with liver involvement. All 6 patients presented with typical facies and cholestasis (100%). Three (50%) presented with portal hypertension (PHT) with synthetic liver dysfunction (1 died), 1/6 (17%) have PHT and normal synthetic liver function. Two have cleared their jaundice but have biochemical evidence of hepatitis and hepatomegaly, four have congenital heart disease 5/6 posterior embryotoxon, 2/6 butterfly vertebrae, 4/6 hyperlipidaemia and 4/6 failure to thrive. One patient has a Jagged-1 gene disruption at the translocation breakpoint locus 20p12.3 2n = 46,XX,t(12.20) (q22, p12.3). 5/6 (83%) are still alive. Two-thirds of our patients developed chronic liver disease by 3 years of age. Two-thirds of the index patients have a family history. Only 46% of individuals in these families have clinical evidence of liver involvement. Mortality depends on cardiac/renal disease, end-stage liver failure and intercurrent infection.

Alagille Syndrome↗
PubMed2002

Experimental studies of a drumlike silencer.

The theoretical finding of the broadband performance of a reactive silencer is validated experimentally. The silencer consists of two highly stretched membranes lining part of the duct and backed by two long and shallow cavities. The test rig was built with a small square duct of 5 cm in dimension, and each cavity is 5 cm deep and 25 cm long. Two types of metal foils, stainless steel and copper, were used, and the lowest membrane-to-air mass ratio was 1.3. A transmission loss in excess of 10 dB was achieved over more than one octave band. For one configuration close to the optimal parameters, the predicted ratio of the frequency band limits is 2.47, while the experiment gave 2.35. Three spectral peaks were found in the stopband, as predicted, but the peaks were broader than prediction, indicating the presence of significant sound energy dissipation mechanisms. Comparison with theoretical simulation shows that the cavity damping dominates over membrane friction. Tests using heavier membranes and membrane with different levels of tension also agree with predictions. Issues of practical implementation of the concept as a flow-through silencer are also addressed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Mutational analysis in a cohort of 224 tuberous sclerosis patients indicates increased severity of TSC2, compared with TSC1, disease in multiple organs.

Tuberous sclerosis (TSC) is a relatively common hamartoma syndrome caused by mutations in either of two genes, TSC1 and TSC2. Here we report comprehensive mutation analysis in 224 index patients with TSC and correlate mutation findings with clinical features. Denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography, long-range polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and quantitative PCR were used for mutation detection. Mutations were identified in 186 (83%) of 224 of cases, comprising 138 small TSC2 mutations, 20 large TSC2 mutations, and 28 small TSC1 mutations. A standardized clinical assessment instrument covering 16 TSC manifestations was used. Sporadic patients with TSC1 mutations had, on average, milder disease in comparison with patients with TSC2 mutations, despite being of similar age. They had a lower frequency of seizures and moderate-to-severe mental retardation, fewer subependymal nodules and cortical tubers, less-severe kidney involvement, no retinal hamartomas, and less-severe facial angiofibroma. Patients in whom no mutation was found also had disease that was milder, on average, than that in patients with TSC2 mutations and was somewhat distinct from patients with TSC1 mutations. Although there was overlap in the spectrum of many clinical features of patients with TSC1 versus TSC2 mutations, some features (grade 2-4 kidney cysts or angiomyolipomas, forehead plaques, retinal hamartomas, and liver angiomyolipomas) were very rare or not seen at all in TSC1 patients. Thus both germline and somatic mutations appear to be less common in TSC1 than in TSC2. The reduced severity of disease in patients without defined mutations suggests that many of these patients are mosaic for a TSC2 mutation and/or have TSC because of mutations in an as-yet-unidentified locus with a relatively mild clinical phenotype.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Superiority of denaturing high performance liquid chromatography over single-stranded conformation and conformation-sensitive gel electrophoresis for mutation detection in TSC2.

We evaluated denaturing high pressure liquid chromatography (DHPLC) as a scanning method for mutation detection in TSC2, and compared it to conformation-sensitive gel electrophoresis (CSGE) and single-stranded conformation polymorphism analysis (SSCP). The first 20 exons of TSC2 were amplified from 84 TSC patients and screened initially by CSGE and then by DHPLC. Optimization of DHPLC analysis of each exon was carried out by design of primers with minimum variation in the melting temperature of the amplicon, and titration of both elution gradient and temperature. CSGE analysis identified 40 shifts (21 unique) in the 84 patients and 20 exons. All of these variants were detected by DHPLC, and an additional 27 changes (14 unique) were identified. Overall 15 of 28 (54%) unique single base substitutions were detected by CSGE; all were detected by DHPLC. 25 definite or probable mutations were found in these 84 patients (30%) in exons 1-20 of TSC2. In a subsequent blinded analysis of 15 samples with 18 distinct TSC2 sequence variants originally detected by SSCP in another centre, all variants were detected by DHPLC except one where the variation occurred within the primer. Ten other (7 unique) sequence variants were detected in these samples which had not been detected by SSCP. Overall, 11 of 16 (69%) unique single base substitutions were detected by SSCP; all were detected by DHPLC. We conclude that DHPLC is superior to both CSGE and SSCP for detection of DNA sequence variation in TSC2, particularly for single base substitution mutations.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗
PubMed1996

Dengue encephalitis: a true entity?

Involvement of the central nervous system in dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever has always been thought to be secondary to vasculitis with resultant fluid extravasation, cerebral edema, hypoperfusion, hyponatremia, liver failure, and/or renal failure. Thus, the condition has been referred to as dengue encephalopathy. Encephalitis or direct involvement of the brain by the virus was thought to be unlikely. This paper reports on six children who were seen over a period of two years presenting on the second or third day of illness with dengue encephalitis. The diagnosis was based upon a clinical picture of encephalitis and confirmed by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) microscopy and electroencephalography changes. All six cases were confirmed dengue infections. Dengue 3 virus was isolated from the CSF of four cases and in one case, dengue 2 was detected by the polymerase chain reaction in both the CSF and blood. In the sixth case, virologic evidence was negative but dengue immunoglobulin M was detected in the CSF and blood. Since the onset of encephalitis appears early in the course of illness coinciding with the viremic phase, we postulate that the virus crosses the blood-brain barrier and directly invades the brain causing encephalitis. This study provides strong evidence that dengue 2 and 3 viruses have neurovirulent properties and behave similarly to other members of the Flaviviridae.

Antibodies, Viral↗