EFFECTS ON POSTURAL CONSTRAINTS ON OVERARM THROWING

This study explored the effects of postural constraints on overarm throwing. 10 participants were required to perform an overarm throwing movement by 3 tasks which under postural constraints. Tasks were including trunk-fixed, sitting, and standing. 10 pieces of 3D motion capture system were used to record the maximum velocity of body segments as data and one-way repeated measures ANOVA (a=.05) with HSD post-hoc tests was conducted to analysis the data. Therefore, the results indicated that the performance of overarm throwing by 3 tasks were different significantly, which proved the kinetic chain formed by links connected in series gave body segments more velocities. Moreover, it meat trunk and lower limbs played the roles to transport velocity as performing overarm throwing

THE EFFECTS OF FUNGAL MEDIUM ON HATCHING RATE OF BITING MIDGE

The little black mosquitos, Forcipomyia taiwana, bite human and become one of the most annoying pests in Taiwan. Recently, the population of F. taiwana increases and invades urban and countryside. In order to effectively prevent the harassment of F. taiwana, develop control strategy is urgent and necessary. Our study found that the fungal medium influenced the length and width of the F. taiwana eggs. It also significantly decreased the hatching rate of F. taiwana. Besides, this artificial diet was more non-toxic and environment-friendly than general chemical pesticides. Thus, this study provided critical information to develop potentially useful bait of F. taiwana in the future

Do resting brain dynamics predict oddball evoked-potential?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The oddball paradigm is widely applied to the investigation of cognitive function in neuroscience and in neuropsychiatry. Whether cortical oscillation in the resting state can predict the elicited oddball event-related potential (ERP) is still not clear. This study explored the relationship between resting electroencephalography (EEG) and oddball ERPs. The regional powers of 18 electrodes across delta, theta, alpha and beta frequencies were correlated with the amplitude and latency of N1, P2, N2 and P3 components of oddball ERPs. A multivariate analysis based on partial least squares (PLS) was applied to further examine the spatial pattern revealed by multiple correlations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Higher synchronization in the resting state, especially at the alpha spectrum, is associated with higher neural responsiveness and faster neural propagation, as indicated by the higher amplitude change of N1/N2 and shorter latency of P2. None of the resting quantitative EEG indices predict P3 latency and amplitude. The PLS analysis confirms that the resting cortical dynamics which explains N1/N2 amplitude and P2 latency does not show regional specificity, indicating a global property of the brain.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study differs from previous approaches by relating dynamics in the resting state to neural responsiveness in the activation state. Our analyses suggest that the neural characteristics carried by resting brain dynamics modulate the earlier/automatic stage of target detection.</p

A lack of association between genetic polymorphisms in beta-defensins and susceptibility of psoriasis in Taiwanese: A case–control study

AbstractBackgroundGenetic predisposition of the inflammatory-host response may affect the development of psoriasis. Previous studies have shown that copy number variations (CNVs) of β-defensin genes (DEFB) are associated with the susceptibility of psoriasis in Caucasian populations.ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the role of the CNVs of the DEFB4 gene and functional variants in the DEFB1 gene in Taiwanese patients with psoriasis.MethodsIn total, 196 patients with psoriasis and 196 control individuals were analyzed for the presence of the DEFB4 CNVs using the paralogue ratio test, and also for the DEFB1 polymorphisms rs11362, rs1800972, and rs1799946, using a polymerase chain reaction.ResultsNone of the polymorphisms were found to be associated with psoriasis. The distribution of DEFB4 genomic CNVs did not significantly differ between the control group and psoriasis group. The frequencies of patients who carried a greater than the median (≥ 5) number of copies did not significantly differ in patients with psoriasis and controls. The multivariate analysis similarly revealed that the DEFB4 CNVs were not associated with psoriasis (odds ratio = 1.03, 95% confidence interval = 0.89–1.19, p = 0.720). No significant difference was detected in the genotype and allele distribution for any of the individual DEFB1 polymorphisms between the cases and the controls. Finally, the overall haplotype frequency profiles derived from the three polymorphisms did not significantly differ between the cases and the controls.ConclusionOur results do not suggest that these genetic variants of the β-defensin genes contribute to the genetic background of psoriasis in Taiwanese patients

Examination Of The Influence Of Service Quality On Membership Renewal In Fitness Centers In San Francisco Bay Area

Corporations have to learn how to satisfy their customers&rsquo; various demands as the era of interactivity with customers has emerged (Pepper &amp; Rogers, 1999). For fitness center, customers&rsquo; demands are increasing and diversified. Therefore, service quality is an index of quality assessment from customers for service-producing industries. Furthermore, the concept of corporate expansion and customer relationship has become the foundation of service-providers for higher profitability through customers&rsquo; renewal of membership. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of service quality on the renewal willingness of fitness center membership. Customers from four fitness centers in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA, were randomly selected for this survey. A total of 50 subjects participated in this survey. The data was analyzed by multiple regression and stepwise regression. The result indicated that the service quality has positive influence on the renewal willingness of membership

Social Capital and Technological Literacy in Taiwan

The burgeoning interest in social capital within the technology community represents a welcome move towards a concern for the social elements of technological adaptation and capacity. Since technology plays an ever larger role in our daily life, it is necessary to articulate social capital and its relationship to technological literacy. A nationwide data was collected by area sampling, and position generator was used to measure social capital. Regression model was constructed for technological literacy. Age, gender, education, income, web access, and social capital were included as independent variables. The results show that age, gender, education, web access, and social capital were good predictors of technological literacy. It is concluded that social capital is helpful in coping with rapid technological change. Theoretical and empirical implications and future research are discussed

Interferon-b Modulates Inflammatory Response in Cerebral Ischemia

BACKGROUND: Stroke is a leading cause of death in the world. In >80% of strokes, the initial acute phase of ischemic injury is due to the occlusion of a blood vessel resulting in severe focal hypoperfusion, excitotoxicity, and oxidative damage. Interferon-β (IFNβ), a cytokine with immunomodulatory properties, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis for more than a decade. Its anti-inflammatory properties and well-characterized safety profile suggest that IFNβ has therapeutic potential for the treatment of ischemic stroke. METHODS AND RESULTS: We investigated the therapeutic effect of IFNβ in the mouse model of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion. We found that IFNβ not only reduced infarct size in ischemic brains but also lessened neurological deficits in ischemic stroke animals. Further, multiple molecular mechanisms by which IFNβ modulates ischemic brain inflammation were identified. IFNβ reduced central nervous system infiltration of monocytes/macrophages, neutrophils, CD4(+) T cells, and γδ T cells; inhibited the production of inflammatory mediators; suppressed the expression of adhesion molecules on brain endothelial cells; and repressed microglia activation in the ischemic brain. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that IFNβ exerts a protective effect against ischemic stroke through its anti-inflammatory properties and suggest that IFNβ is a potential therapeutic agent, targeting the reperfusion damage subsequent to the treatment with tissue plasminogen activator

Effect of the Drawbar Force on the Dynamic Characteristics of a Spindle-Tool Holder System

This study presented the investigation of the influence of the tool holder interface stiffness on the dynamic characteristics of a spindle tool system. The interface stiffness was produced by drawbar force on the tool holder, which tends to affect the spindle dynamics. In order to assess the influence of interface stiffness on the vibration characteristic of spindle unit, we first created a three dimensional finite element model of a high speed spindle system integrated with tool holder. The key point for the creation of FEM model is the modeling of the rolling interface within the angular contact bearings and the tool holder interface. The former can be simulated by a introducing a series of spring elements between inner and outer rings. The contact stiffness was calculated according to Hertz contact theory and the preload applied on the bearings. The interface stiffness of the tool holder was identified through the experimental measurement and finite element modal analysis. Current results show that the dynamic stiffness was greatly influenced by the tool holder system. In addition, variations of modal damping, static stiffness and dynamic stiffness of the spindle tool system were greatly determined by the interface stiffness of the tool holder which was in turn dependent on the draw bar force applied on the tool holder. Overall, this study demonstrates that identification of the interface characteristics of spindle tool holder is of very importance for the refinement of the spindle tooling system to achieve the optimum machining performance

Dithiolethione ACDT suppresses neuroinflammation and ameliorates disease severity in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by the central nervous system (CNS) infiltration of myelin-specific pathogenic T cells followed by brain inflammation in association with demyelination. Similarly, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal model of MS, also exhibits increased CNS infiltration of pathogenic T cells, including Th1 and Th17, leading to detrimental effects of neuroinflammation and demyelination. We previously reported that 3H-1,2-dithiole-3-thione (D3T), the structurally-simplest of the sulfur-containing dithiolethiones, exerted a promising therapeutic effect in EAE. In the current study we report that 5-Amino-3-thioxo-3H-(1,2)dithiole-4-carboxylic acid ethyl ester (ACDT), a substituted derivative of D3T, exhibits anti-inflammatory properties in EAE. ACDT, administered post immunization, delayed disease onset and reduced disease severity in chronic C57BL/6 EAE, and ACDT, administered during disease remission, suppressed disease relapse in relapsing-remitting SJL/J EAE. Further analysis of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the protective effects of ACDT in EAE revealed that ACDT inhibited pathogenic T cell infiltration, suppressed microglia activation, repressed neurotoxic A1 astrocyte generation, lessened blood-brain barrier disruption, and diminished MMP3/9 production in the CNS of EAE. In summary, we demonstrate that ACDT suppresses neuroinflammation and ameliorates disease severity in EAE through multiple cellular mechanisms. Our findings suggest the potential of developing ACDT as a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of MS/EAE