Working Hours Reduction and Endogenous Growth

This paper formulates an endogenous growth model and uses it to inquire into the long-run impact of work-sharing arrangements on economic growth. We show that the styles of wage contract, namely salary-style and hourly-style contracts, are a key factor in determining the long-run growth effects of working time reduction. If the labor market is overwhelmingly salaried arrangement, then the extent of wage flexibility is relatively low; as a consequence, a policy of reducing working hours will deteriorate economic growth. On the contrary, if hourly pay predominates, then the wage system tends to increase the degree of wage flexibility. Thus, a cut in working time may favor the economy’s growth rate.Working hours reduction, Endogenous growth

Construction of Cell–Extracellular Matrix Microenvironments by Conjugating ECM Proteins on Supported Lipid Bilayers

The cell membrane is an organized and fluid structure that modulates cellular activities in response to specific extracellular signals, and maintains the critical communication, integration, and homeostasis between the cytosol and the extracellular matrix (ECM). In recent years, tissue engineering and cell biology research has been rapidly progressed by a remarkable understanding of cell and ECM interfaces. In this review, the design of new biomimetic platforms based on the conjugation of ECM proteins on solid supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) will be summarized. The platforms provide a better system to evaluate cellular responses to specific recognition events, gradient, mechanical property, nanostructures, and inter- and intra-molecular interactions of ECM proteins on a non-fouling and fluid membrane. Moreover, the findings from the molecular interactions and cellular activities will be highlighted to look into the cell-materials mechanisms

Cordycepin Induced MA-10 Mouse Leydig Tumor Cell Apoptosis through Caspase-9 Pathway

In the present study, the apoptotic effect of cordycepin on MA-10 cells, a mouse Leydig tumor cell line, was investigated. Results demonstrated that the number of rounding-up cell increased by cordycepin (10 μM to 5 mM for 24 h), and cells with plasma membrane blebbing could be observed by 100 μM cordycepin. In viability test, MA-10 cell surviving rate significantly decreased as the dosage (10 μM to 5 mM) and duration (3–24 h) of cordycepin treatment increased (P < 0.05). Cordycepin at 100 μM and 1 mM for 24 h treatment induced significant DNA fragmentation (P < 0.05). In addition, the percentage of G1 and G2/M phase cell significantly declined by cordycepin (100 μM and 1 mM) for 24 h treatment, while the percentages of subG1 phase cell increased by 100 μM and/or 1 mM cordycepin in 6, 12 and 24 h treatments (P < 0.05), respectively, which highly suggested that cordycepin induced MA-10 cell apoptosis. In mechanism study with the treatments of caspases, c-Jun NH2 terminal kinase (JNK) or reactive oxygen species (ROS) inhibitors plus cordycepin for 24 h, only caspases inhibitor suppressed subG1 phase in MA-10 cells. Moreover, western blotting results showed that cordycepin induced caspase-9, -3 and -7 protein expressions, but not caspase-8, in time- and dose-dependent manners. In conclusion, cordycepin induced apoptosis in MA-10 mouse Leydig tumor cells through a caspase-9 and -3 and -7 dependent pathway

Chronic hepatitis B with concurrent metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease: Challenges and perspectives

The prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) has increased among the general population and chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients worldwide. Although fatty liver disease is a well-known risk factor for adverse liver outcomes like cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, its interactions with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and clinical impacts seem complex. The presence of hepatic steatosis may suppress HBV viral activity, potentially leading to attenuated liver injury. In contrast, the associated co-morbidities like diabetes mellitus or obesity may increase the risk of developing adverse liver outcomes. These findings implicate that components of MAFLD may have diverse effects on the clinical manifestations of CHB. To this end, a clinical strategy is proposed for managing patients with concurrent CHB and MAFLD. This review article discusses the updated evidence regarding disease prevalence, interactions between steatosis and HBV, clinical impacts, and management strategies, aiming at optimizing holistic health care in the CHB population

Noninvasive prediction of Blood Lactate through a machine learning-based approach.

We hypothesized that blood lactate concentration([Lac]blood) is a function of cardiopulmonary variables, exercise intensity and some anthropometric elements during aerobic exercise. This investigation aimed to establish a mathematical model to estimate [Lac]blood noninvasively during constant work rate (CWR) exercise of various intensities. 31 healthy participants were recruited and each underwent 4 cardiopulmonary exercise tests: one incremental and three CWR tests (low: 35% of peak work rate for 15 min, moderate: 60% 10 min and high: 90% 4 min). At the end of each CWR test, venous blood was sampled to determine [Lac]blood. 31 trios of CWR tests were employed to construct the mathematical model, which utilized exponential regression combined with Taylor expansion. Good fitting was achieved when the conditions of low and moderate intensity were put in one model; high-intensity in another. Standard deviation of fitting error in the former condition is 0.52; in the latter is 1.82 mmol/liter. Weighting analysis demonstrated that, besides heart rate, respiratory variables are required in the estimation of [Lac]blood in the model of low/moderate intensity. In conclusion, by measuring noninvasive cardio-respiratory parameters, [Lac]blood during CWR exercise can be determined with good accuracy. This should have application in endurance training and future exercise industry

KINETIC DIFFERENCES IN LOWER EXTREMITY BETWEEN BASEBALL PITCHING FROM PITCHER’S MOUND AND FLAT-GROUND

The purpose of this study was to investigate the kinetic differences in lower extremity between pitching from a mound and flat-ground. A motion capture system and two force plates were used simultaneously to collect the dynamic data of 8 baseball male pitchers. The results revealed that pitching from the mound generated higher propulsive force at the trailing leg as well as greater braking force and vertical ground reaction force at the lead leg (p< .05). The trailing leg in the mound condition generated greater knee posterior joint force while the lead leg had greater axial joint force at ankle and knee, as well as greater extension moment at ankle, knee and hip (p< .05). It was concluded that pitching from the mound generated higher ground reaction force, which resulted in higher joint forces and moments and thus might increase stresses at lower extremity

JOINT MOBILIZATION CHANGES ACTIVATIONS IN GLUTEUS AND VASTI MUSCLES DURING FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITIES IN PEOPLE WITHOUT AND WITH PATELLOFEMORAL PAIN SYNDROME

We aimed to examine whether patellofemoral joint mobilization altered the activation in vasti and gluteus muscles in people with and without PFPS during functional activities. A total of 40 young collegiate students with and without PFPS were recruited. After the intervention of patellofemoral joint mobilization, there were significant earlier activations of vasti muscles and delayed activation of gluteus muscles such as heel rise, step up and down and drop landing in people with PFPS compared to that of healthy controls (

The Impacts Of Presentation Modes And Product Involvements On “Line” Short Message Service (SMS) Advertising Effectiveness

In today’s ubiquitous commerce (UC) era, short message service (SMS) advertisement has played an important role in the world of marketing. Convenience and economical reasons influence SMS usage frequency along with social involvement to influence attitudes towards SMS advertising. SMS advertising creates numerous opportunities for the marketers in promoting their products effectively. Adopting the competition for attention theory as the theoretical framework, we developed hypotheses to investigate the influences of presentation mode and involvement on SMS advertising performance (recall of advertising information). An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of three types of information presentation modes (text-only, image-text, and emoji-text) in the contexts of two product types (high- versus low-involvement products) in the “LINE” SMS environment. Specifically, in this current study, we allocate participants to six experimental environments (text-only for high-involvement products, text-only for low-involvement products, image-text for high-involvement products, image-text for low-involvement products, emoji-text for high-involvement products and emoji-text for low-involvement products) randomly to collected empirical data to examine the proposed hypotheses. The research findings are expected to provide instrumental guidelines for the practitioners to better achieve the goals of ads in the “LINE” SMS environment. Also, the empirical results may provide insights into the research of advertising interface design of SMS and integrating efforts from cognitive science and vision research to understand users’ involvement of SMS advertising processes

High-Efficiency Isolated Photovoltaic Microinverter Using Wide-Band Gap Switches for Standalone and Grid-Tied Applications

An isolated photovoltaic micro-inverter for standalone and grid-tied applications is designed and implemented to achieve high efficiency. System configuration and design considerations, including the proposed active-clamp forward-flyback resonant converter for the DC-DC stage and a dual-frequency full-bridge inverter for the DC-AC stage, are analyzed and discussed. A prototype microinverter system is built and tested. Experimental results verify the feasibility of the proposed system, which achieves 95% power conversion efficiency at full load