The Effects of Foam Rolling on Flexibility

Studies have conflicting research based on whether foam rolling shows a significant difference in flexibility with the lower extremities. PURPOSE: To determine if there will be a significant difference in flexibility when using a foam roller compared to a five minute walk. METHODS: On the initial visit 14 participants self-reported their age, weight, and height, and then had their baseline flexibility assessed. Treatment conditions consisted of: 1) using a foam roller on the hamstrings, quadriceps, calves, and lower back, and 2) walking on a treadmill for five minutes. After each session, participant’s flexibility was measured three times with the Sit and Reach test. SPSS(V23) was used to conduct a repeated measures ANOVA to explore the difference in flexibility between the trials. The alpha was set at .05. RESULTS: A Repeated Measures ANOVA indicated a significant difference existed among the three levels of flexibility, F(2, 14) = 15.6, p = .001. Pairwise comparisons indicate a significant increase in flexibility after foam rolling compared to walking (+2.29 cm, p = .003) and baseline (+3.81 cm, p = .001). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that foam rolling is a better means to acutely increase flexibility compared to walking, therefore the predicted hypothesis that there will be a significant difference in lower body flexibility when using foam rolling compared to a five minute walk was accepted

Pan paniscus (errata version published in 2016)

Due to high levels of illegal hunting, and habitat destruction and degradation,Pan paniscusis estimated to have experienced a significant population reduction in the last 15–20 years and it is thought that this reduction will continue for the next 60 years. Currently, by far the greatest threat to the Bonobo's survival is poaching for the commercial bushmeat trade. It has been estimated that nine tons of bushmeat are extracted daily from a 50,000-km² conservation landscape within the Bonobo’s range. Not only is there is a massive demand for bushmeat stemming from the cities, but rebel factions and poorly-paid government soldiers add to that demand, at the same time facilitating the flow of guns and ammunition (Fruthet al. 2013). In some areas, local taboos against eating Bonobo meat still exist, but in others, these traditions are disintegrating due to changing cultural values and population movements. Stricter enforcement of wildlife laws and more effective management are urgently needed. Habitat loss through deforestation and fragmentation ranks second. Much of the forest loss in this region is caused by slash-and-burn subsistence agriculture, which is most intense where human densities are high or growing. Logging and mining do not yet occur on an industrial scale in the Bonobo’s range, but in future, industrial agriculture is very likely to become a serious threat. Minimising the conversion of intact forest to human-dominated land uses, will be critical for the future survival of Bonobos. Countrywide factors contributing to the decline include the mobility of growing human populations, opening markets, commercial exploitation of natural resources and road construction. As in the past, the survival of Bonobos will be determined by the levels of poaching and forest loss—threats that have been shown to accompany rapid growth in human populations and political instability (Nackoneyet al. 2014). Due to their slow life history and a generation time estimated to be 25 years, Bonobo populations cannot withstand high levels of offtake. The population decline over a three-generation (75 year) period from 2003 to 2078 is likely to exceed 50%, hence qualifying this taxon as Endangered under criterion A

Affinity-restricted memory B cells dominate recall responses to heterologous flaviviruses

Memory B cells (MBCs) can respond to heterologous antigens either by molding new specificities through secondary germinal centers (GCs) or selecting pre-existing clones without further affinity maturation. To distinguish these mechanisms in flavivirus infections and immunizations, we studied recall responses to envelope protein domain III (DIII). Conditional deletion of activation induced cytidine deaminase (AID) between heterologous challenges of West Nile, Japanese encephalitis, Zika, and Dengue viruses did not affect recall responses. DIII-specific MBCs were contained mostly within the plasma cell-biased CD80(+) subset and few GCs arose following heterologous boosters, demonstrating that recall responses are confined by pre-existing clonal diversity. Measurement of monoclonal antibody binding affinity to DIII proteins, timed AID deletion, single cell RNA-sequencing, and lineage tracing experiments point to selection of relatively low affinity MBCs as a mechanism to promote diversity. Engineering immunogens to avoid this MBC diversity may facilitate flavivirus type-specific vaccines with minimized potential for infection enhancement

The Order Calculation in the Engineering Company

Import 23/07/2015Diplomová práce je zpracovávána ve společnosti Hagemann a.s. Celá práce se zabývá kalkulací veřejné zakázky Ministerstva vnitra ČR na dodání speciálně upravených policejních vozidel pro monitoring reálných hrozeb. Diplomová práce je rozdělena na dvě základní části, a to teoretickou část a praktickou část. První z částí je popsána problematika veřejných zakázek a hospodářská činnost v podniku. V druhé části je proveden rozbor předmětu veřejné zakázky. Dále byl zpracován návrh postupu plnění zakázky v prostorách společnosti, na které navazuje cenová kalkulace. V závěru práce jsou výsledky práce vyhodnoceny.Master thesis is processed in the company Hagemann a.s. The thesis deals with the calculation of public procurement from Ministry of the Interior to supply police vehicles specially adapted for monitoring real threats. The thesis is divided into two parts, the theoretical and practical part. The first part describes the issue of public procurement and economic activities in the company. The second part is analyzing subject of the contract. Further was processed a proposal for the execution of the contract in the company's premises, which is followed by a calculation and types of costs. In conclusion, the results of the work are evaluated.345 - Katedra mechanické technologievýborn

Is Large Lepton Mixing Excluded?

The original \bnum -(or $\bar{\nu}_{\tau}$-) energy spectrum from the gravitational collapse of a star has a larger average energy than the spectrum for \bnue since the opacity of \bnue exeeds that of \bnum (or $\nu_{\tau}$). Flavor neutrino conversion, \bnue $\leftrightarrow$ \bnum, induced by lepton mixing results in partial permutation of the original \bnue and \bnum spectra. An upper bound on the permutation factor, $p \leq 0.35$ (99$\%$ CL) is derived using the data from SN1987A and the different models of the neutrino burst. The relation between the permutation factor and the vacuum mixing angle is established, which leads to the upper bound on this angle. The excluded region, $\sin^2 2\theta > 0.7 - 0.9$, covers the regions of large mixing angle solutions of the solar neutrino problem: ``just-so" and, partly, MSW, as well as part of region of $\nu_{e} - \nu_{\mu}$ oscillation space which could be responsible for the atmospheric muon neutrino deficit. These limits are sensitive to the predicted neutrino spectrum and can be strengthened as supernova models improve.Comment: 20 pages, TeX file. For hardcopy with figures contact [email protected]. Institute for Advanced Study number AST 93/1

Customer Interaction and Innovation in Hybrid Offerings:Investigating Moderation and Mediation Effects for Goods and Services Innovation

Hybrid offerings are bundles of goods and services offerings provided by the same firm. Bundling value offerings affects how firms innovate, interact with customers, and customize their goods and services. However, it remains unclear how customer interaction might drive the innovation performance of various bundled components. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of customer interactions and service customization on both goods and services innovations in a hybrid offering context, using a unique data set of 146 information technology and manufacturing firms. Customer interaction appears beneficial to both goods and services innovation in a hybrid offerings context, but service customization has different direct effects on goods versus services innovation. As a potential mediator, customer knowledge mobilization resources exert different effects on the goods and services elements of hybrid offerings. Furthermore, for high-interaction customers, medium levels of technical modularity lead to most favorable innovation outcomes for services innovation. The results thus suggest that providers of hybrid offerings should foster customer interactions, to drive the innovation performance of the good and service components, while still making sure to implement service customization strategies. These findings have notable implications for service innovation research

Telomeric DNA induces apoptosis and senescence of human breast carcinoma cells

INTRODUCTION: Cancer is a leading cause of death in Americans. We have identified an inducible cancer avoidance mechanism in cells that reduces mutation rate, reduces and delays carcinogenesis after carcinogen exposure, and induces apoptosis and/or senescence of already transformed cells by simultaneously activating multiple overlapping and redundant DNA damage response pathways. METHODS: The human breast carcinoma cell line MCF-7, the adriamycin-resistant MCF-7 (Adr/MCF-7) cell line, as well as normal human mammary epithelial (NME) cells were treated with DNA oligonucleotides homologous to the telomere 3' overhang (T-oligos). SCID mice received intravenous injections of MCF-7 cells followed by intravenous administration of T-oligos. RESULTS: Acting through ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and its downstream effectors, T-oligos induced apoptosis and senescence of MCF-7 cells but not NME cells, in which these signaling pathways were induced to a far lesser extent. In MCF-7 cells, experimental telomere loop disruption caused identical responses, consistent with the hypothesis that T-oligos act by mimicking telomere overhang exposure. In vivo, T-oligos greatly prolonged survival of SCID mice following intravenous injection of human breast carcinoma cells. CONCLUSION: By inducing DNA damage-like responses in MCF-7 cells, T-oligos provide insight into innate cancer avoidance mechanisms and may offer a novel approach to treatment of breast cancer and other malignancies

Deep sequencing analysis of the developing mouse brain reveals a novel microRNA

Extent: 15p.Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that can exert multilevel inhibition/repression at a post-transcriptional or protein synthesis level during disease or development. Characterisation of miRNAs in adult mammalian brains by deep sequencing has been reported previously. However, to date, no small RNA profiling of the developing brain has been undertaken using this method. We have performed deep sequencing and small RNA analysis of a developing (E15.5) mouse brain. Results: We identified the expression of 294 known miRNAs in the E15.5 developing mouse brain, which were mostly represented by let-7 family and other brain-specific miRNAs such as miR-9 and miR-124. We also discovered 4 putative 22-23 nt miRNAs: mm_br_e15_1181, mm_br_e15_279920, mm_br_e15_96719 and mm_br_e15_294354 each with a 70-76 nt predicted pre-miRNA. We validated the 4 putative miRNAs and further characterised one of them, mm_br_e15_1181, throughout embryogenesis. Mm_br_e15_1181 biogenesis was Dicer1-dependent and was expressed in E3.5 blastocysts and E7 whole embryos. Embryo-wide expression patterns were observed at E9.5 and E11.5 followed by a near complete loss of expression by E13.5, with expression restricted to a specialised layer of cells within the developing and early postnatal brain. Mm_br_e15_1181 was upregulated during neurodifferentiation of P19 teratocarcinoma cells. This novel miRNA has been identified as miR-3099. Conclusions: We have generated and analysed the first deep sequencing dataset of small RNA sequences of the developing mouse brain. The analysis revealed a novel miRNA, miR-3099, with potential regulatory effects on early embryogenesis, and involvement in neuronal cell differentiation/function in the brain during late embryonic and early neonatal development.King-Hwa Ling, Peter J Brautigan, Christopher N Hahn, Tasman Daish, John R Rayner, Pike-See Cheah, Joy M Raison, Sandra Piltz Jeffrey R Mann, Deidre M Mattiske, Paul Q Thomas, David L Adelson and Hamish S Scot

Ovarian cancer immunotherapy: opportunities, progresses and challenges

Due to the low survival rates from invasive ovarian cancer, new effective treatment modalities are urgently needed. Compelling evidence indicates that the immune response against ovarian cancer may play an important role in controlling this disease. We herein summarize multiple immune-based strategies that have been proposed and tested for potential therapeutic benefit against advanced stage ovarian cancer. We will examine the evidence for the premise that an effective therapeutic vaccine against ovarian cancer is useful not only for inducing remission of the disease but also for preventing disease relapse. We will also highlight the questions and challenges in the development of ovarian cancer vaccines, and critically discuss the limitations of some of the existing immunotherapeutic strategies. Finally, we will summarize our own experience on the use of patient-specific tumor-derived heat shock protein-peptide complex for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer